BLACKPINK members are very busy with their solo releases at the moment. Jennie just dropped a digital EP last week, Jisoo’s back later tonight and Lisa has returned with new single SaWaDiKa. This title is a stylized version of the Thai greeting “sawasdee ka”, but in Lisa’s hands it becomes another opportunity to regale us with boasts about how incredible (and rich!) she is.
I don’t know why I bristle at this subject matter as much as I do. After all, boisterous bragging has been a hallmark of hip-hop for decades. It just feels particularly hollow and materialistic at the moment and when an artist’s image/concept is built on boasts and brags it comes across as weirdly uncomfortable. I’m all about the “show, don’t tell” of songwriting. If you must predicate your entire track on how amazing you are, that track better be absolutely brilliant. I should be able to hear how awesome and groundbreaking you and your music are and come to my own conclusion, not just be pummeled into submission by loud chants.
This is all to say, SaWaDiKa is as fun (or not fun) as any song of this nature has become. The production is solid, though hardly original or forward-thinking. The chorus is particularly lame, but it’s made for strutting so I guess you don’t need to think much about its vapid laziness. I’m sure it will have people on the internet “gagged” and “slayed” and whatever else they can type in all caps. However, I could throw a stone in any direction within the global music landscape and find another song just like this one. As Lisa herself says in the song, “there she go.” There she went.
Okay, then.
Have a good day, I guess.
Hooks
6
Production
8
Longevity
6
Bias
7
RATING
6.75