Earlier this week, BLACKPINK’s Jennie unveiled the star-studded track list for her upcoming solo album. We’ve already heard her collaboration with Dominic Fike, but she’s also set to partner with Doechii, Dua Lipa, Childish Gambino, Kali Uchis and FKJ. It’s a diverse list of talents, for sure. Doechii’s name stands out in particular, as she’s currently enjoying a rapid ascent in popularity. Before even hearing ExtraL, this pairing of immense star power promised to ignite real sparks.
I’ve enjoyed Jennie’s recent releases, making it easy to forget that this project kicked off with last year’s less-inspired Mantra. That song’s catchphrasey approach didn’t connect with me at all, and parts of ExtraL suffer the same fate. It’s another brag track, which isn’t a subject matter I find remotely compelling. However, Jennie and Doechii do much more interesting things here than on Mantra. Regardless of whether the song’s repeated chants and cavernous production matches my personal taste (it occasionally does!), I appreciate the sonic choices being made. As is the case with many of these BLACKPINK solo collaborations, ExtraL‘s guest outshines the main artist. Doechii is able to ignite a momentum in verse two that the rest of the track struggles to match.
I would have loved to hear the song’s melodic chorus utilized (and developed) more often in the track. It’s much more effective than the oft-repeated “do my ladies run this?” hook and offers a change of pace that keeps things interesting. But overall, ExtraL is an assembly line of memorable pieces jammed together to forge a prickly package that feels like an evolved version of the empowerment anthems BLACKPINK built their name on. Even if it’s not my favorite Jennie solo track, it certainly achieves its aim.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
The track is okay, but my god, does the “do my ladies run this?” hook grinds my gears a lot. If it was removed, I’d too give it the same rating.
But well, 7.5 (7, 8, 8, 7) for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a hip hop fan and Doechii seems such a promising talent. When I knew she was on a track with Jennie, I knew it couldn’t be bad. I’ve noticed that she has this tendency to really outshine the pop artists she’s collaborated with, it happened with Katy Perry in “I’m His, He’s Mine.” And while Jennie’s raps or vocal parts don’t quite reach the peak Doechii left, it’s still a great song and I think she had a great delivery. I believed in her performance.
This is how you do the “braggy” concept, brining real fire! I would love to see BLACKPINK do a song that’s as compeilling as this, that sounds as expensive and as big as this one does with a big chorus that you can sing along to and that feels massive, not just “dudududu” or “ratatata.”
Now I’m really excited about the album and this is easily a 10/10.
LikeLiked by 3 people
did somebody say keys to the benz? keys to the benz? mf right yeah v to the 10
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doechii’s part is so strong that her verse 2 itself with that Jersey Club Beat can get a 10 out of 10.
Nevertheless, it’s a good song with good flows. The beat, even is bringing to nowhere, but still make me wanna dance and nod together. 8/10.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The fact that I lived long enough to see bp songs get anything higher than a failing grade in your blog is enough for me.
I love that Jennie is experimenting with different genres, now I’m curious what the rest of the songs on the album sound like!
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is not for me. This kind of music just isn’t my taste. I much prefer Jisoo’s songs, which are my favorite Blackpink solo songs anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jisoo’s songs are just phenomenal tbh
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes! I’ve been playing her EP a lot and it’s been making me happy. Lovely stuff.
LikeLike
Nth person to say the Jennie gets out performed on her own track. There are the rap triplets again, for what passes for flow at times (onetwothree fourfivesix SEVEN). But overall, I find it inoffensive.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Absolutely LOVE this one and mind you, I’m not a huge hip hop fan. But the entire song keeps me engaged with the production dynamically revolving around what the artists chant or rap.
Yes true that Doechii’s verse outshines Jennie a little, but the hook overall is solid enough that it keeps me engaged. And I agree with other comments that this is how you do “brag songs” – enough with rum pum pum and ra ta ta and “baddie” “boss b****” and the rest, that has been overdone ad nauseam for ten years.
LikeLike
Zen’s still my favorite.
LikeLiked by 3 people
You’re in for a treat, because the producers and writers of Zen worked on 5-6 more tracks for Ruby.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As soon as I heard “INCOMING!”, I knew that I was going to expect the unexpected.
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is a solid track. Doechii definitely outshines Jennie, but I’ve also been a fan of Doechii for several years before she was mainstream. Just have to acknowledge the role that bias plays in my assessment. I’m pretty meh on the chorus, might grow on me, but I really like the second verse onwards
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wanted to wait a few days before typing a comment for this one since I figured I’d be blinded by my massive Doechii bias. So now that it’s been a bit: Is Doechii the highlight of this song? Yes. Does that mean she’s the only good thing about it? Absolutely not. This takes Zen’s place as my favorite song so far, and probably will be in my top 3 of the album period once the full thing comes out. Also I know some people have complaints about the “Do my ladies run this?” but I honestly don’t mind it. The way it’s chanted before Doechii comes in to hype her up gets me excited for her every time.
LikeLike