Review

Song Review: Rosé (BLACKPINK) – Messy

The upcoming soundtrack to F1® The Movie (which is completely outside my wheelhouse – pun intended) promises to be a star-studded affair. And in 2025, that means a bit of K-pop representation — even if it’s tangential. Rosé has certainly leapfrogged over the classification of “K-pop,” and songs like Messy push her further into the Western pop market.

To be honest, I don’t have a ton to say about Messy and that’s because the song plays things so down the middle. It has a plodding sense of anthemic catharsis that has been retread countless times over the past twenty years. It’s essentially a ballad, but trussed up with a pounding thud. Melody winds its way between this overwhelming production but never amounts to much. Melodic range is quite narrow in this case, which only adds to the song’s formulaic, lockstep structure. Rosé makes an odd fit for Messy‘s booming instrumental. Her voice is delicate, expressive and pretty but doesn’t supply the gravitas needed to make this formula work. If nothing else, Messy will sound fine playing over the end credits of the movie. That’s probably the extent of its ambition anyway.

Hooks 7
 Production 7
 Longevity 8
 Bias 7
 RATING 7.25

Grade: C

9 thoughts on “Song Review: Rosé (BLACKPINK) – Messy

  1. I love BLACKPINK (mostly into their older songs), I love Rosé and I was an APT. glazer. Still, I just can’t help but wish we could hear Rosé’s voice in the context of better songs.

    I totally understand this being her style, (that kind of “intimate,” “nostalgic” Taylor Swift-2010s influenced sound) but this track just sounds dated and bland. Granted, she’s really just starting to let us see what she can do with her solo music and this is just a soundtrack song. That doesn’t mean soundtrack songs can’t be good (What was I made for, All the stars), but it is not as “serious” as if it was from her actual discography.

    I just would love for her sound to find that glow-up, you know? That was kind of my wish with Sabrina Carpenter’s “emails i can’t send.” I found the album to be a little bland and sleepy (just like “rosie”) with a few highlights in between the tracklist. But boom, then “Short n’ Sweet” released and that was a step-up. I would love to hear that from Rosé at some point.

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  2. For a song that is called “Messy” and is all about human interaction, why oh why did the producers hyperproduce her voice so she sounds like a robot. The soft parts, where the instrumental drops out, that is where we need to hear the humanity not the autotune stuck on 11. Like right at 0:36, a little roll down, except every note has been snapped to a note instead of just flowing. 2:18-2:26 when there is not instrumental is just so badly robotic instead of a highly personal flourish. Once you hear it, you can’t unhear it on every single damn line. And Rose’ can sing, so whyyeeeee.

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  3. The vocals here don’t sound like Rosé’s usual style. Much like with Don’t Know What To Do, it seems like BLACKPINK is more interested in adopting the vibe of other artists than reinforcing their own sonic identity, in this case, the ethereal vocals are very reminiscent of those on Love Me Like You Do.

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