Opinion / BTS’ Dynamite and Blackpink’s Ice Cream are finally here, but is this really the best K-pop can offer the American music charts?

Sep 3 , 2020

K-pop group BTS have hit big in the international market with Dynamite – but is the track really lightning in a bottle, or just all flash? Photo: AFP Photo/Big Hit Entertainment

From a stock library beat to inane choruses, neither song impresses nor showcases the bands’ flair – BTS and Blackpink should focus on what made them different in the first place and not be afraid to show their Korean take on pop music

Western pop music is currently experiencing its biggest K-pop invasion yet, with two of South Korea’s biggest exports aggressively targeting the American music scene. Both supergroups, BTS and Blackpink, have released new English-language tracks in recent weeks, hoping to set the charts alight with the help of big-name collaborations and fancy VMA performances.

So far, it’s been intricate marketing campaigns, slick videos and lots of hype, but let’s be completely honest – Blackpink’s Ice Cream and BTS’ Dynamite are not the iconic, timeless pop tracks we were expecting from K-pop’s biggest bands at this stage in the game.

While this opinion is sure to send their fans, the BTS Army and the Blackpink Blinks, into a blind rage, hear me out (and perhaps stream it on Spotify or YouTube, if you haven’t had the lukewarm pleasure of doing so yet).

Both BTS and Blackpink have achieved incredible success internationally already, and for good reason. The groups’ catalogues of hits speak for themselves. You don’t even need to be a K-pop fan to know the iconic beat of BP’s Kill This Love or hum along to BTS’s Boy with Luv. Both bands have proved they’re capable of great stuff.

K-pop band BTS performs during the MTV Video Music Awards on August 30, 2020. Photo: Viacom/Handout

So when BTS dropped Dynamite, their first song fully recorded in English, last month, and promoted it with a prime performance slot at the iconic MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), we all had high hopes, right? It’s always great to see international stars going the extra mile from their local markets to target America. Until now, the boys had peaked at No 4 with On in March, so their first English-only single was bound to do well. Even if it’s, well, not that good.

Here’s the real tea: with lyrics reaching the depths of “Dyn-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na, life is dynamite,” to a generic beat straight from a stock library, new single Dynamite is what you’d expect from a Will Ferrell pop music parody film. It’s so deeply predictable, it’s almost funny.

The music bosses have taken every stereotypical trick in the book and compiled it into what they hoped would be a good English pop song. The result is a heavily manufactured track that lacks the BTS X-factor.

Is that what they think the English market really wants? From what we’ve seen of BTS, they have a lot more to offer the Western music scene than a summer anthem reject that’s so cheesy, not even One Direction circa 2010 would touch it (I think you get my point).

The same can be said for Blackpink’s much-hyped collaboration with Selena Gomez, Ice Cream. Having shamed BTS’ Dynamite lyrics, I can’t not mention Blackpink’s “Ice cream chillin’, chillin’, ice cream chillin’.”

After years of K-pop chart domination and industry hype, Blackpink are only now gearing up to release their first-ever full album, catchily titled “The Album”, on October 2, so they’ve got plenty to prove. And by reeling in someone as high-profile as America’s sweetheart, Selena Gomez, for their pre-album single, the Blackpink business plan is clear: make an impact on both sides of the pond.