Ruby

JENNIE is the latest member of BLACKPINK, to release a solo effort and she put out a fine record. Fine is about as high of a compliment as I can give. For a person with a small corporate office worth Pop music experts backing her, it's surprising that they made so many small mistakes. At first I thought I was in for something special. Since I live in the Upper Midwest of the USA, I know a lot of Jennies. "like JENNIE" is getting sent to all of them; even though most of them have kids in college and think NKOTB's "Hangin' Tough" is the pinnacle of banger Pop music. That song is fun, fresh, and Pop that sounds like it belongs in 2025. "Handlebars" on the other hand is dated sounding and boring. "like JENNIE" holds up the entire front end of this album and my expectations for the back half plummeted.

Starting with "ExtraL" they finally decide to go back to making bangers. "Mantra" is one of the better girl Power! songs I've heard in a while, and "Love Hangover" has a great chill beat with some Marian Hill style vocal effects. The Dominic Fike feature is maybe the best guest spot on the album.

I almost skipped "Damn Right" because of the irritating Mike Will Made It intro. It ends up being a decent Slow Pop track even though the Childish Gambino and Kali Ulchis features fall kind of flat. Past that song is really kind of boring. Pop songs that lack that banger quality because the tempo is too slow. Yet the tempo is too fast for a ballad or love song. "twin" finally gets it right, but the filler songs at the end of the album drag the overall quality of the album down and should have just been scrapped for a shorter LP.