From the K-pop group BLACKPINK, Jisoo has made her solo career known to many. After her first single, “ME,” she has released her first EP, “AMORTAGE, a play on words “amor” and “montage.”
Jisoo, a South Korean singer, actress, and international style icon, rose to fame through BLACKPINK. She only recently released music as a solo artist, with her first single surpassing over one billion streams. Her new EP will only accelerate her career.
The K-pop genre has only recently come overseas and continues to reach new heights. The genre sounds similar in many ways, but Jisoo makes her music unique, with her twisting lyricism and sounds that warp together into a masterpiece.
Starting with a bang, Jisoo’s first song on the EP is “earthquake,” setting the stage for the rest of the songs. She immediately mixes and matches textures and sounds—the bass sounding off a hard vibration, her vocals echoing in the background, and finger snaps that break through the texture entirely.
It is refreshing to see Jisoo make music that mirrors her personality. “Earthquake” highlights her range as a pop star and her sparkly personality, while her next song, “Your Love,” highlights her ability to create a pop ballad that is still bubbly. “Your Love” is a song that is performed fully in English and shows her vulnerability while talking about relationships.
The last two songs, “TEARS” and “Hugs and Kisses,” are both upbeat anthems that are similar to the previous songs. They all follow the same formula: they remain upbeat and have a strong beat that overall adds to the EP’s meaning.
When asked about the EP, Jisoo talked about how the meaning behind it is almost like a love story through snapshots. The mini album does a perfect job demonstrating this. It begins with an earthquake of love and then the fantasy slowly ends as Jisoo says, “Hugs and kisses, you must be trippin’ / If you think you got me, I’m already gone.”
As someone who has listened to K-pop in the past, this mini album sticks out to me and reminds me of older songs. With a genre that is moving so quickly through the music industry, it was nice for me to listen to this and immediately feel nostalgic.
In their solo projects, the former BLACKPINK members have leaned more into bold transformations. However, Jisoo continues to stay true to herself with her music, keeping a softer approach and proving that to make a successful project, you do not need to out-do yourself.