It’s not intending to make any sort of statement or be a landmark release for either of the artists, it simply exists because it can. It’s sweet, incredibly catchy, and monotonous in a way that’s not completely alienating nor interesting. It sounds like a song that would be a little too indulgent for Ariana to release herself (though that was pretty much what “7 rings” was as well), but one that would be perfectly passable for a Kpop-Western collab with two pop artists that have wide appeal. The one thing I wasn’t expecting was it to be almost completely English, which I don’t think was a bad move at all, and it makes a lot of sense, especially considering 3/4 BP members are proficient in English and it is a collab with a Western artist. I can comfortably say that this is pretty much exactly what I was expecting, especially when I found out that Ariana Grande and her frequent co-writer and collaborator Victoria Monet were the songwriters. Hopefully something on the album will scratch that itch. Sadly, I continue to wait for BLACKPINK to deliver a comeback on par with the incredible Playing With Fire or As If It’s Your Last. Ice Cream is all sugar rush – sweet in the moment but quick to evaporate. I didn’t care for June’s How You Like That, but it did have some dramatic melodic moments surrounding that bummer of a chorus. However, Ice Cream doesn’t take advantage of their vocals. The song feels more like “Selena featuring BLACKPINK” to me, though the girls get to rattle off some eyebrow-raising rap verses. I don’t know that the end result is particularly satisfying, but I appreciate the consistency – especially given Teddy’s recent tendency to splice together clashing segments and call it a song.Īs far as BLACKPINK x Selena Gomez goes, I think the pairing is fine. The production’s youthful tone certainly contributes to Ice Cream’s overall playground-chant approach.
The percussive instrumental is better, skipping on chopped, seesaw synths and a whistled hook.
There are plenty of catchy hooks within the track, but they’re a bit saccharine for my taste. Its verses and chorus are very much within the same ballpark, as is the sing-song hip-hop that punctuates them. Ice Cream hinges on a simple nursery rhyme melody that weaves its way through the entire track without much variation. The result is a song that should have wide appeal, even if it doesn’t appeal to me personally. The group’s usual producer (and longtime YG staple) Teddy is joined by Selena, Victoria Monét and Ariana Grande on the song’s lengthy credits. Despite this lyrical shift, the production is a true K-pop-meets-American effort. Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to the pre-release teasing, but I was surprised to hear the vast majority of this track performed in English. The girls have taken their sugary metaphor and ran with it, dishing up scoop after scoop of double entendres. And while I’m unironically longing for some sort of BLACKPINK-meets- Wizards of Waverly Place team-up, Ice Cream is far less ambitious. But, it’s particularly refreshing to see BLACKPINK get this spotlight, and a far cry from the “one single a year” trajectory they’ve been on for the past few years.Ī week after BTS appealed to English-speaking markets with Dynamite, BLACKPINK have teamed with American pop star Selena Gomez for Ice Cream. Nearly all of the agency’s acts have been involved in a months-long blitz of singles at some point in their career. This is not an unprecedented approach for YG Entertainment. We’ve entered the second phase of a string of comebacks supporting BLACKPINK’s upcoming album.
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