'nothing can beat the original'

kill this love; blackpink [analysis]

when i first listened to this track it was a bit disorientating. prior to this, blackpink did not hold back with their chorus beat drops. they were often the most explosive parts of the song. here came KTL with a very unlikely drop that was sparse and brassy. despite this, KTL quickly became one of my favorite releases of 2019. not long ofter it we began to see many brassy overload beat drops that attempted to mimic what blackpink did. here is my dissection of KTL.

the core element of KTL is the use of brass/horn instruments. although other kpop groups have used this element a lot this year in title tracks, blackpink have executed it the best by far. why? bc they don’t crowd the brass with unnecessary sounds and beats. they make the brass speak for itself and use the few elements of the song creatively.

brass instruments itself always leave an “emptiness” or “space” when they’re played. by this i mean it’s not thick sounding but it’s tight and loose like the sound a balloon makes. blackpink used this to their advantage and made an anthem song out of it. to compliment the brass and the space it brings they introduce a heavily military styled beat through the snare drum. naturally that in itself compliments brass like a marching band. pair this with a vacant baseline enhanced by a deep vibrating bass and you get a loud song that’s not noisy. lets take it section by section.

intro

immediately from the intro they establish the direction of the song. they don’t really hide anything it’s quite simple. a tight high trumpet with a low sounding horn that acts as a baseline. it’s kinda clever if you think about it pairing two brass instruments like that. bc there’s no intense bass the intro sounds “empty”. also notice you’ll hear the horn baseline come in at intervals. its like that for the main parts of the entire song until the extended chorus at the end and i’ll explain later why it had effect at the end. in addition to these horn instruments there’s a snare drum which really is the essence of the military sound they’re going for and my god it used so well. as an example here’s the snare used in bts’ performance trailer. notice how they did it with marching and navy uniforms? it’s a classic instrument for military sounding music.

first verse

it begins with jennie and lisa rapping and it’s basically a stripped down version of the intro. they use the snare VERY sparingly you barely hear it and the main emphasis is the bass. however, this time there is no horn instrument effect on the bass. its just a fat, juicy, vibrating baseline. but if you listen closely there’s also a xylophone playing in the back.

prechorus

this is my favourite part of the song bc they did something i didn’t expect. they used the guitar! i know. a brass heavy song that used guitar ONLY in the prechorus. it works like a charm bc it gives it a distinction from the rest of the song whilst being subtle. they used it well by only placing it in the first half of the prechorus. in the second half, they brought back all the brass elements from before. the reason they did this was to build tension and it’s so effective. brass naturally builds tension and suspense. having that break in the first half of the prechorus really took the brass in the second half to new heights. also in the prechorus they upped the snare at the end when rose was singing. you’ll notice towards the end of the prechorus the snare gets LOUDER. why? again to build tension.

chorus

what would normally be a barrage of noise, high energy and constant constant beats, blackpink did the direct opposite of what every noisy kpop group did in 2019 and used silence. it’s a complete misdirect from the snare entourage that built the necessary tension to enact an explosive chorus. when the girls say “lets kill this love” there’s not a single instrument playing. they took it all away. even when they bring the instruments back, it’s the trumpet for a few seconds before the baseline comes back in. the use of silence before the beat drop cleverly amplifies the effect of the baseline. it paired nicely with the snare drum escalation in the prechorus to produce an unexpected chorus.

second verse

this part is also really nice. notice how each section uses the same elements yet it’s different? it’s like that for the 2nd verse. they used the baseline and gave it some freedom. instead of doing the intervals at the speed they’ve normally done, it comes in faster but not at a consistent speed and only to emphasise the actual rap. it goes 1, 1-2, 1, 1-2-3-4-. on the 1-2-3-4- beat it’s decreasing in pitch and the 4th beat lasts a little longer than the rest. it’s these small changes that give great effect to the song and create a new section that can stand alone from the other sections whilst still fitting into the overall narrative of the music. the reason why it works is bc they’ve established that baseline since the beginning and can play around with it now without it sounding weird bc it’s familiar. again this gives the song a new dimension without using the initial trumpet at all.

2nd prechorus

there’re one interesting thing to note here and it’s with the use of the guitar. they gave it a lot more volume and added some extra freehanded riffs. i think that’s cool. gives it extra flavour and also makes us look forward to the next parts of the song.

bridge

now here is another example of using an element that was present throughout the whole song in a different way. they used the snare much more distinctly because they took away the horns. this gives even greater emphasis on the military sound they’ve created and gives the song some discipline if you will becuase it’s sounds strict. which is different to what we’ve been hearing before. it works as a great bridge without adding any new major instruments like is commonly done in bridges to make it sound “different”.

extended chorus

here’s where the effect of the baseline occurring at intervals comes to fruition. notice how the pace of the baseline is faster? it makes for a great extended chorus and dance break. this adds urgency to the song. my only wish is that they took it further. it’s way too short to be effective in performance and is a little underwhelming when it finishes.

final comments

what gives KTL vacancy is the insistent brass. it’s this vacancy that prevents it from becoming “noise”. this song wasn’t a bombardment of sounds and instruments. it was sectioned off really nicely and used a few elements creatively. the use of silence and the main baseline coming in at intervals rather than at a fast pace for most of the song made all the difference. not to mention the sprinkling of other elements such as the xylophone and guitar gave it more flavour as well. overall the brass and bass combo in the song are simplified. but it is the use of creative methods that set apart kill this love from all the other copies of the song groups have been doing.