Is Blackpink’s Kill This Love a Breakthrough or a just Copy of Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du’s Success Formula?
Although fans are raving over Blackpink’s comeback today, it has to be noted that along with the song’s uniqueness, Kill This Love also closely resembles the structure and choreography of Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du.
Blackpink has finally come back with their new mini album Kill This Love with a title track of the same name. The MV flaunts gorgeous visuals and the girls look fresh and stunning, each getting a moment to shine. However, some fans have noticed clear similarities to Blackpink’s last megahit, Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du. From the choreography in the chorus, to the structure of the song and line distribution, some argue that the girl group has fallen back on a proven success formula instead of hitting us with something truly new and unique.
Structure
Just like Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du, Kill This Love starts off with the song’s melodic hook, in this case a confident trumpet line. The hook is definitely new, but the placement is the same. The first to sing is Jennie with her signature rap, this time in front of two swans instead of on a thrown. After Jennie comes Lisa, then Jisoo and Rosé with the prechorus. The structure is very familiar to Blinks because it precisely matches Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du.
The second verse is once again a rap, the astonishing pair of Jennie and Lisa. But after this rap, Rosé takes the first part of the prechorus and Jisoo the second, just like in Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du. This trend continues throughout the entirety of Kill This Love.
The song has precisely the same structure and line distribution as last year’s hit, offering little anticipation to the audience because once they catch on, they already know what’s coming next.
Choreography
The choreography is only featured in the chorus, so we will have to wait to see how similar they really are, but focusing on the choreography we can see, there are obvious parallels. The girls stand in a two-line formation for the point choreography, then, moving their arms upwards, the two lines switch places. This is very much like Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du. Yes, formation options are limited in four-person groups but considering the movement and dance moves as well, the similarity is uncanny.
Music Video
Like in Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du, the MV only shows the choreography in the chorus and at the end. The in between shots are solo shots focusing on the member singing with a set unique to them. Although much of the scenery is new and different, the shots are nearly identical in how they create motion, focus on a particular member, and capture the background.
Beyond the shots, the motif of Jisoo and water is repeated. In Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du, Jisoo was standing in the rain under an umbrella, and this time we see her with rippling water reflected on her face. There could be a deeper meaning to this motif, but it is yet another similarity to their last song.
Conclusion
Even if Kill This Love is a formulaic copy of Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du, both are amazing songs that let Blackpink shine. Through this comeback, they will increase their global presence and popularity further than they already have. Sometimes it’s necessary to copy a formula to encourage the same success as before, so we should not bash Blackpink, Momoland, or any other group in the future who takes this approach. What do you think about the similarities between Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du and Kill This Love?
