I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Lisa’s solo career, mainly about the fact that most of her lyrics talk a lot about her being the best, money, success, luxury, power, and everything she’s achieved. And honestly? I understand the criticism. I myself would like her to explore more personal, vulnerable, different lyrics that show other sides of her. My favorite Alter Ego songs are precisely those that explore these points, so I think it’s perfectly valid for someone to prefer that type of music.
What I don’t understand is when “I wish she would do something different” turns into “Lisa needs to change” or, even worse, “she’s not an artist.”
And this became even more evident to me after seeing some comments on the preview of her new song Sawadika, where some people even said that Lisa doesn’t care about music or that she doesn’t have “artistic vision” because of the lyrics.
Honestly, I think that’s unfair.
I’m not an expert on defining what constitutes “artistic vision,” so I’m not going to pretend I have an absolute answer on that. But, for me, being an artist doesn’t necessarily mean writing profound, extremely personal, or philosophical lyrics. Art is also in the way a person expresses themselves. It’s in the aesthetics, the concepts, the sound, the performance, the stage presence, the way they interpret a song, and, above all, what they manage to convey to the audience.
And one thing that no one can convince me of is that Lisa doesn’t like performing or that she’s not a good performer, because you just have to see her on stage. She seems genuinely happy when she’s performing; there’s a very different energy, confidence, and fun when she’s doing certain songs, and, for me, that’s also a form of artistic expression. The fact that I, and I believe many people, can listen to a song and think, “Wow, that song would fit perfectly into Lisa’s discography,” or see a performance and think that Lisa would fit that type of performance means that she definitely has an artistic vision for her career; it just doesn’t please everyone, and that’s okay.
And folks, Lisa has been in the business for years; at this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise what kind of music she likes to make and, especially, what kind of music she seems most comfortable with on stage. Just watch her performances; the songs that receive the most criticism because of the lyrics are often precisely those in which she seems to be having the most fun, and most of the time they are her most praised performances, and that, to me, matters a lot. I, personally, would much rather watch a performance of Rockstar than Dream or New Woman. I would much rather watch F*ck Up the World than Born Again. Not because I think those other songs are bad, quite the opposite, New Woman and Born Again are my favorite songs on the album, but because I feel that Lisa has a different energy when she’s performing this more confident, provocative, and powerful side.
And if that’s what she likes to present, why do we want to force her to change?
For me, a good artist also needs to feel good about what they’re presenting. Performance isn’t just technique, it’s energy, confidence, presence, and, above all, connection with what you’re doing. If she likes and connects with this type of music, there’s not much we can do. We also can’t act as if her entire solo career is about money and being the best; we’ve had confident, inspiring, romantic, and sentimental songs. Maybe it’s not the variety and proportion that everyone wants, but they exist.
And she also doesn’t need to do the same things as the other BLACKPINK members, because I’ve seen many comments comparing her, especially to Jennie. Lisa doesn’t need to have the same artistic vision as Jennie, the vulnerability of Rosé’s lyrics, or follow Jisoo’s path to prove she’s an artist; all four can have different identities, and that’s what makes them so interesting to follow. I think sometimes fans create a version of an artist in their own heads and then get frustrated when the real artist doesn’t match what they imagined.
We can perfectly well say, “I wish she would write more about feelings and personal experiences” without turning it into “Lisa, you have to change,” because in the end, we don’t need to like everything an artist does.
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