South Korean singer, rapper, actress and member of K-pop group BLACKPINK Jennie Kim, known as JENNIE, released a special single on Oct. 6, 2023, called “You & Me.” It was her first single in five years following the release of “SOLO” in Nov. 2018. “You & Me” is described by Genius as “a fiery tale of unwavering love, accompanied by a vibrant dance-pop rhythm and a bouncy bassline.”
The sultry vibe comes from the provocative lyrics, while the dance-pop vibes come from the uptempo 112 beats per minute made to be both danced to in nightclubs and listened to on the radio. Fans first heard the song when Jennie made her debut performance of it on Oct. 15, 2022, at the opening concert of BLACKPINK’s “Born Pink” World Tour. The song solidified itself as part of the setlist for the rest of the tour. In a behind-the-scenes video on her YouTube channel, Jennie gave us insight on the song: “I did the recording about 3-4 years ago…It was in the closet for a while, but, while I was preparing for this concert, I thought about what kind of performances and songs I wanted to do and looked through songs with Teddy. We decided to bring out that song we liked and that’s when we started to prepare for it.” TEDDY is one of the writers and producers who worked on “You & Me” alongside 24, Danny Chung and Vince.
On the first listen, “You & Me” is not what one might expect. The song begins with an instrumental that gives off summer vibes with the chords and snaps setting up for a cute pop song. Then, she begins singing, and it is all downhill from there. It’s not that her singing or her voice was bad. Rather it’s how she sang.
The rhythm at which she sings does not match the song at all. The delivery of the lyrics doesn’t flow very well, constantly keeping listeners guessing as to how she would sing the next lines, making it not very catchy. After the first verse, the beat drop is a sound bite of glass breaking before the instrumental completely changes into a bass-boosted club song out of nowhere. Beat drops and loud bass lines are great, but the average “construction music” stan has to agree that they didn’t make sense with where the song seemed to be going. The vibe doesn’t match at all throughout the song. The beginning makes you feel like it’s supposed to be a wholesome summer love song, but then, the chorus throws you for a loop and makes you think it’s supposed to be a sexy club song — both of which are executed poorly.
Now onto the subject of the lyrics themselves: one would think that the lyrics could make the song better, but they don’t enhance the number like one would hope. Jennie’s lyrics tell an incoherent story. The narrative of the song is conflicting, going back and forth from her singing that her lover is perfect for her to singing that her lover will never find someone better than her. Fans aren’t expecting jaw-dropping, Taylor Swift-esque lyricism, but lyrics that make sense are the bare minimum, and the song isn’t even able to give them that.
Verdict: All in all, “You & Me” by Jennie is a song that can be skipped — if you ever miss Jennie, just pretend it’s 2018 again and listen to “SOLO” on repeat, or just listen to BLACKPINK songs that actually showcase Jennie’s talent.
