How You Like That
"How You Like That" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on June 26, 2020, through YG Entertainment, YG Plus and Interscope Records, as the first pre-release single from the group's debut studio album, The Album (2020). The Japanese version of the single was released through Interscope Records and Universal Music Japan on July 27, 2021. An EDM, hip hop, trap, club and pop song, it was co-written by Danny Chung, R. Tee, 24, and Teddy, while the latter produced the song.
"How You Like That"
"How You Like That" was a commercial success in South Korea and peaked at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart for three weeks, marking Blackpink's third number-one single in the country. It peaked at number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Blackpink's second top-40 hit and tying as the highest-charting song by a female K-pop act in the country. The song also topped the national charts in Hungary, Singapore, and Malaysia as well as Billboard's K-pop Hot 100 and World Digital Songs charts, and figured within the record charts in 26 other countries. The song was certified diamond in Brazil, double platinum in Canada, platinum in South Korea, Japan, and Australia, and silver in the United Kingdom, while the physical version was also certified platinum in South Korea for surpassing 250,000 units sold.
The music video for the song, directed by Seo Hyun-seung, set various records on YouTube upon its release. It garnered the highest number of views during a premiere, the most views for a music video within 24 hours—with 86.3 million views—and became the fastest video to reach 100 million and 200 million views on the platform. It also became one of the most-liked videos on YouTube with over 24 million likes. Both the song's music video and dance performance video achieved one billion views on YouTube, and it became the first song by a K-pop girl group to reach one billion streams on Spotify. "How You Like That" won numerous accolades, including Song of Summer at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Dance Award for a female group at both the 2020 Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Background and release[edit]
On May 4, 2020, it was reported that the group had finished recording their new album and were working on a schedule to shoot a music video later that month.[1] On May 18, YG Entertainment shared an update on the project, projected for a June 2020 release, and revealed that more than ten songs were expected for their first full-length album.[2] On June 10, YG Entertainment released the teaser poster to the single on social media and confirmed the comeback date to be June 26.[3] Three days later, YG Entertainment released a prologue of the group's newest reality show, 24/365 with Blackpink, ahead of its launch on July 4,[4] via YouTube. The show documents their comeback alongside sharing their lives through vlogs.[5] According to member Jisoo in the prologue of 24/365 with Blackpink, the song represented a move from previous "powerful" music, describing it as more "swag".[6]
On June 15, YG Entertainment released individual posters of the members.[7] The teaser video was released on June 21,[8] while the official group teaser poster was revealed the following day.[9] The music video teaser was released on June 24, and the song officially premiered on June 26, 2020, after an hour-long live countdown.[10] A physical version of the single was released on July 17, 2020, featuring the song and its instrumental.[11]
Composition[edit]
"How You Like That" was written by Teddy, Danny Chung, R. Tee, 24 and produced by the later three. Musically, "How You Like That" is an EDM,[12][13] hip hop,[14] trap, club[15] and pop song[16] about "not being daunted by dark situations and to not lose the confidence and strength to stand up again".[17] A "thrillingly bombastic lead single", Billboard wrote, the track "fuses pop, trap and hip-hop with regal horn blasts and a braggadocious hook."[18] In terms of musical notation, the song is set in the key of D♯ Phrygian[19] at 130 beats per minute in common time.[20]
Commercial performance[edit]
In South Korea, the song debuted at number 12 on the Gaon Digital Chart issue dated June 21–27 with less than two days of tracking.[57] The following week (June 28 – July 4) it rose to number one, making it Blackpink's third single to do so, after "Whistle" (2016) and "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" (2018).[58] It remained atop the chart for three weeks and became the first song by the group since "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" to top the Gaon Monthly chart.[59] The physical version of the single debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart, and peaked at number one the following week.[60] It sold 302,377 copies in 2020 and was certified Platinum by the Korea Music Content Association.[61] The song entered the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 chart issue dated June 27 at number 50, and reached number one the following week on the issue dated July 4.[62][63] In Japan, the single debuted at number 24 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart with 8,219 downloads sold and 1,804,749 streams in its first three days.[64][65][66] It debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 with 3,952 estimated units, and peaked at number eight the following week with 6,321 estimated units.[67][68] The song peaked at number one in Malaysia and Singapore for eight weeks each, and was the highest-selling song of 2020 in Malaysia.[69]
In the United States, "How You Like That" debuted at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with "Sour Candy" as the highest-charting song by a female Korean act at that time.[70] It debuted at number two on the Digital Song Sales chart with 16,400 copies sold and at number 18 on the Streaming Songs chart.[71][72] The song also reached the top twenty in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Hungary, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Scotland. The track reached 38.9 million streams in the UK as of September 2022, becoming the group's third most streamed song in the country.[73] Globally, "How You Like That" debuted at number five and peaked at number two on the daily Spotify Global Chart, breaking the record for the biggest girl group debut in Spotify history.[74] Following the chart's launch in September, "How You Like That" charted on the Billboard Global 200 for 34 weeks, becoming the third longest-charting song by a K-pop act as well as the longest-charting song among all female K-pop acts.[75] In 2021, the song became the first by a female Korean group to surpass 500 million streams on Spotify.[76] In 2024, "How You Like That" reached one billion streams on Spotify, marking the first-ever K-pop girl group to reach the milestone and only the second K-pop female act after member Lisa's song "Money" did so in 2023.[77][78]
Covers and other usage[edit]
In October 2020, the song was performed by Everglow during the second season of KCON:TACT’s live online concert.[89] In December 2022, Nmixx performed a cover of the song at the 2022 SBS Gayo Daejeon.[90] The song made an appearance in the 10th episode of the first season of the Disney+ series Big Shot titled Marvyn's Playbook, which was broadcast on June 18, 2021.[91] It was also used in the initial trailer of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania during an interview with directors Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska.[92] In 2023, "How You Like That" was featured in a commercial for the Google Pixel 8 smartphone[93] and was added to the main tracklist of the video game Just Dance 2024 Edition.[94]
Credits adapted from liner notes from How You Like That (booklet) and Tidal.[95][96] Recorded at YG Entertainment.