Alter Ego generally received mixed-to-positive reviews with critics praising its strong pop production, versatility, and charisma, though the album's lack of cohesion and identity received criticism.
Background
In December 2023, Lisa announced her departure from YG Entertainment for her solo work, while remaining with YG to continue her activities as a member of Blackpink.[1] She established her own management company named Lloud in February 2024 and signed with RCA Records in April to release solo music in partnership with Lloud.[2][3] In May 2024, Legend Music Studio in Phuket, Thailand posted a photo with Lisa on Facebook and shared that RCA Records flew in a team including "one of the best vocal producers in the world" to record several tracks with the singer at the studio.[4] Lisa first teased the title of her upcoming album in the music video for the single "New Woman" in August, in which multiple women were shown reading a magazine named Alter Ego.[5] In an interview for her Billboard cover story in November, she shared that she was working hard on the album "trying to figure it out, the track list and everything, what I can change in there" and played some of the unfinished songs for the reporter.[6]
Concept and title
Lisa explores five different inner personas on Alter Ego, each of which have their own names and character traits.[7] The five "alter egos", named Roxi, Kiki, Vixi, Sunni, and Speedi, correspond to various tracks on the album and feature on physical versions with their own cover art.[8] According to Lisa, the concept came about as she was "trying so many different kinds of music styles while I was recording." Wanting to incorporate various genres into one album, she thought, "Oh, well I’ve never done this kind of stuff before, but it sounds great. Why not just kind of like put all the different styles into the album and call it Alter Ego?"[7] The album's promotional campaign uses a five-point star as a recurring emblem to represent the five alter egos, while its trailer video features the rapper in five locations, one for each persona: a black rock structure, an outer-space catwalk, an enchanted garden, a green laser-beam motorcycle track, and a volcanic red runway.[9]
The first alter ego, Roxi, is inspired by the song "Rockstar" and is depicted on cover art holding a guitar in an enchanted garden, with an accompanying description describing her as a rockstar that lives to "entertain and always command the stage".[10] The second alter ego, Sunni, deriving from "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)", is a free-spirited French speaker with brown curly hair who has a "je ne sais quoi for sun-kissed days and sea-breezy nights".[11] The third alter ego, Kiki, based on "New Woman", is an Internet lover with a sassy Y2K aesthetic who can be found "burning CDs or finding something new to obsess over" and is styled with pink hair and a pink wardrobe.[12] The fourth alter ego, Speedi, corresponding to "Lifestyle", is a sports car driver with bright orange hair who is "built for the rush, wired for the win" and has "just installed the NOS kit" in her car.[13] The fifth alter ego, Vixi, accompanies the song "Fxck Up the World" and is "the one they love to call the 'Villain'".[14] The album's official tie-in comic, Alter-Ego: The Official Comic, features the five alter egos as friends in a cyberpunk city, working together to save Vixi from being trapped in virtual reality.[15]
Promotion and release
After the release of the yet-unannounced album's first three singles, Lisa launched the Lisa Fan Meetup in Asia 2024 tour, which spanned five cities including Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kaohsiung, and Hong Kong, in November 2024.[16] On November 11, during the first night of the fan meet tour, a snippet of a cinematic teaser video, which featured Lisa playing guitar against a desolate cyberpunk landscape and summoning a ray of purple light from the sky, was released.[17] The teaser's caption revealed one letter of the project's title.[18] A week-long countdown that was due to end on November 19 also appeared on Lisa's website.[18] Further segments of the teaser were later released during the tour, each revealing another letter of the project's name. After the final Hong Kong show on November 19, Lisa premiered the full three-minute trailer and officially announced that her first studio album Alter Ego would be released on February 28, 2025.[19] She also revealed the album's cover art, which featured a close-up photo of Lisa in a black hood bringing her manicured hand to her face.[9]
On January 6, 2025, Lisa posted a short video clip of a text exchange featuring an "alter ego" with the caption: "Roxi has entered the chat." The video ended by pinpointing a distinct location corresponding to the character, while she unveiled the description and album cover art for the character on her website; she repeated the same process to reveal the remaining alter egos Sunni, Kiki, Speedi, and Vixi.[10] On February 18, Lisa announced the launch of her comic company Lalisa Comics in partnership with Zero Zero Entertainment.[20] The company's first release will be a limited edition 56-page graphic novel titled Alter-Ego: The Official Comic, a companion piece to the album authored by Lisa and illustrated by Minomiyabi set for release on March 24.[21] On February 21, Lisa posted a video revealing the album tracklist, in which she takes a seat with her different alter egos over a snippet of the song "Fxck Up the World".[22]
The album's February 28 release date coincided with the running airdates of the third season of the HBO TV series The White Lotus, where Lisa made her acting debut.[23] As a result, Lisa has extensively promoted her album together with her role on the series, providing interviews with online and radio talk shows, such as Hot Ones,[24]Woody FM,[25]Vogue'sWhat's in My Bag?,[26] and BBC Radio 1.[27] She has also been featured on interviews with magazines such as Vanity Fair,[28]Elle,[29] and Billboard, the last of which featured her on ten different covers around the world as the publication's first-ever global cover star.[30]
Singles
Five singles supported Alter Ego. The lead single, "Rockstar", was released on June 27, 2024.[31] The song debuted at number four on the Billboard Global 200 and number one on the Global Excl. US, earning Lisa her third top-ten hit on the former and her first chart-topper on the latter.[32] It also became her highest-charting entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 70.[33] The album's second single, "New Woman" featuring Rosalía, was released on August 15.[34] It debuted at number 15 on the Billboard Global 200,[35] number six on the Global Excl. US, becoming Lisa's fourth top-ten hit,[36] and number 97 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[37] The third single, "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)", was released on October 3.[38] The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Global 200[35] and number 14 on the Global Excl. US.[39] The fourth single, "Born Again" featuring Doja Cat and Raye, was released on February 6, 2025.[40] It debuted at number 22 on the Billboard Global 200,[35] number 12 on the Global Excl. US,[39] and number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100.[37] "Fxck Up the World" featuring Future was released as the fifth single alongside the album's release on February 28.[41]
Live performances
On September 11, 2024, Lisa debuted "New Woman" and "Rockstar" at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards in Elmont, New York.[42] She presented both songs and "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)" before its release as a headliner for the Global Citizen Festival in New York City on September 28.[43] On October 15, she performed "Rockstar" and "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)" at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2024.[44] She also showcased the three singles on the Lisa Fan Meetup in Asia 2024 tour, which comprised five shows between November 11 and 19.[45] On New Year's Eve, Lisa performed "Rockstar", "New Woman", and the "Santa Baby" remix of "Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)" as a headliner for Amazing Thailand Countdown 2025 in Bangkok.[46]
Writing for Rolling Stone, Maura Johnston scored Alter Ego 3.5 out of 5 stars and praised it for its showcase of Lisa's "sturdy yet winsome singing" and versatility as an artist, as highlighted by the record's multi-persona concept, but commented on it "feeling a bit pieced-together".[49]Associated Press's Elise Ryan similarly lauded the album for its "chameleonic adoption of styles" and "interesting pop productions" but criticized it for being too "feature-heavy", which detracts from clearly introducing Lisa to its listeners.[51] Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian also found fault with Alter Ego being packed with multiple styles and guests artists, declaring that the collaborators stand out more in the album than Lisa herself.[47] In contrast, NME's Crystal Bell noted that Lisa's best works on Alter Ego stemmed from her collaborations; however, she criticized the album as a whole to be a project that embraced variety, spectacle, and sonic experimentation rather than cohesion, artistic vision, or deeper insight into Lisa's identity.[48] In a mixed three-star review for The Times, Will Hodgkinson contextualized the album as a result of K-pop's rigorous training system, summarizing Alter Ego's "ruthless efficiency" to be "a distillation of every popular style of modern times, repackaged and scrubbed up for an audience who like their idols flawless and impenetrable".[50]
↑ "블랙핑크, 팀 활동만 YG서…지수·제니·리사·로제 개별 계약 않기로(종합)"[Blackpink, Team Activities Only with YG… Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa, Rosé Not to Sign Individual Contracts (Comprehensive)]. Newsis (in Korean). December 29, 2023. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023– via Naver.
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