6 Ways LISA & JENNIE Shined (And Silenced Critics) With Their Coachella Solo Sets

While Alter Ego earned LISA a top 10 album on the Billboard 200 and three new hits on the Billboard Hot 100, some reviews called the concept “neutered” by letting guest stars overtake LISA’s spotlight. For her Coachella debut, each of the five sides Lisa introduced for the LP got a special moment to shine in the set’s five distinct acts with specific songs and moods set in each section.

After Coachella, fans have a more precise and visual understanding of each alter ego: the supervillain Vixi (represented by powerful opening songs like “Thunder” and “Fxck Up the World”), the curious Kiki (represented by her collabs with Rosalía and Tyla), hopeless romantic Sunni (“Moonlit Floor,” ” Dream”), confident and content Speedi (“Money,” “Born Again”) and, finally, the global superstar in Roxi (who closed the set with “Lifestyle” and “Rockstar”).

Other reviews for Alter Ego pointed to the record not sharing enough about LISA’s identity, but the entire Coachella production gave us insight into her growth.

In the opening visuals for her set, LISA is seen across video screens hoisted and held by humongous chains, arriving onstage secured atop a podium with chains, and her backup dancers move with chain links around their necks. The stage blacked out halfway through the opening number of “Thunder,” with all the chains removed from the stage so LISA and the crew could close the show unshackled.

After her chains were removed, each section displayed key words to give insight into where we were in this journey. “REDISCOVER” flashed across the screen when Act 2 began, before we moved into LISA discovering “THE DREAM” in the third act, getting “SUPERCHARGED” and “Testing the Limits” in Act 2, and finally finding herself as “THE ROCKSTAR” in the show’s final act.

While we didn’t get a biography’s worth of information about LISA, the show’s staging and visuals give more insight into her music career than most proper interviews. The full-package Coachella performance sets the stage for LISA the artist.

For too long, LISA downplayed her vocal abilities and kept the focus on her performance prowess. But Coachella included the live debuts of Alter Ego‘s softer tracks “Dream” and “Chill,” with the star slowing things down in her own performance to meet the moment. For this section, viewers were treated to a genuinely new side of LISA when she sat on the stage to deliver Alter Ego‘s moving closing track, “Dream,” live.

Despite the thousands in attendance, LISA bringing “Dream” to life felt like being inside an intimate diary entry as she punched through each poignant lyric: “Whenever I close my eyes, it’s taking me back in time/ Been drowning in dreams lately, like it’s 2019, baby.”

The undeniable emotion showed here felt like a breakthrough in seeing LISA as an even more all-rounder performer, but even more so as a vocalist. Technically speaking, anyone can sing a song, but it takes a true singer to make someone believe and connect with the words they sing.

According to this reporter’s count, JENNIE was rocking with around 20 dancers throughout her Sunday set. While the local Coachella newspaper, the Desert Sun, noted how the starlet has been “accused of dancing lazily” in past performances, the precision and intensity seen as she led the crew through songs like opener “Filter,” “with the IE (way up)” the various remixed dance sections in between songs, or her signature hit “like JENNIE” speak to a truly energized and bold performer who not only leads her dance crew, but manages to stand out as the undeniable leader.

Even Desert Sun later noted how “if you need evidence to sway someone in support of Jennie’s talent and energy, it’s worth looking to her performances of ‘Mantra,’ ‘ExtraL’ and ‘like Jennie’ during Weekend 1.”

When JENNIE celebrated her album with a select few concerts called The Ruby Experience, the showcase mostly went from the high-energy cuts to ending with the LP’s closing acoustic ballad “twin” while sitting in a cozy red chair. But with Coachella, the show’s energy and tempo greatly varied, spotlighting more of JENNIE’s vocal range.

While the 29-year-old may be more recognized for her intense rap style, since BLACKPINK’s 2016 debut with the double singles “BOOMBAYAH” and “Whistle,” the latter single allowed JENNIE several moments to show off her rich and impassioned singing style. JENNIE put “F.T.S.” right in the middle of her set and delivered emotional ad libs and harmonies throughout the cut, bringing real heart to the center of the performance.

The final two songs of the set probably best encapsulate the mix JENNIE displayed: the high-impact rap anthem “like JENNIE” was followed by the dreamy dance cut “Starlight,” where our diva began singing only accompanied by her keyboard player, before telling everyone to get ready to jump once the beat dropped before unleashing several growls and belts.

Both JENNIE and LISA got some flak for the large amount of features across their solo albums, with detractors ignoring the possibility of genuine artistic admiration and instead claiming they needed to lean on their collaborators. But if Kali Uchis’ heartfelt introduction for JENNIE at Billboard’s Women in Music event earlier this year didn’t convince you, we got to see the duo take their friendship to the stage at Coachella to perform Ruby’s album cut “Damn Right.”

Once Kali hit the stage for her verse, both women continuously served and swerved along to the song’s sensual atmosphere with playful hip sways together, shooting several smiles at one another. JENNIE gave a shout-out to her special guest multiple times throughout the set, and it looked like she couldn’t wait to give Uchis a huge hug when the song ended, shouting, “I love you so much, Kali, thank you!”

It’s no small feat to ask another musician to come join you in Indio, California, for a guest spot during your set, but getting to see the love JENNIE and Kali Uchis have for one another on the stage certainly will make haters think twice before saying collabs were nothing but industry-conjured connections.