When
BLACKPINK announced that three of its members would be issuing their debut albums, many Blinks looked to
ROSÉ to lead the charge. And lead she did: 2024's "APT." became the fastest K-pop video in history to hit a billion views. It's about as hard an act to follow as you could imagine -- but on her first solo album,
Ruby,
BLACKPINK compatriot
JENNIE proves an equal powerhouse.
Ruby is strongest at its boldest. Opening hit "Like JENNIE" is a hurtling meteor of confidence -- "who else got `em obsessed like JENNIE?" -- with the idol placing herself at the forefront of the culture amid funk carioca drums and carving synths. A second hit appears quickly with the foot-forward "Mantra," whose "pretty girl mantra" seems set to replicate the success of
SSERAFIM's "Crazy" on the club circuit. There are room-clearing raps ("Start a War") and roof-raising chants ("ExtraL"), bold showings from
Doechii and
Dua, highlife parties and SUV squadrons; this is an album that thrives when things get fierce.
Yet in its more downtempo moments,
Ruby's writing proves a little less dependable. The directness that gives its hits their ballast can verge on barebones on the likes of "Seoul City" and "Damn Right," with the latter's "damn right, I did that, yeah" feeling especially underbaked. The melodically brilliant "F.T.S." falls down similarly, uniting acronyms with no throughline, while repeated "starlight, bright"s ironically dim the mood of "Starlight." Though there's plenty to love in the album's closer,
Ruby struggles to supply its more pensive moments with the right level of depth.
What's most interesting here is seeing
JENNIE come into the light as an auteur as much as an idol. K-pop's already thriving maximalism is put to the test on tracks like "Filter," which flips between genres and even time signatures as it flits between dream-like euphoria and standoffish self-confidence.
JENNIE's attention to detail here truly brings
Ruby to life, with the vocal textures she lays duet-like under every track, the sheer range of tones and voices she employs, and the shuddering
Gesaffelstein-like synth breakdown that splits "ZEN" in half.
JENNIE's solo debut is the most inventive of the
BLACKPINK solo efforts and all the more brilliant for it, carefully constructed and laden with showings of solo stardom. A little refinement in the writing room might be appreciated in the long term, but it's clear that
JENNIE has the vision to deliver something spectacular. ~ David Crone
