It is Rosé’s turn, and it is a single to outdo her group mates’

One release after another from the girls who are now singing mostly solo. Members of Blackpink have been rather productive this past months, at least three of them. First there was Lisa’s Rockstar, then Jennie’s Mantra, now it’s Rosé (aka Roseanne Chae-young Park) with a new single, APT. It is rather a bumper crop for the girls-as-soloists considering how infrequent their fans are treated to new songs (nothing from Jisoo yet). Rosé latest is, to be sure, not technically a solo effort since she sings with Bruno Mars, but it is, to us, far more compelling than Lisa and Rosalía’s New Woman, a title that could have been nicked from a supermarket tabloid. Yes, even better than Mr Mars’s duet with Lady Gaga, Die with a Smile.

Rosé sure knows how to intrigue. First, there is no rapping in the song, just singing that shows her clear vocals, which to us, is the best among the quartet. Then there is the title: APT. You would not be wrong to think it’s the abbreviation of ‘apartment’. But the opening apateu, apateu, apateu would likely leave you clueless. It prompted us to ask, apa tu, apa tu, apa tu? Admittedly, we are not big follower of K-pop. So we had to look it up. We are told APT is inspired by a Korean game called apateu geim (아파트 게임). How it is played, we have no idea. That’d be going too far. Rosé told Vogue that APT is inspired by her favourite drinking game. Is alcohol involved? She did not say. But, she did enthuse: “I remember going home [from the studio] kind of freaked out. Is this OK, that I’ve written a song about a drinking game.” (Can’t be worse of than Jennie actually vaping.) What the objective of the game is or if losing will cause embarrassment, she did not enlighten.

APT is one of those rare infectious songs, with a tinge of retro melodic styling, that quickly sticks with you when you first hear it. The repeat of apateu reminds us of a very old song—Tony Basil’s Hey Mickey (three syllables too!) from 1982. So does the rhythm and the beat, which very much recall B52 and the Japanese band, Plastics (the melody, especially), all references that many Gen-Zers would draw a blank, which possibly make APT all the more appealing. According to news reports, the single is the most liked and the quickest duet to surpass 10 million views—in less than three days—on YouTube this year. That means it beat Taylor Swift and Post Malone’s far less energetic Fortnight.

It helped that the accompanying music video of APT is immensely watchable, too. Rosé looking cute, although in a tough get-up of leather jacket and skirt (heavy with hardware on the waist), helped. She did not try too hard to come across as a rockstar (and APT is no mantra!). No hard-sell sexiness either. Rather, just the video’s pink patina that suggests her name. Her wavy blond bob, too, is fetching and works with the bopping around she does, even when she is playing the guitar (she is working on the drums too). And she uses a microphone, convincingly, performing like she is singing into it, not lip-syncing. Another retro touch, which, to us, completes the track that suggests songwriting of a different era, while amplifying the indie-pop vibe Rosé so passionately projects. A prelude to better tunes to come, we hope.

Update (9 November 2024, 18:15): APT has skyrocketed past 300 million views on YouTube in 22+ days, exceeding Psy’s Gentleman, which was accomplished in 25, Korean media has been reporting with understandable pride

Screen shots: rosé/YouTube