Waited for months, or even more, for the return of Jennie as a solo artist is finally here. Freed from the shackles of YG Entertainment, the agency BLACKPINKshe unveils the track “Mantra” – first single of a new musical era presented as more mature and daring.
The solo flight (the real one?)
There is something to get lost in. In 2018, JENNIE unveils “SOLO” – minimalist anthem with an explicit title. Indeed, this is the first “solo” song from one of the four members of the super-group BLACKPINK. Even in its lyrics, the piece displays the artist’s desire for emancipation (which is however not credited in his writing). Composed and produced by Teddythe architect behind the sound identity of BLACKPINK“SOLO” hardly strays far from the dance and EDM shores that made the South Korean group famous. However, it allows its performer to position itself at the top of the rankings in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or even Malaysia and Japan (to name a few). The success of the single invited the label, YG Entertainment, to push the other members of the group to venture “solo”, Lisa with “MONEY” and Rosé with “On the Ground” in 2021, then Jisoo in 2023 with “FLOWER”. In finely honed marketing strategies, each of its songs highlights the talent practiced by each of the artists within BLACKPINK. So, Lisa is positioned as the official rapper of the quartet, Roséthe emotional singer and Jisoothe discreet figure with sustained melodies. Its various side steps thus reinforce the portraits of the artists painted by YG Entertainment and participate, in fineto strengthen the notoriety of BLACKPINK on the international scene (the first performance of the title “SOLO” by Jennie was also organized… in the middle of a concert of BLACKPINK). In fact, the practice is common in the K-Pop industry – the group aespa unveiled this October 9 a new opus composed solely of “solo” pieces by each of its four members.
Since 2018, the window in which was exhibited BLACKPINKthe most famous girl group in the world, has adorned itself with a few cracks. We remember in particular the remarkable passage of Jennie in the podcast of Dua Lipa, At Your Servicein July 2023. She then confided that she had not always liked rapping and that she had been forced to do so during her apprenticeship years: “When we first started, we did about 6 songs where I just rapped. Along the way, I got a little lost. The more I sang and the more I made music, the more I realized that I loved singing and playing with my voice. But I never had the opportunity to explore that side as a trainee, because I was told I had to be a rapper. So there was a point where I hated rapping. I was like, ‘This isn’t me, this isn’t the trip I imagined in my head. I don’t think I’m a rapper. So there was a period of burnout”. A speech reflecting the career of the Korean pop star, who then took off towards more Western lands, as illustrated by his participation in the American series The Idolacerbic satire of the music industry and its capitalist gurus.
