Ruby

Another “BLACKPINK” Member has a Solo Album? Sure I guess I’ll give another shot to that.

This time, the BLACKPINK member we have today is “Jennie” and she is the last one of the 4 members in their group to release their own 1st solo album. This is a weird comparison, but it reminds me a lot of when the classic members of “KISS” all released a solo album in 1978 to see who was the most successful as a solo artist. I mean… the similarities are there aren’t they?

I’m not going to go too deep into BLACKPINK again as I’m not really into their music much if at all (…ANNNDDD here come the death threats from the die-hards), but I will note that when I reviewed the solo album from other BLACKPINK member “Rosé” last year (See My Review in December 2024 if You’re curious), I actually thought it was a pretty ok release that was different from the usual BLACKPINK shenanigans.

Now I did see that the other BLACKPINK member “Lisa” released her solo album earlier this year in February, but I may add that one as a catch-up later due to the fact that it was far less well-received compared to the other three (and also because that week was hella busy), but this one so far has been the most liked & positively received of the 4 albums from each of the gals, so hey, how does Jennie do with her solo debut album “Ruby” here?

Ok, from my limited understanding (apologies if I’m incorrect), Jennie is the member of BLACKPINK who mostly does the rapping sections of their songs, but with this album she throws in a lot of unique curveballs on here from what she’s usually known for.
She does have her tracks where she has a rapping flow and her speed, but she’s going more out of her comfort zone vocally when it comes to her singing melodies and the more ballad focused tracks on the album.

But to me one of my absolute favourite things about this album is the guest feature list she’s gotten for it. ‘Doechii’ on “ExtraL” (Which is probably my fav of the album), ‘Dominic Fike’ on “Love Hangover,” ‘Dua Lipa’ on “Handlebars” and a double feature with ‘Childish Gambino’ and ‘Kali Uchis’ on “Damn Right.” This is quite big compared to ‘Rosé’s release that was almost entirely by herself with just ‘Bruno Mars’ on ‘Apt.’

But even then when she is by herself, she does quite a great job most of the time. “like JENNIE,” “Mantra,” “Filter,” “ZEN” and the acoustic closer “twin” in particular are shockingly good tracks, and even though this album does have a few tracks from her that I may skip on full album relistens like “F.T.S,” “with the IE (Way Up)” and “Seoul City,” the album never falls into outright bad or frustratingly boring territory. Plus this album being only 40+ minutes in length makes sitting through those weaker moments much more manageable.

This album production-wise and musically was also quite good, even though it is K-Pop just like BLACKPINK, it feels different thanks to Jennie showing off a bit more and those guest features. And unlike that Rosé solo album which was much more personal and serious under the silly party jam of ‘APT’, Jennie has a great mix of being both provocative/sexy and serious (topics relating to fame, influence & relationships) across the Whole album this time.

But otherwise, yeah that’s all I really have to say about Jennie on here.
She clearly has a lot of great range as a solo artist and this is easily the best album I’ve heard from the… ummm…. ‘BLACKPINK Cinematic Music Universe?’ Well, whatever this is the best project I’ve heard related to the girl group, and I’d certainly recommend this to those who want something different from BLACKPINK. Just like how ‘Ace Frehley’ stood out from ‘KISS’ on his 1st solo album, Jennie makes herself stand out from BLACKPINK on here.
But hey all those diehard fans will also really like this solo release, and well even if I don’t get hooked into her famous group, I’ll be interested when she releases another solo album for sure.

As long as I don’t get death threats from the fanbase for giving it a strong 7 to a light 8 at least.