Ruby (Jennie album)

Ruby is the debut solo studio album by South Korean singer and rapper Jennie. Released on March 7, 2025, by Odd Atelier and Columbia Records, the album marks Jennie's first solo release after departing from YG Entertainment in 2023. Jennie wrote and co-produced Ruby with a range of collaborators, including El Guincho, Diplo, and Mike Will Made It. Consisting of fifteen tracks, the album features collaborations with Childish Gambino, Doechii, Dominic Fike, FKJ, Dua Lipa and Kali Uchis. Exploring genres such as pop, hip-hop and R&B, the subject matter of the album is based around Jennie's relationships, influence and success.
Ruby received generally favorable reviews from critics, with praise going to Jennie's versatility, performance, and viability as a solo artist, as well as the album's cohesion and experimental nature. Upon release, the album sold more than one million copies worldwide and debuted in the top ten in more than 19 countries including Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States. Ruby sold more than 660,000 copies in its first week in South Korea, which marked the highest first-week album sales for a K-pop female solo artist in 2025. It also debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the highest-ranked album by a K-pop female soloist and tying for the highest-ranked album overall by a K-pop solo artist.
The album was supported by five singles: "Mantra", "Love Hangover", "ExtraL", "Like Jennie", and "Handlebars". "Mantra" and "Like Jennie" reached the top five of the Billboard Global 200 and South Korea's Circle Digital Chart and topped charts in several countries, while all singles peaked within the top 30 of the Global 200 and entered the US Billboard Hot 100. In promotion of the record, Jennie embarked on the Ruby Experience, a four-city run of five intimate shows starting on March 6, and will perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
In December 2023, it was announced Jennie had founded her own record label, Odd Atelier, following her departure from YG Entertainment for solo activities. During her guest appearance on The Seasons: Lee Hyo-ri's Red Carpet in January 2024, Jennie revealed her goal was to release a full-length album that year. South Korean news outlets reported in March of the same year she would release a new album in June. Odd Atelier denied the rumors, stating Jennie was currently working on the album with no scheduled release date. Following their April 2024 collaboration "Spot!", South Korean rapper Zico revealed to Billboard he had "the chance to peek at Jennie's to-be-released solo track demos" and that there were "so many good ones". In May 2024, while attending the Met Gala's Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, she spoke with Vogue and teased her upcoming album, stating: "I also have a lot more coming with my album, wink, wink." On June 20 of the same year, an advertisement video starring Jennie for the Beats Solo Buds was unveiled, featuring a solo track by her, presumed to be on her upcoming album. In the song, she raps over a trap beat about taking back her narrative and standing up for herself.
In September 2024, it was announced Jennie had signed a recording contract with Columbia Records, in partnership with Odd Atelier. In an October 2024 cover story feature for Harper's Bazaar, she discussed her experience working on the album, sharing she was in the studio going over lyrics and "cutting, cutting, cutting" vocals from "morning to night." The following month, she announced the album would be released in 2025, through a Weverse post. Jennie further teased the album's 2025 release in a holiday greeting video on Christmas Day 2024, stating she had "satisfactory results from 11 months of work" and that it will be "a little bit of everything for everyone. It's like a buffet for you guys." In January 2025, Jennie was featured in a cover story for Billboard, where she discussed her album preparations, stating she was "almost there" in terms of its release.
Ruby consists of fifteen tracks and features appearances by Childish Gambino, Doechii, Dominic Fike, FKJ, Dua Lipa and Kali Uchis. Jennie recorded the album primarily in English and described it as a way of "bringing myself to the world for the first time". Her intention was to complete herself on the record as "Jennie Ruby Jane, for that to be a whole person", referring to the name of the alter ego she invented when she lived in New Zealand as a child. The album was inspired by William Shakespeare's play As You Like It (1599) and carries themes of "birth, love, faith, and pinnacle." Inspired by the play aspect, the cover depicts Jennie opening a theater curtain, which symbolizes the beginning of a new chapter in her musical career. Shakespeare's concept of the seven stages of life from As You Like It resonated with the singer and led her to explore those emotions on the album, ranging from "innocence and love to power, reflection and legacy". She hoped to inspire other young women with the album, with one of its key messages being "to understand and stick [up] for who you are".
Following the conclusion of Blackpink's Born Pink World Tour in September 2023, Jennie established her own independent label Odd Atelier in November and began working on the album at the start of 2024. She recorded "99%" of the project in Los Angeles and had to spend time at first building a new creative network and meeting with producers and writers. The artist admitted it took several months of "throwing myself out there, walking into rooms filled with new people" until she came across a "good group of people that I linked with, sonically and as friends". She was able to find her sound and landed on the song "Mantra", which became the album's lead single.
The album has been described by Jennie to span a "range of genres". She utilized a mix of varying vocal styles on the record, stating: "I'm playing with a lot of different genres and elements — I'm rapping here, I'm singing here, I'm harmonizing here, I'm talking here..." Jennie took a hands-on approach to production on the album to "more effectively convey her identity and infinite musical potential."
On January 21, 2025, Jennie officially announced her debut studio album Ruby for a March 7 release. The announcement was accompanied by the official cover art for the album as well as a 33-second trailer video, which revealed the list of featured artists. A version of the album known as "Jennie Only Audio" was also announced without the featured artists. On January 25, a music video for "Zen" was published on YouTube. Jennie revealed the album tracklist on February 18. She released an album sampler video on February 27 featuring the singer in various visual concepts over snippets of songs from the album.
"Mantra" was released as the album's lead single on October 11, 2024. The song was commercially successful, peaking at number one in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and numbers two and three, respectively on Billboard's Global Excl. US and Global 200. The song also peaked at number three on South Korea's Circle Digital Chart, and within the top-ten in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and the Middle East. A second single titled "Love Hangover" featuring Fike was released on January 31, 2025, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 35 on the Circle Digital Chart. The album's third single, "ExtraL" featuring Doechii, was released on February 21, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 42 on the Circle Digital Chart.
"Like Jennie" was released as the fourth single alongside the album's release on March 7, 2025. It was a commercial success and peaked at number one in Hong Kong and Malaysia, number three on the Circle Digital Chart, and numbers three and five on the Billboard Global Excl. US and Global 200 respectively. "Handlebars" was sent to US contemporary hit radio as the album's fifth single on March 11, and was released to Italian radio by Sony Music Italy three days later. A music video was released on March 10. The song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 68 on the Circle Digital Chart.
Jennie promoted the album with various performances, starting with scheduled appearances on the American late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the South Korean music programs M Countdown and Show! Music Core, and the 2024 Superpop Japan music festival following the release of the album's lead single "Mantra". A live performance video of Ruby's next single "Love Hangover" was published on Jennie's official YouTube channel. Following the album's release, Jennie recorded live performances of "Like Jennie" and "Handlebars" for Billboard's Iconic Stage as its first featured act.
She is set to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13 and 20, 2025.
The Ruby Experience was the first concert tour by Jennie. In support of the album Ruby, Jennie performed a four-city run of five intimate shows between March 6 and 21, 2025. Originally announced as a three-show series, the mini-tour later scheduled additional shows in Los Angeles and Paris. It was praised by critics for its experimental and cinematic production.
This setlist was taken from the March 6, 2025, concert in Los Angeles. It is not intended to represent all concerts for the tour.
Ruby generally received positive reviews from critics. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Ruby received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 from five critic scores. The album received a four out of five star rating from NME's Crystal Bell, who lauded Ruby for its showcase of Jennie's charisma, "self-assured" artistic intent, and vocal range. Clash's Maria Leticia Gomes labeled the album as "an exhilarating listen" that expanded Jennie's artistry. Likewise, Maria Sherman of Associated Press commended the record for its "ambitious and glossy" effort in exploring different facets of Jennie's personality, dubbing Ruby "a kaleidoscope of different sounds [..] full of incongruous, polished pleasures." In a review for Rolling Stone, Maura Johnston scored Ruby three and a half out of five stars, summarizing it as a "fast-moving good time" with its "impressive ability to command" the R&B-pop genre.
Offering a more mixed review, The New York Times's Jon Caramanica praised Ruby for its sonic exploration but criticized its collaborations for their lack of chemistry.
On March 4, 2025, it was reported Ruby had amassed 450,000 pre-orders worldwide. The album sold more than one million copies in its first week of release and entered the top ten in 19 countries including South Korea, Australia, and the United States. In South Korea, the album sold more than 660,000 copies in its first week according to data from the Hanteo Chart, marking the highest first-week album sales for a K-pop female solo artist in 2025. It also debuted at number two on the Circle Album Chart, recording 595,900 copies sold in two days of tracking. In Australia, the album debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart, behind Lady Gaga's Mayhem (2025). With this debut, Ruby tied bandmate Rosé's Rosie (2024) as the highest-charting album by a female K-pop soloist on the chart. The placement was Jennie's third top-two album in Australia after Blackpink's The Album (2020) and Born Pink (2022). In the United Kingdom, Ruby debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart, surpassing Rosé's Rosie as the highest-charting album by a female K-pop soloist on the chart. She also tied Jung Kook's Golden (2023) for the highest-charting album by any K-pop solo artist. Jennie previously entered the top-two with Blackpink's albums The Album and Born Pink. In the United States, Ruby debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with 56,000 album-equivalent units sold in its first week. Of that total, 26,500 were album sales, resulting in the album's debut in the second place on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. It also achieved 29,000 streaming equivalent albums (from 39.93 million on-demand official streams), leading to a number 13 debut on the Billboard Top Streaming Albums chart, and 500 track equivalent albums. With this debut, Jennie became the third member of Blackpink to achieve a top-ten album in the US, after Rosé's Rosie and Lisa's Alter Ego (2025).
Notes
Credits adapted from Tidal