In the battle of Rosé’s APT. vs Jennie’s Mantra, who takes the crown? With both of the catchy tunes having dominated soundwaves across the world, it’s hard to nail down a winner. We find out which one is ahead on streaming numbers, and more.
The BLACKPINK girls are now dominating the music charts with their solo hits. After only two studio albums in the past eight years, BLINKs (BLACKPINK fans) are finally receiving new music.
In October, three of the four members of the girl group released new music. At the beginning of the month, Lisa released her third solo song from her own label LLOUD, “Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me)”. She also performed it at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2024. However, the song was influenced by Sixpence None The Richers’s 1997 hit “Kiss Me”.
On the other hand, Jennie‘s “Mantra” and Rosé’s “APT.” are two brand-new songs pitted against each other in the Mnet M Countdown. Both songs have also landed on the Billboard Hot 100, proof positive that they are hot and loved among listeners! Today, we are looking at APT by Rosé vs Mantra by Jennie to truly find out which song is better.
Rosé’s APT. vs Jennie’s Mantra: Battle of the tracks
Jennie — Mantra
For her solo projects, Jennie founded her own record label called Odd Atelier which is in partnership with Colombia Records. It’s her first track from her own label and also the lead single of her upcoming debut solo album. This song is a bit different from the rapper’s previous works. Jennie described the song as a “fun, upbeat anthem that celebrates girl power and inspires every woman to shine in her own way with confidence.”
In the hyper-feminine boss girl track by the girls and for the girls, Jennie sings, “Pretty girls don’t do drama / unless they wanna / it’d be depending on the day.”
“Mantra” is Jennie’s take on bratty pop that was very popular in summer 2024, thanks to Charlie XCX’s album Brat. She teased the song with a video of her captioning “☎️ PRE-TTY-GIRL” on IG. The song was released on October 11 2024.
The music video for “Mantra” exudes unapologetically cool vibes, and even features a blonde Jennie in full sass mode.
Rosé and Bruno Mars — APT.
“APT.” is a collaboration between labelmates Rosé and Bruno Mars. In an interview with Z100 New York, Rosé told the story behind the song’s creation. She said that she went to a Mars concert about a year ago in Seoul and realised she is a huge fan of his music. So, after signing with Atlantic Records, she enquired with management as to whether he was interested in collaborating. He asked her to send him some songs, and when he learnt “APT.” was about a Korean drinking game, he was immediately sold on the idea.
Along with several other songwriters, Bruno Mars and Rosé both received co-writing credits for “APT.” They even starred in a fun 90s-style music video filled with bubblegum pink and rocker vibes. The duo also cheekily teased the song on Instagram by sharing some pictures of them having fun. The song was released on October 18 2024.
The “APT.” music video is one of the most fun MVs we’ve watched in a while. It has an extremely catchy tune with a punk rock/pop vibe. Suffice to say, after watching the retro funk-inspired video, we deduced that no one is immune from doing the head-nod step every time the chorus comes up.
Rosé’s APT. vs Jennie’s Mantra: Chart battle (as of October 31, 2024)
Name of the achievement | Rosé’s APT. (Peak positions) | Jennie’s Mantra (Peak positions) |
Billboard Hot 100 debut (US) | 8 | 98 |
Billboard Malaysia debut | 1 | 2 |
YouTube Top 100 Music Videos Global | 1 | 1 |
Billboard Global 200 | 1 | 3 |
M Countdown | Won (October 25, 2024) | Won (October 17, 2024) |
Billboard Hong Kong | 1 | 1 |
Circle Digital Charts Korea | 17 | 5 |
Billboard Singapore | 1 | 2 |
Billboard Japan | 5 | 45 |
Spotify Top 50 (Global) | 1 | 5 |
Spotify streaming numbers (1st week) | 85.52 million | 22 million (approx) |
YouTube views | 203 M (after 12 days) | 72 million (after 19 days) |
The world is big enough for two major releases within a week. “Mantra” and “APT” are two very different songs with very distinctive vibes. From a listener’s perspective, “Mantra” is a strong anthem for girl power that echoes some of BLACKPINK’s best boss girl tracks like “Typa Girl”, “Pretty Savage”, “Shut Down”, and more. While it is more familiar, it is no less enjoyable.
On the other hand, “APT.” is the kind of song that gets stuck in your head, leaving you unable to stop humming its catchy tune. It’s a very fun track born from a fresh new idea. It’s a great party song, or even as background music as you play the game associated with it with friends. So far “APT.” has outperformed “Mantra” in terms of numbers. Nevertheless, it’s a good time to be a BLINK. Maybe have a girls’ night and play them both.
(Main and featured image: J/Instagram and IMDb)
This story first appeared here.