Jennie (Blackpink) just released her first studio album "Ruby" on March 7. This is the first album the female singer released after leaving YG Entertainment to develop her solo career.
The album includes 15 songs, including 3 previously released songs: Mantra, Love Hangover featuring Dominic Fike and ExtraL featuring Doechii.
The 12 new songs are Intro: JANE with FKJ, Like JENNIE, Start a war, Handlebars featuring Dua Lipa, With the IE (way up), Zen, Damn Right featuring Childish Gambino and kali Uchis, F.T.S., Filter, Seoul City, Starlight and Twin.
To promote the new album, Jennie announced the organization of a series of concerts called The Ruby Experience in 3 cities Los Angeles (6-7.3), New York (10.3) and Seoul (15.3).
However, when Jennie's performance video at a Los Angeles concert was posted by fans on social media, it caused controversy.
Many netizens were surprised because Jennie wore so sexy outfits. Among them, there is a bold cut outfit, described as "seem like underwear".
The reaction of international netizens was quite enthusiastic, but Korean audiences had many mixed opinions. Some people thought Jennie's outfit was too revealing and offensive. Some others commented that these outfits did not match the female singer's figure.
In addition, there are still audiences defending Jennie, saying that she is performing in the US, so wearing sexy is normal.
Not only on stage, Jennie's style in the MVs "Mantra", "ExtraL" and "Like JENNIE" also shows that she is pursuing a sexy image when developing in the international market, especially the US.
The album Ruby is receiving many positive responses from audiences and critics. British music magazine NME rated the album 4/5 with many compliments.
According to NME, this was a bold, confident debut and redefined Jennie's identity. As a member of Blackpink, Jennie has long been known as a rapper in the Kpop world, but Ruby allowed her to express her identity as a singer, with rich R&B music.
NME assessed that the artists Jennie chose to collaborate on this album all have a purpose and effectiveness. They supplemented her rather than overshadowed her, ensuring that even if she shared the mic, she was still the center of attraction for every song.
The album Ruby has sold more than 386,000 copies in less than 1 day of release, making it the best-selling album by a female K-pop artist on Hanteo in 2025.
As of 10:00 p.m. on March 7 (Korean time), the title track Like JENNIE has climbed to No. 3 on the Bugs chart, No. 24 on Genie, No. 28 on the Melon Top 100 and No. 43 on Flo.
