Mantra

The song

‘Mantra’ is a single Jennie released on 11 October 2024. NME reported that it was the first music she put out under Odd Atelier, the label she founded herself, and that it followed her partnership with Columbia Records. It was carried again as the seventh track of her first album, Ruby, the following March.

Reviews

IZM’s Lim Sun-hee reviewed the song ten days after release. The sound — a vocal close to mumble rap laid lightly over a steady beat built on claps — keeps its distance from the career so far, she wrote, and of the lyric: the release date set to the International Day of the Girl and the repeated “pretty girls” make plain who is being cheered on. Her review closes on the title: the mantra, a true word that ferments realisation and will, expands through Jennie’s hand into an anthem for women of this age.

Writing on the day of release for NME, Puah Ziwei called it “a confident, sassy declaration from the K-pop star that she has finally arrived”. The review says the song “is paired with a slick music video that accentuates both the song’s best qualities and Jennie’s star power”, and of the closing chorus: “The final outro chorus of ‘Mantra’ is an excellent example of how intricate vocal layering (here, a whispered delivery mixed with breathy singing and background vocalising) can create a gorgeous, intriguing soundscape that just begs for repeat listens.”

Clash returned to the song in its Ruby review the following year: “The production is clean, driven by a bouncing bass and claps that build tension.” That review adds: “Mantra is catchy, anthemic, dripping in confidence, and undeniably catchy.” Rolling Stone’s Maura Johnston wrote in her review of the album that “‘Mantra’ layers its roller-rink-ready beat with Jennie’s playful vocals”.

Numbers

NME reported that the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 98 on the chart for the week ending 26 October 2024, Jennie’s first solo entry there. By the same report ‘Mantra’ reached number three on the Billboard Global 200 and number two on Billboard Global Excl. U.S., and took number 10 on the Digital Song Sales chart.