R

The record

R is Rosé’s first solo single album, released on 12 March 2021. It carries two songs, ‘On The Ground’ and ‘Gone’, with ‘On The Ground’ as the title track. YG Entertainment’s album introduction says the record is named for the first letter of her name and marks her beginning as a solo artist.

NME wrote that this was the second solo release by a BLACKPINK member, arriving after a two-year wait since Jennie’s ‘SOLO’ in 2018. IZM reported that the title track was produced by Jorgen Odegard, who has worked with Justin Bieber, and written with Amy Allen, whose credits include songs for Harry Styles and Halsey.

Reviews

IZM’s Cho Ji-hyun reviewed the record in the monthly issue around its release. He wrote that even as a first solo debut it makes Rosé’s image clear, and of the sound, that a minimal EDM production with acoustic instruments added to it gives the song a soft sense of space. The same review put the song’s message this way: unlike the bold, energetic BLACKPINK, it sings a gentle but strong line — that the most important thing is inside you.

Idology (아이돌로지) covered the song in its critics’ round-up of the singles released in March 2021. Cho Eun-jae wrote that although the song runs under three minutes, it delivers Rosé’s character, her appeal and a message full of self-worth with real force, and that her groovy vocal sits in fine balance with the guitar drifting languidly behind it, while the tightly run opening of the second verse shows off her sense of rhythm. His entry closes by calling it an accomplished piece that is as good to watch as it is to hear.

NME’s Rhian Daly reviewed both songs on the day of release. “‘R’, her two-track solo debut, illuminates new sides of the Korean-Australian singer,” she wrote. “In BLACKPINK’s songs, her parts are often built for belting out, carrying drama and emotion in powerful melodies. Here, Rosé takes things back to basics, decluttering the often busy layers found on her group’s songs to just what’s needed and employing a quieter, softer approach.” Her review closes: “It might have been a long time coming, but ‘R’ was worth the wait – a no-frills testament that proves a powerful voice and good songwriting don’t need to be big or ostentatious to shine.”

Rolling Stone picked the song for ‘Song You Need to Know’, the column it runs each week. Kristine Kwak wrote that “‘On the Ground’ takes a step back from the flashiness of it all with raw vocals backed by an EDM-inspired beat.”

Among the tracks

‘On The Ground’ is sung in English. NME quoted the chorus — “I worked my whole life just to get high / Just to realise that everything I need is on the ground” — and wrote that the lyric “might refer to the intense training K-pop idols go through and the charmed by-products of the fame they enjoy post-debut, but her point is universal”. The same review noted that Rosé told reporters at an online press conference she did some “semi-rapping” on the track, and that it surfaces mainly in one line of the post-chorus and in the second verse.

‘Gone’ is the song Rosé first performed at BLACKPINK’s online concert in January 2021. NME wrote that it is built around strummed guitar chords and the occasional passing melody, so that “on paper, it sounds boring and uninspired but, with Rosé’s vocals on top of the real thing, it becomes a diamond in the rough”.

Numbers

IZM reported that by the time of its review the music video had passed 100 million views on YouTube and the song had reached number 43 on the UK’s Official Chart. Rolling Stone wrote that the same clip was the most-viewed Korean music video by a soloist in its first 24 hours since Psy’s ‘Gentleman’.