Category: sound

JENNIE surprises fans once again with an unexpected pre-release track and music video ZEN. The drop follows the surprise announcement of her First Studio Album Ruby made earlier this week via an official album trailer. In the trailer, Jennie teased the upcoming album’s artist features, including major names such as Childish Gambino, Dua Lipa and Kali Uchis, as well as what we now know to be a snippet of the song ZEN.

ZEN’s cinematic music video echoes BLACKPINK’s grandiose music videos with its elaborate costumes, dance troupes and monumental set designs. However, ZEN’s MV Director Cho Gi-Seok’s poetic iconography works to distinguish Jennie of Ruby from the many Jennies we have seen before. ZEN presents to us the image of Jennie as the artist. The release is a distinct departure from the catchy hit Mantra released three months prior. Crucially, the song has not yet been released on streaming platforms and the music video marks an redirection towards creating art as opposed to hits. In ZEN, Jennie reveals herself to us without the expectation of mass streaming and chart-topping, but rather with the expectation to simply be seen in the new image she has built herself.

Since the BLACKPINK members all went on to found their own companies to manage their solo activities, it is clear that outside of the group, they each wanted to establish their own artistic identities without interference from YG. These early releases are therefore essential to a true understanding of who Jennie is beyond BLACKPINK. Although ZEN is not her first solo release under her label Odd Atalier, it is a clear-cut beginning of a new era: Ruby. One that director Cho Gi-Seok kicks off with a bang.

The cinematic music video, which markedly lacks choreography, signifies a shift away from typical K-pop and into something completely new. Both Cho Gi-Seok and Jennie’s fashion aesthetics are instantly recognisable. Cho Gi-Seok’s work is familiar to most K-pop fans due to his collaboration with a number of well-known artists such as Red Velvet, NCT Dream and LE SSERAFIM. For fans of Jennie, her wardrobe in the music video is quintessentially Jennie from the from the itty-bitty mini skirts and micro shorts to the cut out corsets and layered jewellery. Park Min-Hee, Jennie’s stylist who worked on the music video, exceeded expectations with the incricate, elegant yet in vogue styling, it is only a shame that Cho Gi-Seok’s directing obscured many of the different outfits from view. However, if ZEN is to set the tone for the upcoming album rollout, I am sure we will have many opportunities to see Park Min-Hee’s chic styling.

ZEN makes a compelling start to Jennie’s new era and definitely raises expectations for an album that recognises and upholds music as, primarily, a medium for other artistic expressions. I am excited to see more of what Jennie has to show us with not only Ruby but simply as a solo artist paving out a new pathway between K-pop and Pop.