JENNIE

JENNIE’s public persona is defined by a supreme self-confidence. That much is clear across her 2025 solo album, Ruby, and its boastful, hard-hitting opener, “like JENNIE.” “We wanted to portray JENNIE as everyone who’s listening to the song,” she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “The song is all about knowing your worth, and living like there’s no second version of you.” Born 김제니 (aka Jennie Kim) in Seongnam in 1996, JENNIE recognized her own worth early on, when she moved by herself to New Zealand at age nine to learn English. She would return to Korea five years later, in 2010, to pursue her dream of becoming a K-pop star. By 2016, she had debuted in BLACKPINK, which became one of the most popular girl groups in the world—and the first Korean act to headline Coachella. JENNIE made her solo debut in 2018 with the aptly titled breakup bop “SOLO,” which doubles as a declaration of individual music-making despite her still thriving in tandem with BLACKPINK. Ruby followed suit, confirming her versatility as both a singer and rapper across seamless collabs with Dua Lipa and Childish Gambino, amongst others. She cemented her affinity for high-profile teamwork with her 2026 remix of Tame Impala’s “Dracula,” which transformed a funky earworm into a viral sensation, thanks—once again—to the sheer confidence of her vocal performance.