Songfacts®:

• "Mantra" is a sassy, high-heeled strut of a dance-pop jam that's all about looking fabulous and living a life where glamor opens all doors. Released on October 11, 2024, it marks Jennie's first solo outing under her own label, Odd Atelier, founded after she and her fellow BlackPink members opted not to renew their solo contracts with YG Entertainment. Instead, she teamed up with Columbia Records to launch her fresh chapter.
• The track gets straight to business, kicking off with a chorus that paints a picture of dangerously hot-looking women who can cause chaos on a whim. It's a high-energy ode to empowerment and self-assurance, with Jennie casually mixing smooth vocals and half-rapped verses. As the song builds, she even lets out a cheeky laugh towards the end, as if to say, "I can't believe I just nailed that so hard."
• Jennie described the song to Vogue as an "upbeat anthem that celebrates girl power and inspires every woman to shine in her own way with confidence."
  
  And why wouldn't it? Jennie's been flying the flag for female empowerment ever since her BlackPink days, when the group made a name for themselves by pushing back against the rigid gender roles of South Korean pop culture. Her 2018 solo debut, fittingly titled "Solo," was an early statement of self-confidence, and "Mantra" takes that message and cranks it up a notch.
• The song is a modern-day twist on the traditional idea of a mantra - a word or phrase repeated in meditation or prayer to focus the mind. It originates from ancient Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but is also used in other spiritual practices.
  
  But instead of chanting for inner peace, Jennie's "pretty-girl mantra" is all about flaunting what you've got and living life unapologetically. Some critics, especially from an Indian cultural background, have raised eyebrows at Jennie's use of the Sanskrit-derived term "mantra" in a glitzy pop song, arguing it veers into cultural appropriation. However, Jennie's intention was to give the word a new, sparkly meaning for the TikTok generation.
• Jennie shares writing credits with a roster of new collaborators: Claudia Valentina, Elle Campbell, Zikai, Jelli Dorman, Jumpa, and Serban Ghenea. The latter three produced the track with El Guincho (Charli XCX, Camila Cabello, Rosalia).
  
  Jennie had worked with just one producer, K-pop veteran Teddy Park, prior to working on her debut solo album in LA, so when it came time to build a new creative network away from home country, she found it tough.
  
  "I struggled a lot in the beginning," Jennie admitted to Billboard. "A few months, I would say, was just me throwing myself out there, walking into rooms filled with new people. I just had to keep knocking on the door, like, 'Is this it?' 'Is this it?' and then eventually, we got to a point where I found a good group of people that I linked with, sonically and as friends."
• The accompanying music video, directed by Tanu Muino (who's worked with the likes of Harry Styles and Dua Lipa), kicks things off with a playful nod to the 1998 film Rush Hour, showing a young girl singing along to the song in the back of her parents' car. From there, Jennie makes her grand entrance, stepping out of a vintage car in a dizzying array of high-fashion looks while performing the song's choreography.