Jennie’s (BlackPink) New MV Faces Criticism for Its Sexualized Content.

Jennie’s “Mantra” MV received over 6.76 million views after only 9 hours of release, with countless compliments from fans. However, a part of the audience thought it was a forgettable, sexualized work.

As previously announced, Mantra was released publicly on the morning of October 11 (Korean time). This is Jennie’s first solo music product after ending her personal contract with YG Entertainment and establishing her own company.

Jennie’s new MV is quite short according to listeners’ comments. The female idol born in 1996 both raps and sings, and the lyrics are entirely in English.

Mantra is fast, energetic, and repetitive, and tells the story of beautiful, party-loving girls in Los Angeles.

Excerpt of Jennie performing sexy choreography in Mantra.

In the MV, Jennie appears in sexy outfits, from see-through to skimpy. The Korean beauty is especially fond of the super short pants fashion trend that made her the center of controversy at Paris Fashion Week 2024 in early October.

The dance moves used in Mantra are also seductive, with lots of hip shaking and body twisting.

Mantra quickly became a sensation on international social networks. After only 9 hours of posting, the MV received more than 6.75 million views and entered the top 5 trending on YouTube. At the current pace, this number is expected to increase even more.

“Mantra Out Now” and “Pretty Girl Jennie” are in the top 5 most popular trends on X.

Many netizens praised Jennie’s new song. They said the song has an addictive melody and will quickly become a hit. Besides, many people are fascinated by Jennie’s hot appearance.

Viewers commented: “It was much better than I thought”, “She looks so beautiful”, “At first I was surprised that it was so short. Now I’m addicted to this song and keep listening to it over and over again”, “The fact that this song reached 41st place on the Melon chart when it was released at 9am this morning and was sung in English is legendary”, “Her style is so cool. The whole song is so fun”, “Seeing Jennie show off her own style and personality is really appealing”, “The wait was worth it. This comeback is a statement that Jennie is not unprofessional”…

All the outfits Jennie wears in the new MV are sexy and revealing. Photo: X.

However, not everyone has positive reviews about the MV. Some viewers criticized the song as disappointing and the images in the MV as sexualized.

Netizens commented: “The song is really forgettable. It’s a shame for Jennie, she has talent but this song doesn’t seem to show it. It’s so basic”, “I was looking forward to this release but I’m so disappointed. The pre-chorus is the only good part of the song”, “Better than Lisa’s song, but still bad. Also, the MV is filled with unnecessary sexualization”, “She always uses her body for everything, so it’s no surprise that her MV is full of it. Her popularity is mainly because she’s pretty”, “Pretty forgettable and not very attractive”, “BlackPink girls release boring songs, same theme, same lyrics, same meaning like ‘look at me, I’m rich and pretty’. There’s absolutely no creativity in it”, “I guess being pretty means showing as much skin as possible”…

Jennie and her management company did not respond to the controversy, instead focusing on their busy schedules.

According to AllKpop , Jennie is scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 15. She is expected to perform Mantra on stage at America’s top late-night talk show.