Earlier this month, Jennie released the flashy music video for “Handlebars,” a standout track from her debut solo album, Ruby. The Blackpink member explained how the collaboration with Dua Lipa was conceived during a recent interview.
“I’ve known Dua for a very long time now,” Jennie told Billboard. “I went to her first show in Korea. We’re already good friends, [but] it was our first time doing a song together. That itself was a new experience for us to see each other in a different way, and we just had a great time.”
She also discussed how her adopted middle name of “Ruby Jane” inspired the album title.
“I was contemplating until the very end. I didn’t name [the album] Ruby because it’s a part of my name,” Jennie said. “To me, Ruby speaks to me as the curtain call of a play, where I’m opening this new chapter of… I don’t want to say new life; life is life, but a different stage in my life and I’m welcoming everyone in. I don’t necessarily see Jennie, Ruby, Jane as three different alter egos of mine. That’s just who I am, all in one.”
You can catch Jennie on tour with Blackpink later this year.