She had to take some difficult creative decisions.
BLACKPINK‘s Jennie recently appeared on the popular YouTube show, Hot Ones, where she talked about the creative process of putting together her solo album, Ruby.

As per the show’s format, Jennie answered ten questions, some personal, some work-related, and some random fun facts, while munching on chicken wings with increasingly spicy sauces. Around her second “wing of death,” the host asked Jennie if there was something particular about her album that she had fought for and was proud of.

Jennie responded, “Yes! So many things,” and went on to explain that she had to fight for some of the songs in her 15-track-strong solo album to be included in it. In fact, the idol revealed that she had to really wrestle to build her album around its “core message.”
“We didn’t have to forcefully make the music easy for people to like this album,” the singer explained, adding that instead of taking the easy way out, she decided to try out what she genuinely liked and followed her creative instincts.

“A lot of the songs on the album, I really had to fight for them,” she revealed, adding, “especially a song like ‘Zen,’ a song like ‘Starlight.’”
Jennie explained that her creative integrity stemmed from the belief that even though those songs might not be the most popular, they will carry their weight in artistic value.
I understand that it might not be the first thing that would pop up in people’s minds, but I knew that it would touch the people I wanna touch.
— Jennie
Thanks to Jennie’s firm conviction, Ruby was received with much love and critical acclaim for its authentic and honest self-expression.