Rosé's 'APT.' sweeps the world with Korean drinking game

K-pop girl group Blackpink’s Rosé has captivated audiences worldwide with her new song “APT.” in collaboration with American pop star Bruno Mars, released on Oct. 18. Just four days after its release, the song topped both Spotify’s global and U.S. charts, and on Oct. 23, it surpassed 100 million views on YouTube. This marks the first time a South Korean female solo act has achieved the No. 1 spot on both charts.

While it is not unusual for K-pop songs to gain global popularity, “APT.” is noteworthy for being inspired by a Korean drinking game and for being written and composed by Rosé herself. Despite the song’s focus on unfamiliar aspects of Korean drinking culture, Bruno Mars chants “Geonbae, geonbae” (cheers) while drinking “somaek,” a mix of soju and beer. The track has rapidly gained popularity thanks to its addictive melody, humor, and integration of Korean subculture in the music video, evoking comparisons to Psy’s 2012 global hit “Gangnam Style.” The term “apart(ment)” itself is a form of “Konglish” (Korean-style English).

The song begins with the phrase “Chae-young’s (Rosé's Korean name) favorite random game” in Korean. Shortly after, Mars joins Rosé in chanting “apateu, apateu,” the Korean pronunciation for “apartment.” The melody and rhythm of this part are directly borrowed from a popular Korean drinking game of the same name. In the music video, Mars and Rosé reenact the apartment game by crossing their hands up and down while performing the song. In various interviews, Rosé shared, “I’ve always loved the apartment game, and I thought it would be fun to incorporate it into a song.” Mars sings the phrase “Geonbae, geonbae” (cheers) in Korean, and in the music video, he even waves a Korean flag during this part.

Overseas fans have reacted to the catchy and repetitive melody of “APT.” by calling it “highly addictive.” Videos of people singing along to “apateu” or reenacting the game are flooding social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. In one viral clip from a club in Germany, people are seen singing along to the song, while at a Bruno Mars concert in Brazil, the audience chanted “apateu, apateu” together, creating a buzz on social media. In New York’s Koreatown, the song has also been heard playing throughout the night.

While it sounds like the adverb “apart” in English, there is also a strong interest in the term “apateu,” which specifically refers to an apartment or communal housing unit in South Korea. Numerous videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok feature foreigners awkwardly mimicking the pronunciation of “apateu,” as Mars chants it. Grammy-winning pop star Charlie Puth even posted a video on his TikTok account practicing the pronunciation “apateu,” writing, “This is stuck in my brain forever.” When a fan asked Rosé on Instagram if “apateu” means “apartment,” she responded, “No, it’s apateu!”

The song’s popularity is sparking curiosity about other aspects of Korean culture. Just days after releasing “APT.,” Rosé shared an interview video with Vogue on her official YouTube channel on Oct. 20. In the video, she demonstrated how to make kimchi fried rice, a dipping sauce with Cheongyang chili peppers and mayonnaise for dried squid, and somaek. The video quickly garnered over 2.5 million views. Discussions about kimchi fried rice, dried squid, and somaek became trending topics on Reddit, with users sharing comments like, “I made somaek for the first time after watching Rosé's video” and “I can handle making kimchi fried rice, but I’m still not sure about the dried squid.”