APT. (song)

Cultural analysis

Critic Lim Hee-yoon noted that the song turns everyday Korean language into a global meme, much like Psy's "Gentleman" or Suga's "Daechwita", using unique pronunciations uncommon in the West.^[27] Lim also compared it to Psy's "Hangover" featuring Snoop Dogg, emphasising its reflection of Korean artists' global influence. He described the song as having a strong hook, an '80s vibe, and a melodic progression reminiscent of modern band music.^[12] Kim Do-heon, a pop music critic, emphasised the appeal of incorporating a drinking game into the track and observed that, while Rosé usually exudes "high-end" charisma, this collaboration reveals a more approachable and upbeat side, resonating well with fans.^[12]

Music critic Lim Jin-mo praised the song for its addictive quality, a key element in pop music, and noted how the song combines fun aspects of Korean culture with Bruno Mars' global appeal. He described it as a successful "glocal" fusion — combining global and local influences.^[30] On YTN Radio, pop music critic Lee Dae-hwa praised the song's catchy hook, likening it to addictive "hook songs" from the past, such as Son Dam-bi's "Crazy" and Girls' Generation's "Gee". He emphasised that short, repetitive hooks are essential in popular music, particularly in dance tracks. Dae-hwa also compared "APT." to Psy's "Gangnam Style", noting that while both use cultural elements for viral appeal, "APT." stands out for its catchy melody and contemporary relevance.^[31]

Another pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon commented that K-pop is viewed as a subculture leader internationally, rather than mainstream, and praised "APT." for its strategic use of Korean elements, like the repeated word "apartment" and a music video scene of Mars waving the South Korean flag, Taegeukgi, which resonates with K-pop fans' sense of "minority sentiment" triumphing.^[30] Another critic, Kim Kyo-seok, observed that "APT." is consumed more as meme-driven short-form content, reflecting today's "age of memes". He added that Mars waving the Taegeukgi and shouting "geonbae" (cheers) is a powerful symbol of Korean culture's mainstream global appeal.^[32]

Professor Seo Kyung-deok of Sungshin Women's University praised "APT." for promoting Korean culture globally. He highlighted moments in the music video, like Mars shouting "geonbae", and noted that Korean items like somaek, "one of Korea's representative drinking cultures is being widely introduced to people around the world," boosting international interest in Korean culture.^[33][34] Similarly, cultural critic Chung Deok-hyun highlighted "APT." as a blend of Korean culture and pop music, with American producers adding global appeal. He sees it as a milestone for K-pop, showing how artists like Rosé can connect K-pop with the global music market.^[35]

Japanese author and former Tokyo University of Foreign Studies professor Hideki Noma highlighted the unique appeal of the song, calling it a "victory of plurilingualism" for its blend of the English and Korean languages, Western pop, and Korean game slogans. In an interview with The Hankook Ilbo, he praised how the songmixes English and Korean without relying on traditional storytelling. He also noted that the repeated Korean aspirated sounds "ㅍ" (p) and "ㅌ" (t) add rhythm and charm to the word "apartment", allowing non-Korean speakers to appreciate its sound "while leaving the meaning of the word a little mystery".^[36]

Year-end lists

Global

"APT." became a commercial success in both the United States and the world upon release, topping Spotify's global and US daily streaming charts.^[110] The song surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify within seven days of its release, setting the fastest record for a K-pop female solo artist and the second fastest for any K-pop singer.^[111] It reached one billion streams on the platform on 26 January 2025, exactly 100 days after its release. With this, it became the second-fastest song in history to surpass the mark after Lady Gaga and Mars' "Die with a Smile" (2024). It also broke the record for the fastest song by a K-pop act to reach one billion streams in history, which was previously held by Jungkook's "Seven" featuring Latto (2023).^[112] It was crowned the biggest song of 2025 on Apple Music as the most-streamed song globally, most-identified on Shazam, most-spun on radio, and the track with the most-read lyrics of the year.^[113]

"APT." debuted at number one on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Global Excl. US, marking Rosé and Mars' second number-one single on either chart after Rosé's "On the Ground" (2021) and Mars' "Die with a Smile" respectively. Rosé became the first member of Blackpink with multiple number-one songs as a soloist, surpassing Jennie and Lisa's one each on the latter chart. On the Global 200, "APT." earned 224.5 million streams and 29,000 sales worldwide between 18 and 24 October, claiming the second-biggest streaming week in the chart's history behind BTS' "Butter" (2021). It surpassed Jungkook's "Seven" and Blackpink's "Pink Venom" (2022) to achieve the biggest streaming week by a solo artist and by a K-pop female act in history. On the Global Excl. US, the song debuted at number one with 200 million streams and 21,000 sold outside the US during its first week of release.^[114] "APT." spent a second week at number one on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US; on the former, it claimed the sixth-biggest streaming week ever with 207.5 million streams and became the first song in the chart's history to have tallied over 200 million streams worldwide for multiple weeks.^[115] The song topped both charts for nine consecutive weeks, which became nine of the top ten global streaming weeks among songs released in 2024.^[116] As a result, it became the longest-running number-one song of 2024 on the Global 200, surpassing the eight-week reign of "Die with a Smile". It also became the longest-running number-one song of 2024 on the Global Excl. US, surpassing the eight-week reigns of "Die with a Smile", Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things", and Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso".^[117] In total, the song earned 12 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Global 200, becoming the fourth longest-running number-one hit in the chart's history. It also spent a total of 19 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Global Excl. US, surpassing Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the longest-running number-one hit on the chart in history.^[118]

"APT." was the 17th best-selling global single of 2024, earning one billion subscription streams equivalents worldwide according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).^[119] It was the second biggest-song globally on Luminate's 2025 midyear report, earning 1.624 billion on-demand audio streams in the first half of the year.^[120] "APT." was crowned the number-one best-selling global single of 2025, earning 2.06 billion subscription streams equivalents worldwide according to the IFPI. It marked the first time the IFPI Global Single Chart was topped by an artist outside of North America or Europe, and the first time a winning single featured non-English lyrics. The win also marked Rosé's first and Mars' second number-one IFPI Global Single (his first being "Just the Way You Are" in 2011).^[121]

Asia

In South Korea, iChart announced on 27 October that "APT." had achieved a perfect all-kill, meaning it simultaneously reached number one on all real-time, daily, and weekly charts in the country.^[122] It marked Rosé's first time achieving the feat outside of Blackpink and made her the first K-pop soloist of the decade to earn this milestone both solo and as a group.^[123][124] The song debuted at number 17 on the Circle Digital Chart with under two days of tracking and peaked at number one the following week. "APT." remained atop the chart for six consecutive weeks and ten overall weeks.^[125] In Japan, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart dated 20 November 2024 becoming the fifth Western song to top the chart, the first in over 11 years since The Wanted's "Glad You Came" in 2013.^[126] It spent three consecutive weeks at the top spot,^[127] with four overall,^[128] and became the first Western song to achieve multiple consecutive weeks at number one.^[129] "APT." also became the first song by a non-Japanese artist in three years to spend two consecutive weeks at the top of Japan's Oricon Streaming Chart, a feat last achieved by BTS with "Permission to Dance" in 2021.^[130]

Oceania

In New Zealand, "APT." debuted atop the New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming Rosé's first chart-topper in her country of birth, as well as Mars' sixth.^[131] In Australia, where Rosé was raised, the song debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, making Rose the first solo K-pop artist to top the chart since Psy's "Gangnam Style" (2012). She became the first solo female K-pop artist to ever top the chart, having also previously topped the chart as a member of Blackpink with "Pink Venom" in 2022. For Mars, "APT." became his fourth number-one hit in Australia after "Just The Way You Are" and "Grenade" in 2010 and "Uptown Funk" with Mark Ronson in 2014.^[132] "APT." spent its first three weeks atop the chart, marking the first time that a Korean act had multiple weeks in the top spot since "Gangnam Style".^[133][134] It went on to yop the chart for a total of fourteen non-consecutive weeks.^[135] With this, "APT." became Mars' longest-running number-one single on the chart, surpassing the six weeks achieved by "Uptown Funk".^[136] It also became the longest-running number-one song released in 2024, surpassing the eight week reign of Sabrina Carpenter's "Taste",^[137] and the longest-running number-one duet since Elton John and Dua Lipa's "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" (2021).^[138]

North America

In the United States, "APT." earned 3.57 million streams on the day of its debut and 3 million daily streams for each of the next three days for a total of 13.32 million streams in its first four days of release. It also sold 5,700 downloads in the US over its opening four-day period.^[110] The song ultimately debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 with 25 million streams, 3.2 million in airplay audience and 14,000 sold in the US, becoming Rosé's first and Mars' 20th top-ten hit in the country respectively. Rosé became the first K-pop female act to reach the top ten, outpacing her group Blackpink's number 13 peak with "Ice Cream" (2020), and joined Psy, BTS, Jimin, and Jungkook as the only K-pop acts to enter the top ten in history.^[139] On 11 January 2025, the song re-entered the top ten at number five, making Rosé the first-ever K-pop female act with a top-five entry.^[140] After three weeks at number five, "APT." rose to a new peak at number three on the Hot 100 on 1 February and held its peak for two consecutive weeks.^[141][142]

On the Digital Song Sales chart, "APT." peaked at number one on 25 January with 6,000 units sold, becoming Rosé's first and Mars' eleventh number one. Rosé became the first K-pop female artist to top the chart, while Mars earned the ninth-most number-one songs of any artist.^[143] The song's movement to number three on the Hot 100 led to the song simultaneously topping the Billboard Pop Airplay chart on 1 February, becoming the first song by a K-pop artist to achieve the feat. It also became the second song by a K-pop soloist to enter the chart's top ten after "Gangnam Style" at number five, as well as the fifth overall by a K-pop act.^[144] In its 34th week on the Billboard Hot 100, the song surpassed "Who" by Jimin to become the longest-charting song by a K-pop act in the chart's history.^[145] It ranked as tenth-most heard song on US radio in the first half of 2025, with a cumulative 1.110 billion audience impressions across all formats, according to Luminate's 2025 midyear report.^[146]

In Canada, "APT." debuted at number two on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, a higher chart peak than any Blackpink single.^[147] In its 18th week, "APT." reached number one, making Rosé the first K-pop female artist to top the chart. Prior to reaching number one, the song held the runner-up spot for nine non-consecutive weeks.^[148] It ranked as the fourth biggest-song in Canada in the first half of 2025 with 47.7 million on-demand audio streams, according to Luminate's 2025 midyear report.^[149]

Other

In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number four on the UK Singles Chart, making Rosé the first K-pop female soloist to earn a top-ten single on the chart.^[150] The following week, "APT." rose to a new peak at number two, meaning Rosé broke her own record for the highest peak by any female K-pop solo artist.^[151] The song ranked as the third-biggest song in the UK of 2025 as of July, with 942,000 chart units achieved. It was also the most-streamed music video in the UK in the first half of 2025 with 22.3 million video streams.^[152] In Ireland, the song debuted at number nine on the Irish Singles Chart, which earned Rosé her first top-ten single on the chart.^[153] It later rose to a new peak at number three on its eleventh week and held that position for six consecutive weeks.^[154] In Brazil, the song debuted at number seven on the Billboard Brasil Hot 100.^[155]

Reception

On 30 October 2024, the music video surpassed 200 million views on YouTube in 11 days and 22 hours, setting the record as the fastest female K-pop solo artist video to achieve the milestone.^[159] On 5 December, it broke the record for the fastest K-pop artist to reach 500 million views on the platform.^[160] The music video then surpassed one billion views on 31 January 2025, 105 days since its release, becoming the fifth-fastest video overall and the fastest music video by a K-pop artist to hit the milestone, breaking the 158-day record previously set by Psy's "Gangnam Style".^[161]

Reporter Yang Seung-jun of The Korea Times highlighted the unique approach of the music video, noting that Rosé played a key role in setting its creative direction alongside director Daniel Ramos. The production embraced a lighthearted, "dance-and-play B-grade" concept, deliberately moving away from the hallmarks of traditional K-pop music videos. Absent were the elaborate "storytelling [and] flawless choreography" that often define the genre. Instead, the video showcased the "pop songification of K-pop", which Yang identified as the secret behind the compelling synergy between Rosé and Mars.^[162]