Why Chinese internet users love APT, hit single by Blackpink’s Rosé and Bruno Mars

Users on Chinese Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu cannot get enough of the catchy song, praising Rosé for being true to her heart

Reading Time:1 minute

Why you can trust SCMP

Users on Chinese Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu cannot get enough of APT, the hit single by Blackpink’s Rosé and Bruno Mars. Photo: Instagram/@roses_are_rosie

Annie Cheung

Published: 9:45am, 31 Oct 2024Updated: 12:29pm, 31 Oct 2024

Corrected [12:24pm, 31 Oct, 2024]

[12:24pm, 31 Oct, 2024]
An earlier version of this report said the Malaysian government had criticised APT for promoting Western values. We wish to clarify that his is untrue, a purported official statement having been debunked by the country's Ministry of Health.

Chinese social media have given Blackpink’s Rosé’s new hit single with Bruno Mars, “APT”, the thumbs up, praising its catchy and uplifting tune.

“This song is quite intriguing, it has a bit of the past American pop music style,” one poster commented on Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent to Instagram.

Rosé released “APT”, featuring American singer-songwriter Mars, on October 18.

The song currently sits in eighth place on the Billboard Hot 100 list chart, the highest entry for a K-pop female artist and shoulder to shoulder with Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste”.

Chinese music fans cannot get enough of it.

Another Xiaohongshu user notes there is finally a song that does not have to rely on skimpy dresses and skin-showing to make it to the top of the US music charts.