On the Ground
"On the Ground" is the debut solo single by New Zealand and South Korean singer Rosé from her debut single album R. It was released through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records on 12 March 2021, as the lead single from the album. It was written by Rosé alongside Amy Allen, Raúl Cubina, Jon Bellion, Jorgen Odegard, Teddy, and was produced by the latter three alongside Ojivolta and 24. The song is an electropop, pop rock and pop track with synth-pop elements. Its lyrics reflect Rosé's rise to fame, from her childhood in Australia to flying to South Korea and becoming a member of Blackpink.
"On the Ground" received generally favourable reviews from music critics, who complimented its lyrics and Rosé's vocals. Commercially, it became the first song by a solo K-pop artist to reach number one on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts, and earned Rosé a Guinness World Record as the first artist to top the chart as a soloist and as part of a group. The song peaked at number four on the Gaon Digital Chart and number three on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 in South Korea, and topped the charts in Malaysia and Singapore. It also became the highest-charting song at the time by a female K-pop soloist on the US Billboard Hot 100, the Canadian Hot 100, and the UK Singles Chart. In Australia, the song peaked at number 31 on the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming Rosé's first entry as a solo artist.
An accompanying music video, directed by Han Sa-min, premiered the same day as the song's release. Upon release, the music video broke several YouTube records for a solo K-pop artist, including for the most-watched premiere and the most views within 24 hours for a music video, accumulating 41.6 million views in that time, for which she received another Guinness World Record. Rosé promoted "On the Ground" with performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and several South Korean music programs including M Countdown, Inkigayo, and Show! Music Core. The song received several accolades, including Best Dance Performance at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
Background and release
On 30 December 2020, in an interview with South Korean media outlet Osen, Rosé revealed that filming for her debut music video would begin in mid-January 2021. On 25 January 2021, a 33-second teaser titled "Coming Soon" was uploaded to Blackpink's official YouTube channel and featured Rosé singing an snippet of an unknown track. Rosé's label YG Entertainment disclosed that she had "completed all filming for her solo album title track's music video in mid-January", and the release will be "surely different from Blackpink's usual musical style". On 2 March, it was announced that Rosé would debut her solo project on 12 March, making her the first Blackpink member to release solo material since Jennie's "Solo" in November 2018. The next day, new teaser poster unveiled the name of the lead single, "On the Ground", for the first time. The first music video teaser for "On the Ground" was released on 7 March. On 8 March 2021, YG revealed the album track listing, which confirmed first-time songwriting contributions from Rosé on the title track. On 9 March, the second music video teaser for the title track was published. "On the Ground" was released for digital download and streaming as the lead single from R on 12 March 2021, by YG Entertainment.Composition
"On the Ground" was written by Rosé, Amy Allen, Teddy, Raúl Cubina, Jon Bellion, Jorgen Odegard, and was produced by the latter alongside Ojivolta and 24. The song is an electropop, pop rock and pop song with synth-pop elements and an EDM-inspired beat, complemented by a simple guitar. The track features wispy, melodic verses accompanied by "breathy" vocals, chorus that boasts the dance-pop punch, angelic bridge, and Rosé's high note at the end. The track sees Rosé reflecting on her life as a global K-pop superstar and she realises what really matters in her life already lies within herself. She created the single's name herself and considers it to be the most successful line in all the songs that she has ever sung. It means that everything that the singer needs is here, "on earth," and there is no need to rush somewhere to find this necessary. In terms of musical notation, the song is composed in the key of C major, with a tempo of 189 beats per minute, and runs for two minutes and forty-eight seconds.Critical reception
Following the release of "On the Ground", it was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Otis Robinson positively commented on the track's escapist nature in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, dubbing it as a "sing-into-the-hairbrush, clutch-the-heart anthem" that deserves its Guinness World Record. Ashlee Mitchell from MTV noted that "On the Ground" provides "the perfect contrast, taking a more confident stance, reminding listeners of the importance of being true to yourself." Writing for Beats Per Minute, JT Early described the song as a "feel-good song about realising what’s important." Madison Murray of Young Hollywood described the song as an "empowering anthem about Rosé’s experience in the spotlight and how she learned her true inner strength." Writing for NME, Rhian Daly described the song as a "breezy, EDM-infused pop song". Jo Ji-Hyun of IZM gave the song a three-star rating, praising its "soft and strong message" and noting Rosé's vocals for "creat a higher level of completeness." Divyansha Dongre from Rolling Stone India described "On the Ground" as "an electric pop anthem with a catchy guitar riff and picturesque set designs." Alice Bailey, reviewer of the French fashion magazine Elle, called the song "a moving, beautiful, and lyrically-deep lead single." Anna Chan from Billboard described it as "an empowering and thoughtful song about finding purpose within yourself."Year-end lists
Billboard ranked the song at number 39 in their list of 50 Best Songs of 2021 So Far, calling it an "infinitely hummable tune is perfect for dancing around in your living room or belting out in the shower — alone". Tamar Herman of South China Morning Post selected "On the Ground" as one of the 10 best songs of 2021, writing: "The Blackpink vocalist’s first solo project starts off promising to be an introspective acoustic pop song, then turns into a reflective electric track that illustrates Rosé’s clean vocals."| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | |
| Billboard | The 50 Best Songs of 2021 So Far: Staff Picks | 39 | |
| Billboard | 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021: Critics’ Picks | 25 | |
| Cosmopolitan | The 55 Best New Songs of 2021 | 34 | |
| Marie Claire | The 20 Best New K-Pop Songs of 2021 | ||
| NME | The 25 best K-Pop songs of 2021 | 23 | |
| SCMP | Best K-pop songs of 2021 so far | ||
| SCMP | The 20 best K-pop songs of 2021 | 19 | |
| Teen Vogue | The 54 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021 | ||
| The Line of Best Fit | The Best Songs of 2021 Ranked | 23 |
Commercial performance
"On the Ground" debuted at number one on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Global Excl. U.S. charts with 92.1 million global streams and 29,000 global downloads sold, the first song by a K-pop solo artist to do so in the charts' histories. The song charted on the Global 200 for seven weeks and the Global Excl. U.S. for nine weeks, becoming the longest-charting song by a K-pop soloist at the time. In South Korea, "On the Ground" debuted at number fifteen on the Gaon Digital Chart on the eleventh issued week, with less than two days of tracking. The following week, the song entered the top ten with "Gone" and peaked at number four, marking her first top-ten solo entries in the country. The song also managed to peak at number one in Singapore and Malaysia.In the United States, the song debuted and peaked at number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100, surpassing CL's "Lifted" to become the highest-charting release at the time by a female K-pop soloist. It also marked the second-highest peak for a K-pop soloist in Hot 100 history, only behind Psy's "Gangnam Style". The song collected 6.4 million streams, 0.3 million radio impressions, and 7,500 digital sales in its first week. In the United Kingdom, "On the Ground" debuted and peaked at number 43 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first song by a K-pop female solo artist to enter the chart in history. It earned 90,000 UK chart units as of October 2024, the fourth-most for any Blackpink member's solo single after Jennie's "One of the Girls", Lisa's "Money", and Jennie's "Solo". In Australia, the song peaked at number 31 on the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming Rosé's first entry as a solo artist. In New Zealand, the song landed at number 15 on the Top 20 New Zealand Singles chart, which ranks the 20 best-performing songs in the country by New Zealand artists, and number three on the Hot 40 Singles chart, which ranks the 40 fastest-moving tracks in the country. Similarly, the song peaked at number 49 on the Irish Singles Chart. In Canada, "On the Ground" arrived at number 35 on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming the first top-40 hit by a Korean female solo artist in the country.