Apateu fever: What does Rosé and Bruno Mars’ hit song title, 'APT' mean?
Can't get Rosé and Bruno Mars’ APT song out of your head? You're not alone.
After its release on Friday, Oct. 18, fans and even celebrities like members of the popular K-pop boy group Seventeen couldn’t help but vibe with the song, which has a playful, punk rock tune, coupled with a fun music video featuring the global pop stars.
Many social media users hopped on the latest hit, especially with its catchy lyric, “Apateu apateu” with the stacking hands gesture. But what does the song title mean?
What does APT mean?
Screenshot from SEVENTEEN / YouTube
APT is a shortened word for “apartment” and the word “apateu” is the Korean pronunciation of it. The song was inspired by the "Apartment game," one of the famous drinking games in Korea.
In Vogue's "Now Serving" episode on Oct. 20, the K-pop idol shared how she created the music, recalling when she introduced a Korean drinking game with her colleagues.
“We were hanging out in the studio, and I was like, ‘How about I teach you guys some drinking games, Korean drinking games?’ and then I started doing it,” she said, adding that she then did the apartment game.
In the drinking game, which Rosé said was her favorite, one player would say a number, and other members should stack up their hands from bottom to top corresponding to the count of the chosen number. Whoever lands on top at the last count has to take a shot.
“I did it and they were like obsessed with it,” she recalled. The next day, she decided to write a song about the game but initially had doubts about it.
“So, we were playing APT, and the next day I was like, ‘Okay, today’s the day, I think we should write the song,’ and we did, but then I remember going home kind of freaked out,” she continued. “I was like, ‘Is this OK, that I’ve written a song about a drinking game? Is this too unserious?’”
The On The Ground singer requested that the producers and songwriters erase the song from their devices.
During her appearance on Z100 New York, Rosé revealed that it was one of three songs she presented to Bruno during their meeting, and it was ultimately selected for their first-ever collaboration.
Less than a week since its release, APT has garnered 84 million views on YouTube and 34 million streams on Spotify as of writing. It is currently ranked first on Spotify’s top 50 global charts.