The story behind Rosé and Bruno Mars' catchy hit 'Apt.'
It was Number 1 for weeks 🙌
Last updated 2 hours ago
'Apt.', the massive song from Rosé and Bruno Mars, was released way back in October 2024, but five months later it was back at Number 1 in the UK charts AND went on to receive THREE nominations at the 2026 GRAMMY Awards.
With so much success, it only seems right that we find out more about the song, how the collab came about and how to play the game it is based on.
The inspiration behind 'Apt.'
For those who don't know, Apt is a Korean drinking game, and the chant you hear at the beginning of the song is from the game. The name of the song means apartment, the game is called that because it is generally played in apartments in Korea.
Chatting to Hits Radio's Will Best, Rosé kindly showed us how to play the game...
She also opened up about why she wrote the song, saying she started to play the game with her American friends, and they loved it.
"I thought it (the song) would be fun because it started with me teaching my friends in America the game," Rosé explained. "None of them are Korean at all and they knew nothing about Korea, and I'm teaching them, and they're all having so much fun.
"Watching that, I thought it would be crazy if I made a song out of it, and get more people to learn about this fun game."
The success of 'Apt.'
'Apt.' has been hugely popular across the world, in the months following its release it has gone to Number 1 in the UK, US, New Zealand, Australia and more. Rosé admitted to Will she knew the song "brought something out in people."
She went on to say: "I would play like a bunch of songs and they would text me a week later, 'I can't get 'Apt.' out of my head!'
"I didn't expect it to blow up this much to be honest, so I guess it's been a crazy experience."
It's even been certified 3x Platinum in the UK!
How did the Rosé x Bruno Mars collab come about?
Speaking to us about her hit single, Rosé explained what it was like writing the song, and how she managed to get Bruno Mars to join her.
Opening up to Will, Rosé revealed that Bruno hadn't played the game before, but when he heard the song he asked her about it. "He heard the song," she explained: "And asked what it was about and I said it was a drinking game, and that's when we taught him."
Rosé admitted that there were no DMs involved, in fact she'd been a big Bruno Mars fan after seeing him at a concert in Korea, and it turned out they were signed to the same label.
"To my surprise he (Bruno) had asked for us to pitch three songs, and 'Apt.' was one of them," Rosé explained.
"He was like, 'this is the craziest concept, I want to do it'."
Rosé explained to us during our For The Record feature: "I knew it was a fun song, but it kinda set again differently to the rest of the album, so I was kind of a little hesitant (to release it). Which is why I feel like I was very lucky to come across Bruno (Mars), to jump on it."
She added: "When he said he would jump on, I was like 'this is perfect'. We were still contemplating if it was going to be second single or first, until after the video shoot it felt so good that we were like this has to be the beginning, we need to start it off with big energy. I think it was a really good idea to do that."
'Apt.' ruled The Hits UK Chart in 2025, take a look through who they managed to keep off the top spot.
Now read:
James Arthur reveals which reality TV show he WOULD take part in 🎶
Olly Alexander reveals how his partner inspired his new music ❤️
Cian Ducrot reveals Ed Sheeran's involvement in his latest song