Russian Roulette (Red Velvet song)

Written by Jo Yoon-kyung and produced by Albi Albertsson, Belle Humble and Markus Lindell, it is primarily an 8-bit influenced synth-pop and dance-pop song which lyrically compares the process of winning someone's heart to a game of Russian roulette.

[7][8] "Russian Roulette" was composed and produced by Albi Albertsson, Belle Humble and Markus Lindell, with Korean lyrics adaptation by songwriter Jo Yoon-kyung.

The group began promoting the song on music shows on September 8, performing both "Russian Roulette" and the album track "Lucky Girl" live for the first time on M!

[14][15] With its bright, sports-themed and colorful setting, the music video gained attention for its violent content hidden beneath a fun and playful song.

Each member appear in various scenes dropping tennis balls, pianos, refrigerators, and lockers on the other girls, or even feeding the rest colored nuts and bolts instead of cereal.

The video featured clips of Itchy & Scratchy, which is a fictional cartoon show and running gag on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

[16] Sherly Tucci of The Daily Dot stated that the song's cheerful sound "juxtaposes the catastrophic and lethal pranks the girls play on each other" in the video where the members "show their dark side with stone-faced stares and subtle smirks".

Writing for The Daily Dot, Sherly Tucci called it a "cute and bubbly song complemented by the bright colors of the music video".

[17] In her interview with the group, Taylor Glasby of Dazed Digital said the music video "has a sinister combination of sweetness and threat" and remarked that "it's hard to think of anyone else that could pull off those kinds of concepts".

[25] However, Chester Chin of the Malaysian news site The Star felt that the single and the album was somewhat a disappointment after the "brilliant experimental vibes" of their last EP The Velvet, which was released in the same year.

[35] As part of their "Red Velvet" night during the 2017 Baker's Dozen concert series, American band Phish played the song as walk-out music after the show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY.

[36] Along with the 2019 single "Zimzalabim", the song made its appearance during the dance-off scene in the 2020 Trolls World Tour, in which the members were also part of the cast, portraying the "K-Pop gang".