Ryan Gosling Unveils ‘Ken The EP’ With Three New Versions of Grammy-Nominated Song

Just in time for the Christmas season — and, well, if we’re being really honest, the awards season, too — Ryan Gosling unveiled Ken The EP, featuring three new versions of the Grammy-nominated song, “I’m Just Ken.”

The EP includes a seasonal spin on his Barbie soundtrack hit, “I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie),” along with a video of Gosling, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt in the studio. Additional “I’m Just Ken” renditions include “In My Feelings Acoustic,” “Purple Disco Machine Remix,” and the original.

“I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie)” was teased earlier this week on social media, with Gosling, as Ken, working on the track with Ronson, who helmed the hit Barbie soundtrack. As Gosling/Ken repeatedly pushes up the volume on his vocals, Ronson keeps knocking them back down, until the super producer finally gives up and walks away. 

“I’m Just Ken” proved to be one of the biggest songs from the Barbie soundtrack, which was already flush with contributions from seasoned chart-toppers. In an interview back in September, Ronson spoke about relishing the song’s surprise success with Gosling, sending him updates about its chart performance, and recalling Gosling’s reaction: “He would be like ‘This is so surreal. I don’t even know what to tell you.’”

Ronson added of Gosling, “He’s a real musician. He loves music. I think he was really touched by that. And Slash played on it. So there’s been certain things where he’s been really excited about [it].”

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Barbie director Greta Gerwig spoke about how the song came about organically: “I think if I had said, ‘I want you to sing and dance in this movie,’ [Gosling] would not have necessarily done that for me. But it was kind of that thing of boiling a lobster. I think by the time he was singing and dancing, he didn’t even totally know how we had gotten there. But he’s so fabulous at it. Mark Ronson talked a lot about glam-rock and Meat Loaf and the drama of that kind of song. And then Mark and his songwriting partner Andrew Wyatt wrote ‘I’m Just Ken.’ They didn’t even have all the lyrics. They just had a feeling and the skeleton and the lyric ‘I’m just Ken,’ and it just evolved from there.”

“I’m Just Ken” is already up for a handful of awards, including the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media, and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song (it remains to be seen if it’ll notch that Oscar nom, as well). Still, the ballad will face some stiff competition for both prizes — largely from other hit songs from the Barbie soundtrack, like Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

Ken The EP  Track List

1. “I’m Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie)”
2. “I’m Just Ken (In My Feelings Acoustic)”
3. “I’m Just Ken (Purple Disco Machine Remix)”
4. “I’m Just Ken”

From Rolling Stone US.