BLACKPINK’s member Rosé reminisced about the challenging journey to becoming a K-pop idol. In an interview with the New York Times, released on the 23rd (local time), Rosé shared her thoughts on releasing her first full solo album, saying, “It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life to release this album.”
Rosé is set to release her first full album, ‘rosie,’ on December 6, in which she participated in writing and composing all the songs, offering more honest and intimate stories of her own. Additionally, following her global success with the track “Apartment (APT.)” featuring Bruno Mars, the “Rosé syndrome” continues to flourish.
In the NYT interview, Rosé reflected on her past, recounting her lonely trainee days in a foreign land without her parents, stating, “I didn’t understand the loneliness I had to face. It was traumatizing, but I survived.”
She explained her rigorous daily routine of waking up at 9:30 AM to attend shared dance practice rooms, receiving vocal, dance, and language lessons, with practice ending at 2 AM. Opting to practice alone even further, she repeated this routine daily to avoid returning to Australia and having to explain her perceived failure.
When asked about the toughest aspect of her journey, Rosé pointed to K-pop’s fan culture, explaining, “We were trained to always present ourselves perfectly, even when interacting with fans online. We had to appear as perfect girls to everyone.”
Particularly, Rosé moved K-pop fans to tears when asked about experiencing harassment as a female artist online. She said, “It seems so. I have a fairly strong nature, so I don’t respond emotionally, but it felt really, really bad when it actually happened.”
Rosé expressed that composing music helped her vent her feelings and protect herself, describing songwriting as a blessing at critical moments, “When I enter with a big issue and put it into a song, it often leaves my heart. Some days, if a song doesn’t feel right, I think, ‘It wasn’t helpful! This song won’t make it to the album.'”