Rosé, a member of the girl group BLACKPINK, reflected on the challenges she faced on her journey to becoming a K-pop idol, shedding tears when asked about online harassment faced by female artists.


In an interview with The New York Times (NYT) published on the 23rd (local time), Rosé shared her thoughts on releasing her first full-length solo album. "It feels like I've waited my whole life to release this album," she said. Rosé’s debut full-length album, Rosie, will be released on December 6. She participated in writing and composing all the songs, offering an honest and intimate glimpse into her personal story. Last month, her collaboration with Bruno Mars on the track "Apartment (APT.)" gained global popularity, continuing the "Rosé phenomenon."


During the NYT interview, Rosé reflected on the isolation she experienced, saying, "I didn’t understand the loneliness I would have to endure. It was so shocking that it became traumatic, but I survived." She recounted her time as a trainee living alone in a foreign country without her family.


"I would wake up at 9:30 a.m. and head to the shared dance practice room. I had vocal, dance, and language lessons, and practice ended at 2 a.m. I stayed behind to practice alone because I wanted to use the practice room by myself. I repeated this routine every day. Maybe it was because I had come too far—I didn’t want to return to Australia and explain the process of failing," she explained.


When asked about the hardest part of that journey, she pointed to "the K-pop fan culture," saying, "We were trained to always present ourselves in a perfect way, even when communicating with fans online. We were made to appear as the perfect girls to everyone."
Particularly, Rosé became emotional when asked, "Have you ever experienced the harassment female artists face online?" She broke into tears, deeply moving K-pop fans.


She admitted, "I think I have. I have a pretty strong personality, so I don’t want to react emotionally, but when it actually happened, I felt really, really bad." She shared that songwriting became a way for her to process her emotions and protect herself. "Songwriting felt like a blessing at the moments I truly needed it. When I went into it with a big problem and put it into a song, it would leave my heart. On days when I didn’t like the song, I’d think, ‘This didn’t help! This song isn’t going on the album,’” she confessed.




Written by Lee Seung Hun
Translated by Lee So Yun