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Pop

BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ on the ‘Disgustingly Vulnerable’ Song Inspired by Online Hate

"I'm like nothing really fazes me, you know? But it does. Every word, every comment, it crushes me," the singer confessed.

Rosé of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK smiles during an event to promote her film 'Born Pink', marking the group's eighth anniversary, in Seoul on Aug. 9, 2024.

Rosé of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK smiles during an event to promote her film 'Born Pink', marking the group's eighth anniversary, in Seoul on Aug. 9, 2024.

ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ is exploring deeply personal emotions on her upcoming debut album, rosie.

In a candid interview with PAPER Magazine, ROSÉ (born Roseanne Park) shared how reading hate comments inspired one of the album’s rawest tracks, a song that she describes as “disgustingly vulnerable.”


The New Zealand-born, Australia-raised singer admitted she has a habit of doom-scrolling at night, which led to rabbit holes of “bad comments that will get into my head.”

“I realised how vulnerable and addicted I was to this [online] world and that craving for feeling like I wanted to be loved and understood,” she explained, adding that the experience pushed her to explore her own insecurities.

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“It’s so disgustingly vulnerable and honest that people learn that I am a person that goes through these emotions, and I hated that about myself,” she said of a new track.

She admitted that, despite her efforts to seem unfazed, the criticism does affect her. “If anything, it’s something I want to cover up. Even in interviews, I’m like nothing really fazes me, you know? But it does. Every word, every comment, it crushes me,” she confessed.

While rosie delves into the emotional toll of fame, it also draws on her own life, exploring relationships and difficult connections she has navigated.

“I think I’m grateful enough to have gone through a few relationships, you know, like a normal girl in her 20s,” ROSÉ shared. “I’m probably very relatable if you listen to my songs, and if anyone’s been in that kind of a relationship. It doesn’t even have to be about a boyfriend, just any type of toxic relationship.”

“At the end of the day, I want people to understand me and stop misunderstanding me as a person as well,” ROSÉ said elsewhere in the interview, adding that she’s “ready to be a bit more vulnerable and open and honest.”

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Leading with the album’s debut single, “APT.,” a collaboration with Bruno Mars, ROSÉ is already setting records. The track has held the No. 1 position on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. Charts for two consecutive weeks, marking the first time a song has surpassed 200 million streams globally in multiple weeks since the surveys began in 2020.

Her chart success extends beyond the U.S. In Australia, “APT.” debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, making ROSÉ the first solo female K-pop artist to reach the top spot.

The single has held onto the top position for a second week, setting another milestone as the longest-charting No. 1 by a Korean solo artist since PSY’s “Gangnam Style” in 2012.

In the U.K., “APT.” has also gained major traction, currently sitting at No. 2 on the Official Singles Chart.

rosie is scheduled to be released on Dec. 6 through The Black Label and Atlantic Records.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​
FYI

Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​

The man behind one of Canada's most successful indie labels talks about the late-blooming success of French-language streaming record-holder Patrick Watson, why he builds long-term relationships with artists, and why it's important for the indie sector to work together.

Justin West is a leader and advocate in Canada’s independent music scene, but he didn’t plan it out that way. When he started his record label Secret City Records in Montreal in the mid-2000s, it was out of necessity. He had met an artist he loved and wanted to build a career with, and the label was a means to do it. That artist was Patrick Watson, and 20 years later he — and Secret City — are more successful than ever.

West — a multiple time Billboard Canada Power Player – leads one of the biggest indie labels in Canada while also advocating for the sector on multiple boards both locally and internationally. When we speak to him for this Executive of the Week interview, he’s just returned from Banff for the National Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Culture, and is a central figure in discussions around the Online Streaming Act and collective negotiations with online streaming platforms.

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