I can call you Rosie now, right?
You're giving us a green light to call you Rosie.
Yes, you may.
Very generous.
Have you listened to the album?
Come on.
Then you may.
Thank you for flying in.
Thank you for doing this.
I know it's hectic right now.
You've got a lot going on.
You asked for this, but it doesn't change the fact that you've still got a lot going on.
You've made time for it, so we appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
Oh my gosh.
No, I'm super grateful that you guys have invited me to talk about my album and I'm like pinching myself.
I feel like this is a dream.
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think that's what happens when you put a lot of your heart and soul into something and then all of a sudden it arrives.
And we all assume it arrives for us, but it also arrives for you, because in a way I guess it doesn't feel real until people listen to it.
In some respects,
No, literally, when I walked in, you guys were playing the song.
I've never had somebody play it for me.
I would always play it for somebody.
I don't think I noticed how much I've been waiting for this moment until I hear like you guys play it.
And in New York, I had my first promotion week.
And can I tell you the craziest story?
Tell me all the crazy stories.
It was just so funny because I was doing the first interview and it was not.
It was like a one of those pre-interviews.
So I guess production asks for like a pre-interview.
Oh like, tell us some stories you're going to tell us before we do the thing where you tell us the stories.
Yes.
And so that's what we were doing.
That was the first thing I did as soon as I landed in New York.
And I woke up and I was like, okay, first thing.
And then we get on the Zoom and then they're like how do you feel about promoting the album and about your album coming out?
And I was just like, um, and I ended up crying.
I was going to say, did you burst into tears?
I ended up crying for the whole 30 minutes.
I was like, I was actually like...
It's the most embarrassing thing I've ever- No, I'm laughing because I'm not surprised.
It's such a big question for someone who spent a year or two years making something.
And it's such a simple observation, but it's like, I really wasn't ready for the simplest question.
Yeah.
No, that's when I noticed I was like OK, I can give credit for myself because I think obviously it was not a smooth ride and it just showed how much you know time and effort and blood, sweat and tears I actually did put into it.
And that was a moment where I allowed myself to acknowledge the fact that I am really proud that I'm at the point of promoting it.
So it really means a lot to me, apparently.
Yeah.
Internally, your voice is telling you it means a lot to you and we're experiencing that too.
I mean, it makes me think about, like the observation that some artists have, which is when I make something, I'm going through it.
When I'm ready to release it, I'm through it.
And then we sort of get to listen to it for the first time and we assume you're still going through it.
Are you a different person today?
Now the album is coming out than you were when you started making Oh, completely.
I literally think this album is just like a little capsule.
It's like a little, like it's like, when I listen to my songs, I remember every minute of it.
And I like went through everything.
And without this album I think I would have carried a lot of the past version of myself through till today.
Because to be honest, like I'm not really, I'm not doing, it was like a therapy session.
And I never, so I've bottled it up into this thing called Rosie.
And so I've walked out of every single studio with a story and walked out feeling like I left it in that song.
There are some days where it's like, okay, I don't like that song.
And the emotion bounced back into me.
And I felt like that didn't really get the story out.
So in that case, those songs actually didn't make it to the album.
But every single song that has made it to the album.
Served a purpose.
Yeah.
Served a purpose in my life, actually and literally.
And there are days where I'm like, wow, I don't talk about that anymore.
Like ever since that session, I don't talk about it anymore.
Until today, we're going to go through song by song, taking her back through every single painful trauma.
That's my job.
Ladies and gentlemen, buckle up.
Here we go.
It's Rosie, the revised experience.
No, I'm just kidding.
I mean, some things will definitely maybe come up in conversation because the music is very real.
And I said that to you when I met you before the cameras.
I said that.
In the performance of these songs which I'm really attuned to is how someone sounds when they're singing them.
There are times I feel like you've caught yourself by surprise with the emotion of performing that particular song.
Do you remember those moments where you sang outside of what would be considered a conventional performance and it was like oh, I'm emoting something I wasn't expecting.
Oh, yeah, I think the more and more I was in the studio, I learned slowly.
So at first it started with a lot of anxiety, because there's this thing I say to myself.
I was like I always think Confidence equals, like I can only think of a Korean word right now.
Just say it, it's fine.
Which is talent.
I honestly think the more confidence I have, the more space I get to show talent.
Like I don't think like talent is like.
Talent is such a it's a bit of an interesting word because the more confidence somebody has, like Like, you can play around with it and stuff.
But at the very beginning I didn't have much of it because I had so much anxiety in the studio and obviously was not comfortable in the studio yet.
About being vulnerable and showing my emotions
The most fun part about this whole process of creating this album is that I think near the end of it I kind of mastered that.
You know the pushing through, the anxiety and- You knew you could go there.
I started creating things like and my producer when I went back to Korea.
I hadn't recorded with him for like over a year.
Um, he was shocked.
He was like, Rosie, you're like, you really, you're nailing this like instantly.
You don't even take, you take that like one to two takes and you're already there.
And like the tone is like, you've kind of mastered that this new texture and tone to your voice.
And so I was like, really?
I felt really happy about it.
But I had started to like have fun in the studio, like near the end.
Right now, even still, I'm supposed to wrap up the album.
You want to keep going, huh?
Yeah.
I literally kind of had to sort myself.
I added these like last two and I think one for the deluxe.
Somebody was like, let's just put that for the deluxe then.
Because it's like we loved it so much.
And I was like, oh my gosh.
I think I know the two songs you're referring to.
And I really like both of them.
Really?
Yeah.
And I can tell actually that, you know, those two songs feel... It's funny because...
It feels a bit different, right?
It does in a weird way.
Certainly the last song on the record, which is the up-tempo one, the additional one, the up-tempo one.
The deluxe.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's just a sense of, I suppose, like you say, freedom in the way you're approaching it.
That, I think, is in the middle of the record, when I can really feel, and everyone will hear, that you're going through something.
You capture it really well.
It's nice to get to the end and feel like you got through it.
Yes.
No, I think that's like the best feeling.
And that's when I was like, do I have to jump on the next one now?
Because I want to capture these moments.
Well, that's my question actually is when the last Blackpink tour came to its natural conclusion, did you feel any pressure from outside of yourself to make a solo album?
Was there even a reality where you wouldn't dive into the studio and make your proper full length debuts?
First, I felt pressured, to be honest.
We were kind of coming off of the year-long tour and you know us as Blackpink, as mature as we are.
We got together and decided well, let's promise ourselves a good year to be inspired.
You know, we've worked so hard for the past eight years and we've done I honestly believe we've done so well and I'm so proud.
But you know, we we all you know got together and just promised ourselves a good year to work on our solo stuff and the first thing that happened was anxiety.
Because, you know, I got, I was privileged to have this one year in my hands to do whatever I wanted with it, but I wanted it to be the right decision and it had to.
It had to feel right.
And I was getting anxiety like from the get go.
I think I had anxiety all through.
Now I'm kind of excited.
But and so, yeah, at the beginning it started like that.
Self-imposed pressure, though, a sense of like, what if I don't find it?
Yes.
And what if I don't believe in it?
And I don't feel it.
Yes.
That's the biggest fear I think I had.
I think doing it, like there are so many opportunities.
I'm so grateful for that.
But what if I don't believe in my thing?
And what if I'm in a place where I'm having to do things that I don't feel like it's me?
Yeah, because everyone says it's good enough and you know it's not.
Yeah.
And I wanted to be truthful, right?
And so, but I just went, okay, I'm just going to start it.
Like I have not really ever been in like the building process of an album before.
But you know, a start is everything, as they say.
So let's start it.
Starting and ending.
Starting and ending it.
Everything in the middle is a joy, and you can do it in front of nobody if you really want to.
But you've got to start it, you've got to make a commitment to yourself and then you've got to be able to finish it.
Yeah, so I threw myself in and I remember telling my co-writers and producers I was like I am so anxious.
They're like, why are you so anxious?
And they have guided me through this process so much, and I'm so grateful.
But I remember walking out of the first few sessions being like, I'm actually surprised.
I think this proves to myself no one else, just to myself that I might be able to just work at this.
And then my friends and family started supporting me when I was like, and I was still shy about it.
I was like, I wrote this song with a few people.
And they'd be like, Rosie, you should build this up.
And I doubted myself even still, but they were like, just do it.
Just go at it.
Just go back to LA.
Just fly back.
Book the hotel.
Get an Airbnb.
Just go and do it.
And I did it.
And I stuck to it for a few months.
And then...
A few months led to like two months, led to three months, four, five.
And then in the middle of it I found a label and I made sure I made decisions the way I felt like it was right.
And then here I am today.
Congratulations.
I mean we can't take it for granted that just because you're in a successful collaborative experience with your friends and you have had enormous success.
I think we see that and we equate that to confidence, but you're right.
It's different when you've got to find your own voice and figure out.
Also having a voice that you've got to be collaborative in a band, right?
You've got to figure out when do I turn my voice on and when do I turn it off or turn it down or be a part of the group?
And so, at what point in this process did you find a different power or a different feeling in your voice that you hadn't been able to really use for a long time, if at all?
I think at the very beginning it was still a little hard because again, like I said, I was kind of pushing through confidence, like I had people in the room who were like they probably listen to good music all the time and record amazing musicians all the time.
So I had a little bit of confidence to push through.
But then by the time it was like back-to-back sessions and I was like building on songs that felt personal to me and when I started expressing these things and creating within that world, I think I started pushing through.
And I mean, I can't pinpoint what song because there's also a lot of songs that I've dropped.
I think of Number One Girl as a pretty big turning point vocally, definitely.
It's one of those emotionally too, though emotionally too, that was the day i wrote.
I wrote that we wrote that song the day after i went to this event.
I'd been to so many glamorous events and i felt so grateful that i'm at these events, but i didn't feel like fulfilled.
I felt like i was chasing after something that like, what am i chasing after?
And i felt so empty and i remember feeling so miserable.
But um, and then that night i ended up finding myself on social media to like because that'll help, because that helps, right?
No, it's like, let me go to an event, feel like i'm totally one of many people in a crowd.
I don't feel special or unique at all.
Let me go on social media and see how well everyone else is doing, great.
No, and then i end up smack that, thank you.
My mental health is like we're, we're there yeah um, no.
And then i end up looking for all these comments that are just gonna obviously shatter me and i found myself and i was like i hate, i hate this.
Like oh my gosh.
And I remember walking up the next day and I was like I want to write a song.
That's just like so honest.
I'm so disappointed in myself that I've actually, Because I think I've grown up being like be confident in yourself.
When people say things to you, don't let it get to you.
And it really didn't get to me for a while.
But I did, to be honest, that night feel like... I hated the fact that this one person with this...
Yeah, I had this power and I was so obsessed with these people who were not nice to me and who really didn't know me.
But I was so obsessed with it.
And so I was like I want to write an obsessive song about and talk about this emotion of really wanting to be loved by somebody and this vulnerability.
And I wanted to be so disgustingly honest.
I was telling Amy that was in there.
I was like, I wanted to be disgustingly honest.
And she's like, and we'd like write.
Me yelling?
She's like, I can do that.
That's what I do.
And I'd be like, more.
No, I just don't want it to be sugar-coated at all.
I don't want to even act confident here.
Can I read some of the lyrics?
Yes, please.
Tell me I'm a little angel, sweetheart of your city.
Say what I'm dying to hear because I'm dying to hear you.
Tell me that I'm that new thing.
Tell me that I'm relevant.
That's brilliant.
And then it gets really like deep.
Tell me that I've got a big heart and back it up with evidence.
That's heavy.
Because what that says is like, tell me that I've got a big heart, right?
Tell me that I have some kind of emotional resonance here, that I'm somebody that's worthy of just what you see or what you hear about me.
But then give me a reason why that's true.
Yeah, even convince me.
It's so selfish in a strange way, right?
Convince me also.
Yeah.
Because even if people say nice things, I also want to know if you really mean it.
Right.
I don't know.
I'm pretty toxic.
Have you heard the album?
Have you heard the album?
Then you can call me Rosie.
Give me the evidence.
You need to straight face it longer next time.
Yeah.
Oh, I should.
Do that to everybody.
Oh, you're smart.
Thanks.
I won't be the first person who says to you, can I call you Rosie now?
Just be like, have you heard the album?
Did you hear the album?
And I'll wait for like five seconds.
Fifteen.
Go in.
Just go out.
No, I love that song.
And it's interesting because everyone who hears it will be like, who's it about?
Is it about me?
Is it about me as a fan?
Is it about me?
You know, does it speak to me the way I want someone to speak to me about my life?
Does it resonate in my life?
But it's kind of about everyone.
That's the crazy thing about it.
It's about the sensational.
I took it as a sensational desire to be loved.
I think it represents every toxic relationship.
Toxic meaning like an unhealthy amount of love towards somebody or a group of people or whoever that I'm making it toxic because I want to be loved by that person, the feeling of wanting to be accepted.
It's just a representation of that.
And I've not just experienced that like that night.
I've experienced with many people.
Like just be wanting like even a girl in the room, like I just want to be accepted by, like she's so cool.
Like what will it take for you to love me?
Which is not anyone else's problem.
That's the crazy thing.
Like when we get to that point in our lives where we put so much of our own identity work in the hands of others, we're missing the real golden opportunity, I think, which is to actually cut through and learn to love ourselves a little bit more, you know.
Yeah, but I'm here.
I'm 27.
I'm still working on it, obviously.
If anything, some days are worse.
Same.
I think I was better when I was 19.
I was badass at 19.
Yeah, because everyone's—well, we're just better at pretending when we're 19, I think, as well.
Yeah, maybe.
Right?
We're all just trying to sort of pretend our way through every awkward situation that life presents because we're so alert and aware of them, then
It was so like, oh my God, this is horrible.
I'm going to be the best person I can possibly pretend to be.
Maybe that's what it is.
You know, I think a lot of it.
And then you know you get to see the world and no one's seen the world the way you've seen the world.
And I really appreciate how this album is.
There's a lot of internal thinking going on here on this record.
And it's not just all the things I've seen and all the experiences I've witnessed vicariously, as I've toured the world multiple times and had the kind of experience only three other girls can really relate to right.
Or other women.
Mm-hmm.
You know you've really done a lot of self-work in this record and there's a lot of really brutal, honest writing in here.
Yeah.
I mean, it's just all the things that obviously, as what we are, you know as Blackpink, it's all the things I would love to share with my.
I think my fans are like I should feel closer to them.
But some subjects I don't get to talk about every day are Because you know people like to say things and it causes drama and everything.
But I think a lot of that is like, you know, voices inside of me.
It's me, who I am as a person.
And my friends and family.
When they hear it, when I play it to them, they're like this is so you, Rosie.
Oh, my God, this is so you.
This is what we hear about every day.
And it's just what I talk about with my friends and family put into an album so that we can all share it and hopefully, my fans feel closer to me.
Yeah, closeness is a big theme on this record, right?
This idea of wanting to eliminate the distance that I think really success can create.
Not really.
It just happens naturally, I think, right?
And I think that it's clear that just by calling the album Rosie and saying this is what my friends and family call me, that you want to feel closer to your fans through this process.
I really do.
That was good advice.
Especially last year, a good few months where I was craving that so bad.
But there was nothing I could do at that time.
I just want to give them the best all the time.
And there were a really good few months of feeling that craving for the closeness with the fans.
And I really did channel it.
And so I'm so grateful for the opportunities that I've had in the studio.
That I could channel that into my music.
So in a way is number one girl kind of almost a tribute to as much as it's toxic.
It's kind of it's kind of a message, isn't it?
I'm like, yeah, it really, it started there.
Um, but we made sure that it contained a universal feeling, which it is.
I could relate to that.
After like say, I have a breakup next year, I could turn it on and I could channel it.
Let's hope not after hearing this album, because I think you've obviously been through one as well.
I mean, ladies and gentlemen, The X, The X.
I mean there are lyrics that sometimes just they sort of, they're more visceral than others.
That song was actually supposed to be called The X.
We started writing it, being like, oh my God, it's about time.
We've talked about The X a bit too much.
It's about time that we write a song called The X. But then we came up with a better punchline.
So we did that.
So we put it in that section where like, I need to talk about it.
But it's also what's cool about it is that the song ends up becoming somewhat self-aware too.
And like at the end of any relationship, you take a bit of accountability for all of that too.
And even for the decisions you make, whether you thought that was smart or not.
And later on it's like all right, maybe I need to judge people a little bit better than I have been.
But that song in particular is kind of really at the heart of a lot of the subject matter, which is, like you know, a sort of classic, sort of playbook, done very personally uniquely, through that experience that many people don't get to write about.
That idea of having something and losing something that meant a lot to you.
Was it tough to sort of be as open about that as you had been on the record?
What were some of the challenges you found about really writing from the heart?
I think that was something that was living with me for a few years.
I personally don't think I deserved it, but it was there.
I'm actually shocked that today I can wake up and be like, I don't talk about that anymore.
I'm grateful that I got to do this album because I used to talk about it so much.
So when you ask if it was hard, it was very easy for me to talk about it because it was something I was talking about all the time.
All the time.
Yeah, yeah.
So just transfer into song mode.
Yeah.
And I'd go and be like, what do you want?
And I'd hate it, but...
I'd never like the person to know about it, but I would talk about it so much.
Do not want to give credit to the person, but I'd talk about it, and it's just the easiest.
It was the easiest because I needed to get it off my chest.
And we'd talk about it all the time.
They'd be like, what are you talking about?
Oh, we're talking about the ex.
The ex.
Yeah, again.
And they'd be like, okay, Rosie, do it again.
I'd be like...
I got more.
I got more.
Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
We're not done with the X. Yeah, so it wasn't that difficult.
Yeah, it was good.
It was easy.
Is there a song where you really feel like it finally closed the loop on that chapter in your life?
I think Game Boy was the last one.
That was going to show up to me.
Game Boy was the last one.
And I was like, oh, my God.
I was actually excited that day because I was like, I felt like I had to squeeze it out.
Other days, I just feel like it'd be at the tip of my tongue.
Like all these like, I'm like, oh, my God, this would be perfect for that line.
I have so many ideas.
But that one, we had to squeeze it out.
I was like, wow, I've come to a point where I have to squeeze this out.
I'm like, I'm so happy about this.
Your time is over, X. You're done.
And that was the last one.
Yeah.
Look, I mean I think a lot of people will really applaud and really appreciate the honesty on this record because it's something if you're lucky you go through that.
I know it's a strange thing to say, but it's part of the human experience.
And the more it hurts, the more you felt it, right?
Mm-hmm.
You work with some amazing people on this record.
I mean, the list is great, but I also think it's really important to point out that you know you wrote or co-wrote all the songs.
You know, we're involved in the production right across the board.
I think a lot gets put into this idea of people with talent and ability who can perform at a high level, ultimately giving a lot of that responsibility to other people, and that does happen.
But you must have loved being able to take some real control over your destiny creatively, in all ways.
For sure.
At first.
Like I said, I was worried because I'm the type of person to say, like there are people who are professionals for certain things because of a reason.
You know, they're professionals.
So, like, sometimes it's best not to.
And that's fine.
You don't have to turn around to Omar Fett and be like, I got this guitar like Omar.
Don't worry about it.
I'm in control.
You know what I mean?
Let's leave Omar with the guitar.
Yeah.
That one?
Yeah, it's all for, of course.
And so that's why I was very shy, but they really helped me push through that.
And, you know, they'd always be like, that made me feel so comfortable.
And that's how I ended up feeling so comfortable in the studio.
And then later on, I noticed how much I wanted a certain sound for this album.
I noticed how anal I was with that.
And it was like a year of discovering, like, oh, wow, I have an idea.
It's somewhere in there.
I just need to get it out.
I need to keep going back at it.
Have a lot of bad examples of like, that's not it.
If you talk to any of them, they know Rosie says no to a lot of things.
I'm like, that's not it.
And it's like, it's hard to articulate it, but we push through and we always end up with something.
Rosie, your that's not it is pretty iconic.
I have to say, we might have to put that on the soundboard of the show.
That's not it.
I've had a couple of that good that's not it's from people.
It's definitely up there.
Guys.
That's not it.
And so I started doing a lot of that.
So how did you know what was it?
Was it a feeling?
It's really hard to tell, but it's a way of executing the story.
It's like there's certain words that that describe it, but then there's certain ones that ruin the magic of it.
It feels like puzzle.
It's like you have to put the puzzle piece in that section to figure out if it fits or not.
You can't tell just by looking because they all look very similar.
You have to put it on it and try to put it in until you realize, oh, that's the right puzzle piece.
It was a lot of that.
Put a lot of brain power into it because it needed to feel right.
I needed to go home that day with a balance on my phone and be able to listen to it.
Isn't that the best feeling?
When it works, isn't it the best?
The monitor mix.
I'm surprised anybody ever does anything more than what they do when they put things through a monitor at the end of a demo day.
To me, it never sounds better than that first few hours.
I agree.
Ever.
Ever.
And then you have to let someone else tell you it sounds better, because I'm like nah, it still sounds good.
Four months ago.
Oh my God.
Story of my life.
Yeah.
But I mean, yeah.
And then I have to learn to let that go as well because sometimes there's...
I don't know.
Maybe I'll put an album out that's like fully demo.
I'll be like, nobody touch anything.
I don't even know what a demo is anymore.
When you're a kid and you're making music in your bedroom through a computer and you're happy with how it sounds.
I don't even know what's a demo anymore.
I mean, half the time, I think... That's the magic.
That's the magic, right?
You know.
It's like Rick Rubin says, you know, this is my vision.
This is what I would like to share with you.
And then it's up to you whether you like it.
But I've done my job.
I've shared my vision.
I'm kind of fascinated to know a little bit about how you've sort of navigated this really high pressure experience of showing up at the highest level and performing great success with your friends and kind of been dealing with this kind of growing lack of confidence.
That really showed itself when you came off the road.
Were you aware of that before you came off the road?
Did you feel it building up in you that there was this kind of this hill you were going to have to climb in order to get over that?
I think at the beginning of anything, it's the fear.
That's where you lack confidence, because when you start something, it's like a baby learning how to walk.
You don't know.
But because I think I had more fear because we were doing world tours and I'm in places where people are there to celebrate our success.
Do you have time to be afraid when it's like that?
To be honest, I've been like training.
We did a full year on it, so I think it got better towards the end of it.
But then to get off of that, you know something that was perfected.
You know, every day I had to repeat it and master it, you know, and then we're there.
Even at the beginning of the tour I was nervous.
I was like glass of confidence and I have to go through all that struggle to find to be at the place of confidence.
But for this one too, it was so scary because I've never been taught to be like.
That's not something that I trained.
I trained like everything else, like how to be on stage, how to like, you know, everything.
But that's not something I really had much help, you know, doing in the past.
So that's the part that was scary.
But when you were growing up if the story from what I've read about you that you know you used to spend a lot of time just on your own playing the piano and just kind of leaning into your own natural voice and what you wanted to, how you want to express yourself, before you were even a recording artist or anything of that nature.
Did you sort of find a way to kind of do you think you tap back into that a little bit, even subliminally or subconsciously, as you were moving forward?
Maybe.
I have never actually thought about that before.
But if I think about it like because like Australia, you know there's not city, like there's not much going on,
And so I'd go to school, come home.
Yeah.
And I was just really quiet.
I didn't have like 100 crazy friends and we didn't go out and hang out after.
My mom would pick me up and go home.
My sister would be somewhere doing her own thing.
I was just like this sad in front of this piano.
And what more entertainment is there than to just...
I think, you know, I guess that's what got me into it.
And then I'd be, like, bored and I'd be watching TV and there were people, like, I'd watch a movie.
I watched Dreamgirls.
I'd watch that and I was like, I was so moved at how she would sing the song, listen.
And I'd go to the computer and search chords.
I had been learning how to play piano.
My mom taught, like, you know, got me lessons and stuff and I hated it.
But what I got out of that was I knew how to play chords.
So I'd like print them out and I'd like try sing it and like channel into, like the emotion that I watched on the TV.
And so you know, and I think probably obviously, as I was doing, that I was probably finding ways of expressing this emotion.
I was so little.
I don't know big emotions like that.
But as I was watching it, I was learning from it.
And I think that got me to obviously practice and lean into this emotion that I have and match it.
And I'm thinking maybe that really helped me.
Because even when I record, I always think, What character am I playing?
Where am I at in the scene of the song?
Sometimes I write it because it was my thing, but then when I go in I don't feel that there, and then
So I'm like, so what is it?
Where am I?
And I sometimes have to create characters in my head and scenarios.
Most of the time, I think I do that.
That's something I've built recently.
I put myself in a scene.
Yeah.
And I imagine, like if I'm looking here, I imagine, if it's like oh, I sound like a really scary person.
Not at all.
Do I sound really weird?
No, and I'll tell you why.
I'm really locked into this answer.
I'm really into this answer.
I'll tell you why.
Because I think that when you're writing something so personal, when you're writing a song like Call at the End or Not, the Same right.
And you're like hey, I've got to find a way to sort of conjure up how I felt at the time.
That really inspired these words.
But you can't just do that on call.
Actors can't.
Actors can.
Actors can find us a moment in a scene, draw something from their life and deliver it in front of camera to make us believe it's real.
So in many respects it's actually a shortcut, I'd imagine, to you getting to the emotional place you need to.
It's a tool.
No, I've eventually actually noticed that it's like very similar to acting, because at first it was really hard.
Yeah.
But I kind of, you know, I had to record like every day.
That's what I take from it anyway.
I think it's a tool, right?
It really is.
You want me to sing like I felt eight months ago?
Well, what's that movie look like?
Yeah.
I think it is.
You signed your record deal and I believe that like Bruno was pretty encouraging about that as well.
And Bruno's kind of been there for you at times to sort of help, give you little bits of advice or at least just kind of like a point in the right direction when you've asked for it.
Is that true?
No, it's true.
It's really weird.
I'm like, what's happening?
What's my life right now?
Because it's Bruno Mars and not like John Thompson down the road, right?
The whole thing started because I became a fan, like a year ago when he traveled to Korea for his Seoul show in Seoul.
And I was like, I'm the biggest Bruno Mars fan.
I didn't know I knew all the lyrics to 50 of his songs.
He has that subliminal effect on people, I tell you.
The amount of times you put on the radio and someone you wouldn't pick like.
I'll be with my like 82-year-old dad and he'll just be like when you smile, I look at you, you're amazing.
I'm like, oh, you know that dad?
What the hell?
He has that effect on people.
And so it's, it's crazy, but he's been really like, he's been the best.
Yeah, he has.
I mean, but you know, he also recognizes in you something that's, that's amazing too.
And that must be really in terms of like that confidence that you need.
I mean, that's, that's good stuff.
The first day I met him, I was like we were saying some stuff and I was like well, so do you want to listen to some of the?
Because he asked me.
So I heard you're working on the album.
How's it going?
I was like, and I was like, well, do you want to have a listen?
And he's like, wow.
I was like, he was like, Rosie's a hustler.
I was like, oh, damn it.
He read it.
He takes one to know one.
I mean, he would have just been like, what took you so long?
I'm ready to mix this thing.
And so I was like, yeah.
And then, yeah, fast forward.
Yeah, now we have the song.
Song number six with Bruno Mars.
Can you pronounce it for me, please?
So what is this drinking game?
It's a Korean drinking game that literally everyone especially everyone like around my age and I would say younger plays when they drink.
It's actually a game.
I grew up, I played it the most, I think, 20, 21, 22, 23, maybe.
By the way, you're lucky we don't have liquor here.
I tell you, you better get ready for every single late night talk show you're about to go on, where every single host is like well, we're going to play this game with you right now.
Bring it on.
Bring it on.
So what are the rules?
The rules are.
It's just, it's really simple.
Um, just like, if you, because usually you gather around in like a circle and you're drinking and talking, right and then.
So if it's my game, I say Rosie's favorite, and as I sing, everybody joins in random game.
Game start and everybody sings, and because it's my game, I would scream out the floor number, so I'd be like seven.
Everyone puts their hands, stacks their hands in the middle.
You go one from bottom up.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
And whoever lands on the seventh, it's like the shot.
So it's really simple, but the chant is fun to do.
The chant is fun to do.
And I can imagine after like maybe 15 rounds of APT, it starts to get a little bit blurry as well.
Yeah.
It's great.
It's a great moment on the record and it's kind of it's interesting because it's a little bit of a it's kind of a trick.
It plays a trick on us because it tells us that you're making really inventive, really modern pop music, but it doesn't prepare us for some of the heartbreak on the record.
It really surprised me in a good way.
When I got five or six songs into it, I was like, oh, we're somewhere else now for a while.
Really?
Yeah.
Oh my God.
No, it was great.
Did you get to sort of see Bruno do his thing?
Yeah, you did?
Oh, I did.
What was that like?
I remember the session and it was like, obviously I was so nervous.
Because here I'm still a fan.
Right now I could be like, Bruno...
Because we're a bit close, much closer now.
But he played like a few parts that he thought like, you know, he's like, what do you think of this?
And what do you think of that line?
I was like, wow, I think it's great.
And he was like, let's record.
And so he like recorded me.
And oh my gosh, I was so nervous.
I was so nervous.
Because like, by that time, I'm like, I'm usually better than this in my head.
I'm like, I'm better than this.
I'm just so nervous.
I'm like, failing at this line.
And he's like, and he was vocal coaching me.
Like, Rosie, you have to, like, throw it out there.
And I remember, like, I, like, choked on water accidentally before I had to record the bridge.
And then I was like, he's like, you have to, like, shout it.
Like, hold on.
And he was, like, singing it.
And I'm like, hold on.
Because I choked on water.
And I was like, by the way, I just choked on water.
I don't usually sound like that.
He's got all this on tape.
No, yeah.
And then he like started like picking up the guitar and like the bass and like played drums over it.
And I was like, wow, he's a genius.
He's pretty good.
But you know what?
I've watched Bruno Mars step into situations and unapologetically and without meaning to just dominate, because he's just that good.
But I don't get that on APT at all.
You know, it's a pure collaboration.
And, you know, for what it's worth, I mean, it's your song.
He asked us to pitch him a few songs and at the time I laughed.
I was like, oh my God, just even sending it.
Like, I'm like, aha, he's never going to do it.
But like, oh, this is so fun.
We had sent Bruno Mars three songs and he asked for it.
Oh my God.
And then we sent three songs and the first thing I got was he texted, what does APT mean?
And I was like, it's a Korean junior.
He's like, this is crazy.
Like, I'm so excited.
And then the rest is history.
Like, you know.
He's deeply curious.
And so that is definitely going to press a button.
It's going to pull a lever for him, right?
He's going to be like, what is apaté?
What does apaté mean?
That's crazy.
You know, it's fascinating to me that you know you're in a situation where you're releasing your debut album and yet a lot of the world knows who you are and recognizes you.
And I don't even know how you kind of put into context or if you even consider what the level of social media following and the data and the numbers does that ever kind of?
Do you even register that?
Like what streams mean to you at this point, when they're in the billions and, To be honest, at this point, I think I learned it through my fans.
My fans, like, put it in front of me.
I'm like, oh, apparently this is, like, really a big deal.
And they're like, maybe you should post it.
I'm like, oh, yeah, maybe I should.
I'm not, like, everyday checking these, like, charts.
But then my fans, obviously, they bring it to me.
And I'm, like, always like, wow.
Fans are working hard.
Yeah, I mean, for sure.
And that's one of the things I love about your fan base.
And, in fact, a lot of modern fan bases these days is there's a real sense of like we work with and for the artist right?
Like your success is important because we want you to keep going.
Where do you feel it the most when you're in Blackpink?
When do you feel the success most viscerally?
When do you realize it's really happening?
I think when we release a song and a video, I think that's when it's like the most like they've been waiting for that moment.
Yeah, every time.
And I know our fans are always like, Blackpink takes so long to come out.
But, you know, when we do, they like, that's when it's visible the most and you feel it the most.
I think one of the things that's most exciting for fans of Blackpink is that the music and the art is super dialed in, but the friendship is entirely believable because it's real.
And I think a lot of times we buy into this group mentality but we're not quite sure if it's real offstage and if it's real when everyone's not working.
But you really do get a sense that the four of you support each other in every way through this thing.
How important, in your own words, has that friendship been toward the success of the band?
I think it's been like more than I even expected.
I think because, you know, usually we're in the same project and so it's very visible.
But then you know just more because right now, like we're all chasing after what we want, you know what we really want to do and try out.
And there's no one better to understand what I'm going through as much as you.
You know the three other members like nobody's going to share the same experience.
And so when we do link in between, it's like, it's the best conversations.
And that's when you know, you're like, my gosh, I have three sisters that are like identical to me.
I feel like I have three other twins, basically.
And it was a group decision to want to go away and make everyone make their own record and do their own thing.
You touched on that before and said I think the way you worded it was like through all the success, we kind of had the space and the kind of we took the moment to make that decision together.
So you obviously kind of came to that conclusion for a reason.
And it's really kind of, not a lot of people do that.
When they're coming off the back of a tour that big of only two albums, it's like keep going, keep going.
A lot of times it breaks before it stops, right?
And you chose to stop.
What was kind of the motivation?
Do you think if you could put it through your own thinking, for the group decision to pause there?
What do you think really motivated it?
Well, I think all four of us are really, really hardworking.
And we had been at it back to back for eight years.
And even more, like I trained with them before we lived with them for like almost eight years.
And then four years during trainees, the trainee era.
So When you're working so hard on that project for so long, there comes a time where it's probably smart to now go and explore and be inspired to come back instead of just pushing through it. just doing it like a formula doing it like it's maths it's like we need we're we're 27 like i'm 27 like we're in our 20s we need to we need to now like go restructure grow and like be inspired so we can be energized to do even better to come back and you know what we have is just is is irreplaceable so we're not going to throw it away no it's magic it is it's magic and you know it's it's It reached the world for a reason.
Did it give you a chance to kind of reflect?
And if so, what did that feel like for the first time to actually take a step back and go okay, like we have achieved an enormous amount?
Because when you put it like that, eight years before that, eight years in the training, I mean it's more than half your life.
To be honest, as much as I just wanted to be like, yes, I'm so excited.
I finally got to do everything I wanted.
As much as I wanted that, it was, I think, a lot of, like I mentioned before, vulnerability.
It's like starting to walk again on my two feet.
Were you tired?
Were you exhausted at the end of that tour?
Did it feel like you needed to just take a beat?
Yes.
On that yes, but then it's not like it was like just because I needed a break on that.
This life is so much easier.
It's like this was like a whole different challenge.
Oh yeah, for sure, but I feel like Blackpink is just we're all wired, we're like We're all so curious as well.
We're curious beings.
Some people might feel like, I just want to be comfortable.
Because Blackpink, we have a whole setup and we're great, but we could just keep going like that.
But I think everyone's curious and we need to feel like these things really matter to us and we're truthful to every decision we make and everything we do.
And so, in order to do that, even though it was challenging, to take a break for a year and do everything, we all committed to it.
And I think Blackpink is Blackpink because of that.
All four of us are just really hardworking, curious people.
Oh, yeah.
What you bring back to the table when it's time to come back together after everyone's kind of gone down this road and had this great experience on their own terms, is It's going to elevate it so much higher than it already is, just artistically, before you even think about the numbers or whatever the math is.
It's going to be crazy.
You know, you talk about curiosity.
What really fascinates you?
Outside of just making music and things, what do you find really fascinating?
Lately, it's been like. what somebody can really achieve, like, if they put their mind to it.
Manifestation.
Yeah.
Because you can judge a book by its cover and be like eh, you know, even me.
I think a lot of people might have their doubts about how you know how successful someone can be and from what kind of background they come from.
But it's interesting to see for myself too.
It's like if I put my mind to it, even though I have a lot of moments where I feel like maybe I can't make it, maybe I'm not good enough.
I have those moments of doubts.
But if I just really push through it and believe it, just keep going at it and master it, work on my craft, just do it and and as, and believe that as long as i believe in what i'm doing, people will believe.
You know um, Because even right now I know we haven't really seen how many people liked it or anything, but I'm proud of myself.
So the fact that I'm at a point where I'm, like I am proud of myself for finishing this album.
It's interesting to see how much somebody can achieve, even in a lot of doubt from the world and others.
So, yeah.
So who knows?
Maybe next year I'll be like, I'm going to become a painter.
But I don't know.
That's what I'm saying.
It's like you never know.
Whatever you want.
You never know.
Whatever you want.
Crazy.
That's what manifestation is.
Manifestation isn't broken down into like a single lane.
Like you only get to manifest this.
Yeah.
You just got to be able to feel it.
Yeah.
Right?
At the end of the day.
Mm-hmm.
What's life been like while you've been making this record away from the studio?
What is life like when it's just you?
Are you comfortable when you're sitting still?
Are you comfortable?
Is there anything resembling just a day-to-day normal life for you at the moment?
Oh my God, it's just been work every single day.
Stupid question.
But at the end of the day, it's what I love to do.
And that's the only thing that makes me feel alive and like a person.
So you don't crave...
Something just banal and simple at times, that just be able to just switch off and not have to think about work.
I do, but my life is right now, it's for the past year, it's been my music and my album.
So I've lived in it, like actually.
But I have been dreaming of like a little vacation after this.
When was the last time you took a vacation?
I don't remember.
Seriously, that's why I'm asking.
I can't even think you like.
I don't.
But what is a vacation?
I'm kind of tempted to just sit still until you come up with an answer, because I reckon it could take about three minutes and it might shock everybody.
I think like last year.
That's not too bad.
Last year, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I have to be lucky.
I've noticed vacation in my life, I have to be lucky.
There has to be like this time slot that like matches.
Yeah, it's not something like.
I think that's the one thing that people kind of Who get to sort of pick and choose their vacation time a little more liberally.
Everyone's got to work.
Everyone's got to get by.
And people work hard in all walks of life every single second of the day, right?
To keep the lights on on this planet.
But...
I think one thing that really kind of cuts through which I'm learning is not how it was initially presented in my conversations with some of the biggest superstars coming out of Korea is that there's this idea that it's all just so in a grid and it's so framed out and there's no room for life outside of work and it's just work work work work, work.
But you're presenting a reality that you love to work, but it's not like you don't seem to me.
And even when I spoke to John Cook in Korea, he was just like, no, I live a life.
Like I have a life.
You know, this idea that it's just work, work, work all the time.
I mean, what is the reality for you as a member of the most successful, you know female group of the modern times?
What is the reality of the work versus life balance?
It's like for me right now because I'm working the album.
I'm always like breathing and thinking, like you know, and I have like timelines, like deadlines to match.
At this point, this past few months have been like that.
But then usually it's like you know.
For me the past year it's been different to any other year I've had as Blackpink.
It'd be, it was out here.
I was going to the studio every day at like 12 or 2, like between 12 to 2.
And I'd work on the music until like 7, 6, 7.
And at that hour, I don't really have too many friends out here.
So I would just drive back home.
I would eat there.
And then I'd drive back home.
And then I'd fall asleep at like 3, 4 on my terrible Instagram feed.
Just hating yourself to sleep.
Yes, hating myself to sleep to prepare for myself for the next day.
And it was really back to back of that.
So there were even times where I would like, I came out here for 14 days.
So I booked a hotel for 14 days.
I had a session 14 days straight.
You were in it.
I would say about like 10th song in, I was like, maybe I do need a weekend.
Maybe I do get exhausted.
So let's cancel Saturdays and Sundays.
And we did.
And then I, it was crazy.
I like.
I found myself Saturday at like 7 pm in a different studio finishing up a song I started a few months ago.
I get it.
And listen, you know what?
I hear it.
And everyone's going to hear it.
I mean...
See, I'm trying to say like I worked hard on it and I was exhausted, like physically okay.
Yeah, but it was something like I was craving so bad.
Like I just, that's all I could think about.
I'm like, they're like, what do you want to do?
I'm like, I have no idea what I, I don't even know what to do.
Except for go eat Chinese hot pot.
And then we did it at like 2 p.m.
And I was like, what do we do now?
Done that.
Yeah.
And so I called my producer and worked on I Think It Was Too Bad For Us.
I was like, we should finish that song.
Yeah.
Like I said, it's one of my favorites.
Oh, really?
I love that record.
Yeah.
So you love this life.
Until it's time to put it out into the world and have a little bit of a vacation mentally.
I need some time off.
I need to be charged again emotionally and physically.
But I'll be back at it.
I'm a workaholic, so I'll probably already be like, yes, I need to write the next.
And it's always been like that.
You felt you've always had this insatiable desire to achieve.
Yeah, i think so kind of built like that.
I feel like that's probably not the best for me, but i really feel like that's how i'm built at this point.
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Will you tour this record?
Oh, i would.
I would actually, at this point, love to.
I tried to sing it acoustic.
I had like a guitarist like kind of learned it all, and we did like a little session.
I was like oh, how did that feel like i don't even know how to describe it.
It was unreal.
Yeah, i was really happy.
I can imagine especially the way that the records sound and how beautiful they sound, well produced and everything else.
They're just stripping them back down to the, to the rawest moment, given they were written in the rawest time, was probably just a really lovely moment for you.
It was really rewarding.
Yeah oh, because i've covered so many songs acoustically.
It's just something i love to do is like what are your favorite covers?
Like private, what do you love to play just in your own time?
If you pick guitar, what do you do?
There's like a version of PYT that I play on the guitar.
Yeah.
Oh, I played it for Bruno when I first met him.
You did?
And I was like, let me impress you.
And I'm like, this is probably the only song that I actually know how to play.
What did he say?
He was like, wow, Rosie, you can actually.
And I'm like, don't worry.
It's just this one that looks cool.
It's like one of the songs.
You know how everyone has that one song they play and it makes you look really good?
You're like, secretly, I'm not that good.
I just know basic chords.
This is maximum.
Yeah, PYT is like a song I love to play on the guitar.
And Officially Missing You is like another cute one that I play and then like makes all the boys get like wow.
Right?
Oh my God, you're hilarious.
Oh, and I used to say, I used to do price tag a lot, like back in the day when I was a trainee.
Which one was price tag again?
How's that go?
Money, money, money, ain't about to happen.
Jessie J. That was from my track.
Our old friend Jessie J. Yeah, I love her.
I used to be obsessed with her.
Yeah, dude, because when she came out, Jessie J was, like, a bad pop person.
She was bad.
She was, like, kicked ass.
I remember.
I know.
Yeah, she's cool, Jessie.
So like when I was 16 I flew over to Korea and like it's like very basic chords and I'd like play it and like all the girls would sing along.
I'd be like...
It was your role?
It was, yeah.
It was my job.
It was my job.
It was your job.
Like Rosie, play something.
I'll be like, money, money.
I think Blackpink even has like a video of it.
Like we have this video of us like singing it somewhere like ages back.
Like I mean, that's actually that's a good last question, which is, like you know, you've lived your life.
In a way, it's all been documented.
That's the crazy thing.
It all exists somewhere on the internet, right?
The amount of footage and content that you've recorded with your friends and continue to do on your own terms.
Do you ever think about that?
Do you ever think about like the stuff that's just out there, or do you?
Is it just kind of, it's just a given?
You're just like, look, man, I did it.
It's out there.
It is what it is.
That performance, I can't be embarrassed about a performance I did when I was 18.
It doesn't really matter to me.
Like, is it just out of sight, out of mind?
Because it is such a unique experience.
That's a really interesting question.
But I think, like you said, they're more like bookmarks in our life.
So I'd see a performance video of myself and be like, oh, that was when da-da-da-da-da happened.
So, like you said before, I have a life outside of it.
But those are like bookmarks because we work so, so much and so often and they're like all these footages but there's like a whole life behind it.
So it's like I would actually look at looks and be like, oh my god, that's when I was like going through like the worst time of my life.
I'm like I remember that too.
I had the biggest fight, you know.
I'd be like with the ex yeah, with the ex, yeah.
I remember then like I look so good, considering how broken I was.
This is the thing.
We're all so scared.
Our generation, certainly where I'm from in New Zealand.
I don't know how you feel growing up in Australasia, but the idea of the internet when I was growing up was, like that's terrifying.
When it arrived and I was already kind of in my 20s, I was like, this shit is terrifying.
I don't want my whole life documented.
But I think, if you actually kind of just go through it, there's something kind of cool about just having these bookmarks in your life.
It's all kind of cataloged along the way and you can sort of trace your life.
I agree.
I kind of enjoy that.
Am I weird?
It's three in the morning.
Yeah, like, oh, that was when I should really stop that.
That you should stop.
Yeah, I really should stop.
You know what?
I've really enjoyed meeting you properly and I've really enjoyed our time talking and I think this album is going to make a lot of people really, really happy.
How can it not?
I mean, it's the most authentic you you could be at this moment in your life.
You've thrown none of this in.
So thank you so much for taking some time to talk with me at Apple Music.
I know you're busy, but we really appreciate it, Rosie.
No, you're the best.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
