'Apartment Syndrome' Ros?, NYT Interview
"Always Trained to Appear Perfect"
"Composing Came Like a Blessing"
Ros?, a member of BLACKPINK who is loved for her new song "Apartment" (APT.), reflected on the difficult journey to becoming a K-pop idol in an interview with The New York Times (NYT), saying, "I survived."
In the NYT interview released on the 23rd (local time), Ros? shared her feelings about releasing her first solo full-length album, saying, "I dreamed of releasing an album someday, but I never thought it would actually happen," and added, "When I first started this whole process last year, I doubted myself a lot." She also said, "I grew up listening to the music of many female artists and overcame difficult times by empathizing with them."
Ros? especially opened up about the loneliness she experienced during her trainee days. Born to Korean immigrant parents, Ros? is from New Zealand and moved to Australia at the age of eight. In 2012, when she was 15, she auditioned for YG Entertainment, passed, and moved to Korea to begin her trainee life.
Ros? recalled, "I didn't understand the loneliness I had to endure. It was traumatizing. It was shocking, but I survived." She explained the reason she endured the tough life was because "I had come too far." She said, "If I failed, I would have had to fly back to Australia, and there were friends who said, 'Where have you been? I don't know what you're doing.'" She added, "I didn't want to explain to them the process of failing and returning to Australia."
Regarding her journey from trainee days to debuting with BLACKPINK, she said, "The first few years were personally very hard, but after a few years, I somewhat adapted and started learning how to adjust to this new world."
Ros? also spoke about K-pop fan culture, saying, "We were always trained to present ourselves perfectly, and it was the same when communicating with fans online," adding, "We were not trained to talk about our emotions, feelings, or experiences." When mentioning the harassment female artists face online, Ros? even broke into tears. When asked if she had experienced such things, she replied, "I think so," and said, "I have a pretty strong personality, so I don't want to respond emotionally, but when it actually happened, I felt really, really bad."
She said she found songwriting as a way to protect herself from harassment. "Songwriting came like a blessing at the moment I really needed it. When I went in with really big problems and put them into songs, they would leave my heart," she said with a smile, adding, "Some days, if I don't like the song, I say, 'This didn't help!' That song won't be included in the album."
Meanwhile, "Apartment," a collaboration between Ros? and American pop star Bruno Mars, is the pre-release track of Ros?'s first solo full-length album "rosie," which will be released on the 6th of next month. The song was inspired by the Korean drinking game called the "Apartment game." With its addictive chorus repeating "Apartment" and lively band sound, it is gaining widespread popularity.
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