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

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.

“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.”

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. 

Jessica Lynch

Billboard