Rosé Talks Past Relationships, Friendships With Bruno Mars And BLACKPINK And Writing “Rosie” On The Zane Lowe Show

Rosé opened up in an exclusive interview with Zane Lowe ahead of her solo album release this December. In an exclusive sit-down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Rosé of BLACKPINK shared an intimate look into the making of her debut solo album, “Rosie”. The tell-all interview, conducted ahead of the album’s much-anticipated release, delved into the therapeutic journey of completing the project, the personal relationships that inspired her songs, and her creative collaboration with Bruno Mars.

Rosé also reflected on the unwavering support and importance of her friendship with BLACKPINK members throughout the process.

Here are some standout moments and quotes from the conversation:

Rosé tells Apple Music About Completing Her Debut Solo Album “Rosie”

Zane Lowe: Are you a different person today, now the album is coming out than you were when you started making?

Rosé: Oh, completely. I literally think this album is just a little capsule. When I listen to my songs, I remember every minute of it and everything I went through. And without this album, I think I would’ve carried a lot of the past version of myself through till today, because to be honest… It was like a therapy session. 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 have–

Zane Lowe: Served a purpose.

Rosé: 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.” Ever since that session, I don’t talk about it anymore.

Rosé tells Apple Music About the Pressure Release Solo Music

Zane Lowe: 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 debut?

Rosé: First, I felt pressured, to be honest. We were kind of coming off of the year long tour. And us as BLACKPINK, as mature as we are, we got together and decided, “Let’s promise ourselves a good year to be inspired.” We’ve worked so hard for the past eight years, and I honestly believe we’ve done so well and I’m so proud. But we all got together and just promised ourselves a good year to work on our solo stuff. And the first thing that happened was anxiety, because 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 feel right. And I was getting anxiety from the get-go. I think I had anxiety all through. Now I’m kind of excited. And so at the beginning, it started like that.

Zane Lowe: A self-imposed pressure though, a sense of like, “What if I don’t find it?”

Rosé: Yes. That’s the biggest fear I think I had. I think doing it, there were 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?

Zane Lowe: Yeah, because everyone says it’s good enough and you know it’s not.

Rosé: Yeah. And I want it to be truthful, right? But I just went, “Okay, I’m just going to start it.” I have not really ever been in the building process of an album before, but a start is everything as they say, so let’s start it. And end it.

Zane Lowe: 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 got to be able to finish it.

Rosé: Yeah. So I threw myself in and I remember telling my co-writers and producers. I was like, “I am so anxious.” And 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, eh. 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.

Rosé tells Apple Music About the Inspiration Behind “Number One Girl”

Zane Lowe: I think of Number One Girl as a pretty big turning point vocally, definitely. It’s one of those–

Rosé: Emotionally too though, emotionally too. 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 fulfilled. I felt like I was chasing after something that I’m like, “What am I chasing after?” And I felt so empty, and I remember feeling so miserable. And then that night, I ended up finding myself on social media and then I end up looking for all these comments that are just going to obviously shatter me. And I found myself and I was like, “I hate this. Oh my gosh.” And I remember walking up the next day and I was like, “I want to write a song that’s just 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, I hated the fact that this one person 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.

Zane Lowe: And it’s interesting because everyone who hears it will be like, it’s kind of about everyone. That’s the crazy thing about it. It’s about this insatiable, I took it as this insatiable desire to be loved.

Rosé: 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 this with many people, just wanting…Even a girl in the room, you just want to be accepted by that because she’s so cool. What will it take for you to love me?

Rosé tells Apple Music About Pulling From Real Life Experiences To Write Songs including “Game Boy”

Zane Lowe: What were some of the challenges you found about really writing from the heart?

Rosé: 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 am 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.

Zane Lowe: All the time. Yeah, so just transfer into song mode.

Rosé: Yeah. And I’d go and be like, “What do you want to,” and I’d hate it. 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. I needed to get it off my chest. And we talk about it all the time, they’d be like, “What are you talking about? Are we talking about the ex? The Ex?” “Yeah, yeah, again.” And they’d be like, “Okay, Rosé, do it again.” I’d be like…Yeah. So it wasn’t that difficult. Yeah, it was good. It was easy.

Zane Lowe: Is there a song where you really feel like it finally closed the loop on that chapter in your life?

Rosé: I think Game Boy was the last one. Game Boy was the last one. And I was like, “Oh my God.” I was actually excited that day because I was, I felt like I had to squeeze it out. Other days, I just feel like it’d be at the tip of my tongue, all these. 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.”

Zane Lowe: Your time is over. Ex, you’re done.

Rosé: And that was the last one.

Rosé tells Apple Music About Collaborating with Bruno Mars on “APT”

Rosé: 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 much closer now, but he played a few parts that he thought. 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, “Oh, let’s record.” And so he recorded me. And oh my gosh, I was so nervous. I was so nervous because 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 that I’m failing at this line. And he’s like, and he was vocal coaching me like, “Rosé, you have to throw it out there.” And I remember- I choked on water accidentally before I had to record the bridge. And he’s like, “You have to shout it like, ‘Hold on!'” And he was 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.”

Zane Lowe: Man, he’s got all this on tape. It’s amazing.

Rosé: Yeah. And then he started picking up the guitar and the bass and played drums over it. And I was like, wow, he’s a genius.

Zane Lowe: 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. It’s a pure collaboration. And for what it’s worth, I mean it’s your song.

Rosé: 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, I’m like… He’s never going to do it but like, “Oh, this is so fun. We get to send Bruno Mars three songs, and he asked for it? Oh my God.” 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 drinking game.” He’s like, “This is crazy. I’m so excited.” And then the rest is history.

Rosé tells Apple Music About Friendship with BLACKPINK

Zane Lowe: How important, in your own words, has that friendship been toward the success of the band?

Rosé: I think it’s been more than I even expected, I think, because usually we’re in the same project, and so it’s very visible. But then you notice it more because right now, we’re all chasing after 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 the three other members. 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 identical to me.”

Zane Lowe: And it was a group decision to want to go away and make everyone make their own record and do their own thing…What was the motivation, do you think, if you could put it through your own thinking for the group decision to make? To pause there, what do you think really motivated it?

Rosé: Well, I think all four of us are really, really hard working. And we had been at it back to back for eight years and even more. I trained with them before we lived with them for almost eight years and then four years during the trainee era. 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…We’re in our twenties–we need to now go restructure, grow and be inspired so we can be energized to do even better to come back. And what we have is irreplaceable, so we’re not going to throw it away. But I feel like BLACKPINK is just… We’re all wired, we’re all great. We’re all so curious as well, I think. 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 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.

Tune in and listen to the full episode live for free from Friday, November 22 at 9am PT / 12pm ET, or anytime on demand with an Apple Music subscription here.