Rosé, who began her music career as a member of the K-pop group Blackpink, released her first solo studio album, “rosie,” on Dec. 6, exploring themes of love, heartbreak and vulnerability.
Rosé’s solo success started three years before “rosie” with her first single, “R,” released under YG Entertainment with other Blackpink members. Now under The Black Label and Atlantic Records, Rosé continues to garner just as much love from fans. Her early-released single, “APT.,” now marks its seventh week on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The first single, “APT.,” debuted on Oct. 18, followed by “number one girl,” which was released Nov. 22. In “number one girl,” Rosé expresses a need for reassurance from another, set against emotional piano chords. The music video features Rosé at a skatepark at night, a theme echoed in “toxic till the end,” another track from the album.
Rosé described “number one girl” as a way to express her vulnerability in needing approval from others and a way to break norms of how one should feel about themselves.
“I feel like most songs are like, ‘We have to be strong,’ ‘You got to be independent’ and ‘Don’t care about that,’” Rosé said in an interview with Hits Radio. “But I do, at the end of the day, at one point in my life, once a month maybe, I do think, ‘Please just tell me I’m good enough.’”
Rosé hits the mark in expressing that feeling perfectly. The “number one girl” music video features intimate, home-video-style shots through a fuzzy camera of Rosé in casual attire. The private shots provide the viewer with a sense of familiarity and security as they see Rosé in her truest, most vulnerable parts, rather than the put-together and confident K-pop idol that the world is used to seeing her as. While many other artists have written songs about their insecurities related to their perceptions by the public, Rosé’s experience as a K-pop idol in an industry often criticized for its curated appearances and culture of overworking, provides a fresh perspective into a world of entertainment that many listeners aren’t familiar with.
Rosé continues to break out of the expected mold as she reflects not only on her insecurities but a past relationship. In the single, “toxic till the end,” a synth-pop piece that describes the relationship between Rosé and “the ex,” portrayed by Evan Mock in the music video, she explores this relationship. The track is followed by “drinks or coffee,” a spunky, percussive song with more playful synth beats. Though not the most lyrically complex song of the album, “drinks or coffee” is arguably the most upbeat, aside from “APT.” Telling the story of a couple that hits it off at a bad party “drinks or coffee” embodies the fun and exciting aspects of Rosé’s personality as she switches from the heavy-hitting emotional songs earlier in the album.
Though Rosé’s interviews and press tend to focus on the album’s singles, many of the other songs on “rosie” manage to share more of Rosé’s character. The album ends with “dance all night,” a song about acceptance after the pain Rosé has faced from her insecurities, criticism and her toxic relationship. Like “drinks or coffee,” “dance all night” takes an upbeat tone through gentle guitar and percussion. The song describes Rosé as she’s finally able to let go of the tension of the album, singing that she will become “spontaneous and bettеr with trust” within the song. In the same interview with Hits Radio, Rosé said that “dance all night” almost didn’t make the album because it was written a few years before but was ultimately included because of how much she loved it.
“I made sure to put this at the very end of it to kind of give it a little bit of refreshment … [So] that we can still have hope for life and we can reset,” said Rosé.
Though the song may not fit the same tone as the rest of the album — just like “drinks or coffee” — it’s the perfect way to end the project. Rosé recognizes that while her life has been filled with the trauma that she describes throughout her music, “dance all night” reassures both Rosé and her fans that life does not end after a difficult or traumatic event but can still be filled with hope for the future.
Corinna Chin is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at corinnac@uci.edu.
Edited by Lillian Dunn and Jaheem Conley
