ROSÉ “toxic till the end” blows fans away

New Zealand-South Korean singer, ROSÉ, dropped a romcom-esque music video for her single “toxic till the end” with the release of her debut solo album, “Rosie,” on Dec. 6. Immediately, fans were quick to dissect the symbolism of the dreamy music video — with said dreaminess being in no way indicative of ROSÉ’s relationship with “the ex,” as viewers were soon to see.

The video, dominated by visuals of gauzy gardens and glamorous estates, opens as ROSÉ toys with a chess piece. Gossip Girl reboot actor Evan Mock inconspicuously waits by his broken bike, then is swept away in the car of a sunglass-wearing ROSÉ while the song’s synth seeps into recognition. The video chronicles them gallivanting around a grand estate — an easter egg, being Nate Archibald from the original “Gossip Girl’shouse. These blissful scenes of them having fun are interwoven with clips of ROSÉ at the chessboard looking disillusioned, hinting towards the impending drama of their relationship. This collision happens quite soon after Mock falls off his skateboard and they get into an explosive argument over hidden phone notifications. 

When ROSÉ attempts to drive away, Mock’s satisfied smirk insinuates that he sabotaged her car, but before viewers get too outraged, it is unveiled that ROSÉ unbolted his skateboard earlier, which was the cause of his injury, a true testament to the title of the song. Clips of Mock picking up and carrying her are juxtaposed against her pushing him away. Without allowing viewers a break from this toxicity, it is revealed that Mock actually took the air out of his own bike, orchestrating his meeting with ROSÉ that started the whole mess. At the end, there is a clip of ROSÉ holding him, with both parties seemingly content. The silence as the camera zooms away from the house is all the more piercing as viewers are finally given a breather from the nearly three-minute whirlwind of plot twists and punchy pop.

The tumultuous nature of the music video — originally titled “the ex” — naturally roused questions about the ex’s identity and to what extent the video took creative liberties. In an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, ROSÉ dove into the inspiration behind the song and how it was borne out of her personal experiences with her ex, who rose to a level of notoriety amongst those around her — to the point of being dubbed “the ex.”

“That song was actually supposed to be called ‘the ex,’ ROSÉ said. “We started writing it being like, ‘oh my God,’ it’s about time, we talked about ‘the ex’ a bit too much, it’s about time that we write a song called ‘the ex,’ but we came up with a better punchline, so we put it in that section, we were like, I need to talk about it.”

 In particular, the song’s bridge contains the lyrics, “I can forgive you for a lot of things / For not giving me back my Tiffany rings / I’ll never forgive you for one thing, my dear / You wasted my prettiest years”. While some people took this literally, ROSÉ reassured viewers in an interview with Hits Radio UK that no Tiffany rings were stolen.

“But I mean, like, the second half of it, like, ‘You wasted my prettiest years,’ is what we were trying to get at,” ROSÉ told Hits Radio UK. “Not literally — he didn’t actually steal my Tiffany rings. But yeah, a lot of it is also metaphors and a lot of it is drawn from personal experiences but you know, it’s like a song that represents toxic relationships that we all go through. I feel like everyone can relate to it.”

Currently, all BLACKPINK members are pursuing solo projects. For now, fans are delighted to bear witness to ROSÉ’s personal development as an artist as the group continues to embark on their separate musical ventures.

“Despite the destructive details, ‘Toxic Till the End’ boasts an undeniable buoyancy that gives it even more major mainstream appeal to let ROSÉ truly begin her new, more personal musical journey that steps away from her place in a group and lets her stand in her spotlight — seeping in whatever positivity, toxicity, sentiment of feeling she feels like sharing in that moment,” Jeff Benjamin said in his article ranking of the tracks of “Rosie.”

Tessa Kang is an Arts & Entertainment intern for the fall 2024 quarter. She can be reached at tokang@uci.edu.

Edited by Lillian Dunn and Annabelle Aguirre

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