ROSÉ’s Road to No. 1: From Beyoncé to Bruno Mars “APT.” Friendship

3 hours ago

Billboard cover star ROSÉ looks back her journey from growing up in Australia and wanting to sing like Beyoncé to making history with her GRAMMY nominations for her Bruno Mars collaboration “APT.” Plus, she dives into the creation of her solo project ‘Rosie’ and what it was like jumping back into BLACKPINK following her solo success.

Transcript

00:00Never in a million years would I have thought that this would happen, to be

00:04nominated for a Grammy. It means a lot that APT is the one that is being

00:11celebrated so much. I'm really, really grateful and a bit like, shook. I don't even know what to say.

00:30We were radio people. My dad would have the radio on all the time because Australia, like LA,

00:41everything's far away, like everything's 30 minutes away so we'd always have the radio on

00:45and so I grew up listening to all of that. Britney Spears was on the radio all the time.

00:50I think Madonna was on the radio. I think I was definitely influenced by a lot of pop. I love

00:54pop music. When I grew up, YouTube was where I started to listen and watch all these musicians

01:01and naturally the very beginning of me, like, starting to sing and play instruments was after

01:09I watched Dreamgirls. I remember watching Beyonce sing, like, Listen and being like,

01:17Oh my God, I really want to be able to sing that. And I printed it on, like, the chords on paper and I

01:29would, like, play it and sing at the top of my lungs. Simultaneously, my sister, because we are

01:35Korean, she was very interested in our culture. She had been, you know, consuming a lot of Korean music

01:41and musicians and that's when K-pop was around as well. That's how I got to absorb that. It all just

01:48was a mixture of things, as I am and as I have always been. In this day and age, I feel like

01:55social media and all these platforms has given everyone such a good opportunity to fulfill so

02:02much of their dreams and I'm, you know, a result of that and I'm really, really grateful.

02:07History of the first Korean K-pop artist, that means a lot to me because growing up there wasn't

02:12many people like me. I was the minority and especially on television and in the music industry

02:21and so I remember even then I was like, I want to do music, obviously. Somewhere in me said I want

02:26to do music but I didn't even know that was like a possibility. Yes, my dad encouraged me to take an

02:32audition for this K-pop group and I did and that's what led me here.

02:44I think as I started to prepare my solo album on my own away from the group also, it was a lot of

02:53challenges and a lot of things that I was determined to learn about, things that I was never really

03:01curious about before. The question of what do you want to do, what makes you happy even and I had

03:10been in a studio for the first time and been a part of the creation of a song and felt like that really

03:17fulfilled me more than anything else to really focus on that core feeling and then build on that.

03:23It was a good opportunity for me to kind of meet new people in this industry in which I was also very

03:30privileged and grateful to be able to meet so many people and I'm really glad that I took my time and

03:34I had enough people around me to suggest for me to slow down. Yes, that is very different to I think

03:40how I was brought up and again that was its own privilege. I got to focus on music and my craft,

03:49whereas this instance I had to learn about the details of my job whilst learning about everything

03:55else and it was a lot to learn in a year and it was a bit overwhelming but I'm so grateful that it

04:00happened. Amy was in the first session that I was a part of and it was really organic because I was in

04:06a studio and and I had gone through something really interesting the night before and I walked in really,

04:13really anxious because I was like by the way guys I've never been a part of a like a proper session like

04:18this before you know I really want to learn about this. We started talking and they were like anything

04:24dramatic happen to you and I was like oh actually but this has nothing to do with like it was not

04:29even like about like a like a like a relationship or anything so I was like I don't think it's really

04:34interesting and they were like no just talk about like what's up and then I was like oh I've been going

04:39through this thing and I was like crying all night and I was really really frustrated and

04:44and I and I started talking and I remember I just started crying and I got really vulnerable and

04:50they they were all like oh my god I'm so sorry you're going through this and I remember Amy was

04:56like we should write a song about this and that was the first day I believed that anything could be

05:02made into a beautiful song as long as it's like real emotions and real stories and you've got good

05:06intentions and whatnot and so that day proved to me that studio means vulnerability it means honesty

05:13she's been great and we've had so many sessions where we just talk about life and we've been

05:21each other's like therapist. Coming off the album I was still so inspired I remember like I was like

05:26one more can I just keep going can you like don't stop me I'm like so excited and near the end of it

05:32I made a few things that I've always also like saved because I love them so much for the next chapter

05:37I feel like nothing is like as you plan it to be and I think I was in the studio for a bit right now

05:44I've been realizing that I need to live as well my life because my first album came from living a full

05:51life of 27 years and so you know in order to be inspired to write anything else I've noticed I just

05:59need to take my time and breathe a bit and as I say that I think I have a session like a few sessions planned

06:07this week but I am curious so I will go in and then you know if the universe says not yet then okay

06:13but then if they say I'm ready then amazing so it's always like I think I always just have to

06:19pray and and see what happens but don't be too disappointed when if it's not time yet I think being

06:26away did inspire me in so many different ways just creatively and musically and I think I was really

06:32curious and excited to see how that would play a part with the group and also I was excited to

06:38see what the other members have brought it has been really fun and I'm really really happy with how

06:45you know jump

06:51I remember that video shoot was so much fun as well and different and I feel like at this point it's just

06:58nice to kind of experiment new things with the girls and the group and to learn not to be afraid

07:06to try new things the girl power oh that feels amazing I mean I'm all for it it's a big celebration

07:16I love it and I feel like we're all very comfortable nothing feels weird or forced and I feel really like

07:23welcomed and I feel like a lot has changed in the past few years I'm really really grateful for

07:29everything and how the internet has brought people together and how everybody's celebrating each other

07:45I met Bruno oh my god the best friend I could ask for in so many ways he's just been a really good

07:51mentor to me and a really good friend he guides me in a lot of things at the beginning he really helped

07:57me like inspire me uh not just even with apt but like with the album I had a little questions and

08:04things that I couldn't figure out and I remember he would just like throw these small things and

08:08it would like help he was like a big cheerleader for me on the side at one point at a very crucial

08:14moment because I think we like met around like July-ish to start working on APT and so it was

08:22like a very at a very important moment when I was wrapping everything up and so he was a good sounding

08:27board just a really good friend to chat to I had the biggest fight with Bruno right before the music

08:32video shoot but we made up on set so it was all right I don't think he even remembers he's like what

08:37what did we fight about I'm like you don't remember he wasn't anything really serious

08:43because we've been preparing everything like you know concepts from day one he had such a vision for

08:53everything and at first it was really hard to understand he would be inspired by a lot of things

08:57that I had done in the past and um I would ask him so many questions and he'd send me so many videos

09:03and be like Rosie this is it and I think as he was sharing it would like the shape would you know

09:08kind of like it would bomb and so there was just like a lot of communication and sometimes

09:15like I'd be annoyed because some things aren't just they're not solid I think they were just like being

09:21created along the way and so like any sibling you know there's like a moment you're like oh my god

09:28you're so annoying it happened yeah but then we met and then we're very professional and oh my god

09:35it was the best day of my life it was so much fun so if you watch the video it's like it looks fun

09:40right I'm not joking I was laughing the whole day I think I was like I'm gonna get abs if I'm smiling

09:47in any scene I'm actually laughing the whole time like you know it was really funny it's like a funny day

10:02the hair the question was asked about the hair all these ideas were like really created very

10:07specifically and detailed along the way and amongst so many conversations was you know he captured a

10:14picture on my instagram I had bought a curling iron and I just started to like curl my own hand

10:22and I remember posting a selfie with that and he was like see Rosie this is like this seems like the

10:28girl like this is like a cool look and at first it was like it's just a selfie like this is where

10:34you're getting inspiration from that's so random I just wanted to get into his brain I wanted to know

10:38what his vision and was as well I'm just like drawn to it are you ready I knew that the live stream is

10:46coming up like I was out with friends that night and then I came home and then I like washed up and

10:52I was so excited to sleep and I got in my pjs and then I looked at the time I was like that's 10 minutes

10:57from now my sister called like facetimes me and I'm like oh my god and she's like it's happening and

11:02then everything just happened in like five minutes and then I really thought about it and thought

11:05if I didn't watch that I would have missed a very big moment of my life then I slept

11:13and when I woke up I had like a ton of texts on my phone and I think that's when it really hit

11:19I felt like my birthday and then I got on a plane and I'm here so I'm still processing everything

11:24Don't you want me like I want you baby Don't you need me like I need you now

11:31Never in a million years would I have thought that this would happen to be nominated for a Grammy

11:38but I think most importantly I feel like the song that is being celebrated and being nominated for the

11:44Grammy contains so much of my culture in it it proves to me also that culture is is loved

11:51different cultures as being accepted regardless of ages different backgrounds and cultures everyone

11:58has been enjoying it so much and I've been watching that and it's really just blown my mind away and so

12:03it means so much to myself my younger self who grew up feeling like that would not be a possibility

ROSÉ’s Road to No. 1: From Beyoncé to Bruno Mars “APT.” Friendship | Billboard Cover

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