ROSÉ of BLACKPINK Says ‘Number One Girl’ Was Inspired by Reading Hate Comments About Herself

It isn’t easy being a number one girl — just ask ROSÉ.

In a candid interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe arriving Friday (Nov. 22), the BLACKPINK star got real about the inspiration behind her new solo single, “Number One Girl,” which dropped the same day: reading hate comments about herself. “We wrote that song the day after I went to this event,” ROSÉ explained. “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?’”

“I felt so empty, and I remember feeling so miserable,” she continued. “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 … I’m so disappointed in myself. 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.’”

Noting that “Number One Girl” overall represents “toxic” relationships, the New Zealand native added, “I was so obsessed with these people who were not nice to me and who really didn’t know me.”

The new track is just one of many things ROSÉ and the radio host broached during their conversation, which arrives just two weeks ahead of the K-pop star’s debut solo album, rosie. Of the 12-track LP, she opened up about feeling “pressure” to complete the project during her time off from BLACKPINK obligations — especially with the clock ticking down to a band reunion in 2025.

“And us as BLACKPINK, as mature as we are, we got together and decided, ‘Let’s promise ourselves a good year to be inspired,’” ROSÉ told Lowe of bandmates JENNIE, LISA and JISOO. “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 … 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?”

ROSÉ also touched on a past relationship that inspired some of the other songs on rosie, including “Game Boy,” which she says was the last track she wrote for her album. “I’d never like the person to know about it, but I would talk about [them] so much,” she told Lowe. “I needed to get it off my chest.”