Rose begins next phase of career “On the Ground”

Though her music career has reached dizzying heights, Rose confesses in her new solo single that she’s found the most important things in life on the ground.

Breaking out on her own for the first time since she made her debut five years ago, the Blackpink vocalist dropped her first solo EP, “R,” Friday afternoon. With a title that signifies her new start as a soloist, as well as the first letter of the artist’s name, “R” consists of two tracks: “On the Ground” and “Gone,” which was previously unviled during Blackpink's online concert. Both are in English.

“Since I’ve been preparing for this album for such a long time and our fans have been waiting for it as well, I wanted it to be satisfactory,” said Rose during an online press conference in Seoul on Friday. The 24-year-old musician said she’d attended every meeting during the creative process so that the album would reflect her own ideas as much as possible. “So from the design of the album to my first songwriting participation, I tried to express my honest self through ‘R,’” she added.

“R” not only marked the start of a new musical chapter for Rose, but also served as a mirror. 

Produced by overseas producers Jorgen Odegard, Ojivolta, Jon Bellion, and YG Entertainment’s in-house hit makers Teddy and 24, “R” conveys the message that the important things in life lie on the ground, not somewhere up in the sky. The English track was partially written by Rose, who’s lived in New Zealand.

“In the process of making this album, I got to look into myself, realizing how much I love music and that I am the kind of a person who learns from music and gets comforted by it,” she said.

The musician continued, “My favorite lyric from ‘R’ is where it says the most important value lies within myself, while I’m keep running toward success. I could relate the message to my life, as I’ve been living every day to the fullest since trainee years to achieve my dream. In the process, there have been times where I questioned my own motivation. This song has taught me a lot of things.”

Full of excitement, Rose hinted that she’d tried a new musical and vocal styling for “On the Ground,” even sharing that she might do some rapping in the song. She went on to share that she’d received a strong show of support from her bandmates.

“Jennie gave me a sweet gift, a bracelet for my dog. Jisoo seemed to be as happy as I was when I told her about my solo debut, and I remember her telling me, ‘Do what you’ve always wanted to do.’ Lisa was too excited about it that she told every staff about how amazing my music video was.”

She is set to showcase the new single on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on March 16, local time, and will be the first solo K-pop artist to perform on the US show. Presales for Rose’s “R” totaled 400,000 four days ahead of its release, making her the fastest Korean female soloist to reach that number.

By Hong Dam-young (lotus@heraldcorp.com)