ROSÉ, one of the world’s biggest pop stars, can’t walk around in public without being recognized—unless she gets creative, that is.
In a cover story for Dazed published Thursday, the BLACKPINK member shared an experience where she disguised herself as an elderly woman to enjoy anonymity. To achieve this, she hired a professional team to apply prosthetic wrinkles and a gray wig.
“It was really, really intense,” she told the publication, admitting that the fear of being recognized outweighed the temporary freedom. “I don’t think I’ll ever do that again.”
Despite this, the K-pop star still yearns for moments of normalcy. “What does freedom look like to me?” she pondered during the interview. “Freedom means being anonymous.”
ROSÉ expressed missing the simplicity of “not having to be terrified of small things” and the desire to be “nonchalant and chill” without being “the annoying person in the room full of my friends who is paranoid about something.”
“Even if I’m not doing anything wrong, I have to think, ‘What if this makes people think that I’m doing something wrong?’” she added, highlighting her constant “fear of being misunderstood” due to her fame.
Her reflections on celebrity and anonymity coincide with her rising stardom. As one-fourth of BLACKPINK, arguably the biggest girl group globally, ROSÉ recently boosted her profile by releasing her debut solo album, “Rosie,” in December. The album included the hit “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars, which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200.
ROSÉ is preparing to reunite with fellow members LISA, JENNIE, and JISOO for BLACKPINK’s world tour, set to begin in July. While she didn’t reveal many details about the comeback, she told Dazed, “Each of us has gone out and been inspired and learned so much about ourselves, and now we’re coming back to each other with good energy.”
As for her future goals, the “Number One Girl” singer expressed her ambition to win a Grammy. “That would be incredible,” she said. “But I think if it means more to my community, it’d be special. That’s the first thing that I want, and whatever awards or celebration comes after it, that would feel extra rewarding.”