BLACKPINK’s Rosé Reveals What Happened The First Time She Met Each BLACKPINK Member
Sitting down with Rolling Stone to talk about some of the biggest “firsts” in her life and career, BLACKPINK‘s Rosé recalled her first impressions of each fellow member when she joined YG Entertainment in 2012.
When Rosé passed YG Entertainment’s global audition and traveled from her hometown of Melbourne, Australia to Seoul, South Korea, she was just 15 years old. Talking to Rolling Stone, Rosé explained that she was the newest future BLACKPINK member to join the company as a trainee.
Given her age, Rosé’s parents had to drop her off at the company. When she walked in, she revealed she was intimidated by the numerous female trainees she’d soon be learning alongside.
I walked in and there was just a bunch of girls—quite a lot of them—in a room. I remember just feeling intimidated.
— Rosé
Thankfully, while the girls may have looked intimidating, they were sweethearts on the inside. First, Rosé recalled her first experiences with Jennie. Jennie joined YG Entertainment in 2010 and dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer as a child, so it should come as no surprise that she was already a dance whiz by the time Rosé joined them. Rosé, on the other hand, has never danced before becoming a trainee.
Thankfully, it seems Jennie was more than happy to help. Rosé revealed that Jennie helped her learn all the basics of the choreography. On top of that, since Jennie was raised in New Zealand—where Rosé was born—she was also fluent in English. Rosé recalled how Jennie would help her learn all the conventions and customs of Korean culture that she hadn’t picked up living in Australia.
[Jennie] was like, ‘In Korea, you have to do this. You have to call people like this and that.’ She was letting me know about all these cultures that I thought I knew about, but I obviously didn’t. That was her.
— Jennie
Next, Rosé talked about meeting Lisa, who joined YG Entertainment in 2010. In the past, Lisa has spoken about the difficulties of being away from her home in Thailand while training. Since Rosé was away from home too, she revealed that she and Lisa bonded over having that in common.
On top of that, Rosé shared that Lisa was actually the first member she met. When she arrived at the company, she came across a girl who later turned out to be Lisa. Lisa herself later recalled Rosé as the “Australian girl with a guitar” and a tight bun, showing that some things never change.
Last but not least, there was Jisoo, who joined the company just one year before Rosé. Rosé’s first impression of Jisoo was that of a “cool kid” because of her fashion—a snapback and oversized black shirt.
These days, Rosé says she knows Jisoo to be a mix of cool and “the goofiest person ever“, but back in 2012, she was in awe of her aura.