BLACKPINK recently opened up about the pressure of being a K-pop trainee, and receiving mental health classes from their agency.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the quartet discussed the demands of their lives as K-pop trainees, before they made their debut. The members of BLACKPINK revealed that while their agency YG Entertainment had provided them mental health classes and therapy, they had found these unhelpful. “We had the same problems, so it was better to talk to each other,” said Jisoo.
“If I was going through a hard time, I’d go to the bathroom, sob my heart out, then on to the next thing,” revealed Rosé, who likened her experience to being “on autopilot”. The ‘On The Ground’ singer added: “If you told me to do that again, I could never.”
During the interview, the group also gave insight into their experiences while training, which involved a monthly testing system where they would have to develop their own solo and group performances for a panel of judges in order to remain in the agency.
“Every month, our friends were forced to leave, go home. Getting stressed? Having it rough? Those feelings were a luxury. What mattered was debuting,” shared Jennie. “We just endured.”
Meanwhile, Lisa admitted that she had considered giving up on becoming an idol during her time as a trainee due to the rigorous K-pop system. “I’d call my mom [in Thailand], wanting to quit, and she’d tell me to hang on just another year, just hang on,” she recounted.
Last month, Sports Donga reported that BLACKPINK were preparing to release a new album later this year. While the report initially claimed that the girl group were set to return “as early as June”, YG Entertainment has since clarified that while the group are indeed preparing for a comeback, an official release date has not been set.