It’s an understatement to say that Chappell Roan had a huge 2024. But as the hours ticked down to 2025, the singer was in a reflective mood on Monday (Dec. 30) in an Instagram post in which she ran down her top 10 personal ranking of her most “Iconic” looks of the year. The singer also noted in the caption of her post that “it’s my OPINION!!!!! + why yes, I do consider myself to be iconique.”
The number one spot is, of course, Roan’s joint-smoking, green-skinned Lady Liberty getup from this summer’s Governors Ball Festival in New York in June. Roan memorably emerged from a gigantic apple, her skin covered in green paint, with a spiky silver tiara topping off the ensemble.
Number two was her pig-nosed look from a Grammy afterparty in which she channeled the “Good Luck, Babe” single cover art, down to the deep red dress. Coming in at three was the pink prom dress, stacked red hair style from the singer’s NPR Tiny Desk show, followed by the Medieval warrior queen get-up she rocked at this year’s MTV VMAs, where she famously clashed with a photographer; she alluded to that incident by captioning the shot “vma carpet (triggered).”
The white latex outfit reading “EAT ME” from her Coachella weekend one set came in at number five, followed by the full Roan of Arc suit of armor from her 2024 VMA performance and the colorful butterfly weekend ‘fit from the second Coachella weekend. At number eight was the chilly white swan outfit she wore in June during an appearance on The Tonight Show, with her lucha libre-inspired blue and pink costume from her mind-blowing Lollapalooza day set taking the ninth spot.
Rounding out the list was an equally over-the-top ensemble Roan wore on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert for her late night debut in February, which found her sitting in a giant heart while wearing a frilly, bedazzled white Victorian mini dress.
Roan is a six-time nominee at the upcoming Grammy Awards (Feb. 1), where she is in the mix for best new artist, album of the year for her breakthrough LP The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, as well as song and record of the year for “Good Luck, Babe!”
Actor and former Big Bang member T.O.P has opened up about his recent role in the second season of Netflix’s Squid Game.
On January 15, T.O.P spoke to South Korean media for the first time in years to discuss his recent return to the public eye as Thanos in season two of Squid Game. The 37-year-old rapper and actor was previously absent from the public eye due to previous backlash over his 2017 conviction for marijuana use.
In an article published by The Korea Times, T.O.P shared that “the offer to play Thanos was a daunting proposition” for him. In Squid Game, Thanos is a rapper who joins the games after falling victim to a cryptocurrency scam. The character is also portrayed as a drug user, which contributes to his eccentric behaviour.
“The character mirrored my past, reflecting aspects I’d rather keep hidden,” he said. “The fear of being pigeonholed into one role made me hesitate. But destiny seemed to be pulling me in this direction.”
“For almost 10 years, I felt no one looked at me, but director Hwang Dong-hyuk reached out to me first,” T.O.P revealed. “The trust [and] the belief he had in me gave me the courage to take this on. As an actor, it is my duty to repay the trust. Excelling in my performance is another assignment in my life.”
The musician and actor also reflected on his thirties so far, calling it a “lost time” where he lived largely isolated from society. “I just kept working on music in the dark,” he shared, adding that “music was the only place where I could breathe”.
In early-2017, during his military service, T.O.P came under investigation and later tested positive for marijuana after the Seoul Metropolitan Police was informed of his use of the drug. In the ensuing trial, the rapper admitted to using the drug at his home in October 2016, prior to his enlistment.
T.O.P later received a 10-month jail sentence with a two-year suspension. In 2022, he and fellow Big Bang members G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung released the single ‘Still Life’. The rapper later announced his withdrawal from the group in 2023.