Members of RaNia Re-debut as BLACKSWAN
You may be familiar with girl group RaNia (also known as BP RaNia), which had previously gained attention for debuting the very first black idol Alex Reid in late 2015. The group has had somewhat of a revolving door list of members since the group’s official debut in 2011 and has struggled to gain long term recognition despite the initial excitement surrounding Alex’s debut. As a result, the group officially disbanded in June 2020, with member Hyeme announcing via Instagram that the group would rebrand as BLACKSWAN with two new members, one of which would be the second black idol to debut in the K-Pop industry. Fatou Samba is originally from Senegal and was working as a model under Cineline Entertainment before joining BLACKSWAN’s lineup and fills the role of main rapper and main dancer. The announcement of her addition to the group has once again stirred up quite a bit of intrigue, so how was the execution of the “debut” full album Goodbye RANIA?
The Title: “Tonight”
“Tonight” is a classic pop synth track with a particularly catchy chorus that easily gets stuck in your head. There’s not much to dissect musically as the track is a fairly standard beat produced to be viral, which it will likely succeed at. The track is extremely vocal focused, with Fatou possessing the sole rap verse about two-thirds of the way through the song. It’s fairly minimal compared to the sheer amount of time the vocalists are given the spotlight. The design of the song does lend itself to placing a ton of focus on the vocalists, which isn’t something that can be done if those vocalists are subpar.
Video wise, there’s a lot of focus on choreography and a strong sexy air, highlighted by chair-focused choreography and fairly revealing outfits that place heavy emphasis on the members’ bodies. A lot of neon coloring is emphasized and contrasted by shots of white or neutral colored locations and outfits. The outfits are designed to place heavy emphasis on each member’s body shape, and coupled with the fairly risque choreography moments, a very sexualized picture is painted, which isn’t always up every listener’s alley. There has been a bit of a controversy related to the video, where Choices (A.C.E’s fandom, for those unfamiliar) claim that the sets are identical to A.C.E’s “Under Cover” music video, so much so that it can’t be coincidence. There are definitely similarities, so it’s not a stretch for Choices to be angry.
It’s hard to ignore that the Korean girls still get the spotlight over the two foreign members. Leia, the Brazilian-Japanese member, did still get a decent amount of vocal lines but both her and Fatou were often placed in the back in the choreography, with the Korean members in the center. There have also been some concerns in the past of the treatment of Alex Reid within the group due to the color of her skin, so fans are somewhat weary of the cycle repeating once again. Time will certainly tell, but the good news is that both foreign members definitely possess the talent to make a mark on the K-Pop industry and hopefully this re-debut will be a fresh new start for all of the members.
Check out “Tonight” for yourself below.