[identity profile] aures.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] omonatheydid
In this series I want to go through artists that are gone, but not forgotten. I will go from debut till disbandment or [indefinite] hiatus, remembering the time we had together and look back on their highs and lows.

RANIA ⚡️



Rania was a South Korean girl group formed by DR Music in 2011, created by American Teddy Riley. In 2016, the group was renamed BP Rania and remained that way until 2018, when they returned to using Rania. In June of 2020, the group announced they would be rebranding and changing their name to Blackswan.


2011–2012: Debut as Rania and member changes
Rania made their debut in April 2011 as an eight-member group, consisting of Saem, Jooyi, Riko, Joy, Yijo, Di, T-ae and Xia. Due to the release of the album, Yijo revealed that she left the group. She also wasn’t here in the debut performances as a result she was having issues with work visa. On April 6 they performed on KBS' Music Bank, with the EP "Teddy Riley, the First Expansion In Asia and its title track "Dr Feel Good", composed by producer Teddy Riley. The song was originally given to Lady Gaga.

However, since their music video and live performances caused controversy in South Korea as some viewers felt that their image and concept were too provocative, Rania were forced to change their choreography and make minor changes to the outfits.



After the conclusion of "Dr Feel Good" promotions, the group returned in June with their first digital single "Masquerade", also composed by Riley.



Despite having planned an American debut, the group made no advancements. Shortly afterwards Riley announced that he would have nothing more to do with the group after falling out with their record label, releasing a statement saying "I wish them the best. It's not the girls I dislike, I love Rania, they would be better with me at SM Entertainment. Their manager does shady business, used me for my music. I love Rania, I just don't like their company business. That's why they are not getting bigger. They don't do business upfront. They used my name every where then back door me on the group. It's ok if they will regret it. If they leave that company, I will sign them up quickly. Please know the facts before attacking me. Attack their company. Such great talent will be wasted if they don't get better support."

The group released their second EP, Time to Rock da Show, on November 16, 2011. The music video for its title track, "Pop Pop Pop", written by Brave Brothers, was revealed four days later. On 30 May 2012, Rania performed a new song named "Killer" at the Dream Concert.





In June 2012, Jooyi revealed that she left the group; however, DR Music claimed she was on hiatus because her parents' house had been affected in the flood which occurred in Thailand at the time of the release. Jooyi deleted her official Rania twitter account soon after.

Rania then made a comeback on September 16 with second digital single "Style", whose music video was revealed on September 20. Jooyi did not participate in this comeback, though DR Music claimed she was still a member of the group.



2013–2014: Just Go, temporary hiatus and member changes
Rania released the lead single "Just Go" on March 8, 2013, along with their first full-length album, also titled Just Go (Goodbye's the New Hello). Riko did not participate in this release.



They also announced they would debut in America in summer 2013. Empire Records was to handle the girls' distribution while Fireworks was to handle their American management. Larry Rudolph and Adam Leber, two of Britney Spears' managers, were slated to be Rania's managers throughout their U.S. promotions. Starting May 21, Rania began filming for their MTV reality show Road to Fame in Los Angeles and other cities across the U.S. The show would feature the group's preparations for their U.S. debut and would air for three months. It was also revealed that the album would feature collaborations with both Snoop Dogg and 2 Chainz. However, Rania's American debut was delayed again in June. In the meantime, the group released a special digital single titled "Up" for fans on July 5, again without Riko.

In May 2014, the group signed with Spanish label INGENIOmedia and confirmed they would have a comeback in July with "Acceleration", with a second round of promotions in September. The label also confirmed that they were looking for a sixth member to replace Riko, who had been absent from the group since "Just Go". Following an incident where a staff member at INGENIOmedia leaked Rania's comeback track to a sasaeng fan, the company severed ties with the group, stating they were "taking too long". INGENIOMedia later released a statement saying that they were not looking for a member to replace Riko, apologizing for any confusion, and said that any news on member changes would have to come from Rania's company.

In late 2014, the agency announced Saem’s departure. Riko’s departure to focus on university was also finally announced.
Shannon Park would be added to the group.

2015–2016: Return with Demonstrate, Line-Up Changes and reformation as BP Rania
In January 2015, fans noticed that Jooyi had not made any public appearances with the group, to which DR Music replied that that she was simply on hiatus. Soon afterwards Sharon announced that she had left the group to focus on her modeling career.

In July of that year, the group made an appearance with two new members, Seulji and Hyeme. In October, they were announced to be having a comeback as a six-member group on November 6 with their third EP "Demonstrate". It was announced that Demonstrate would feature African-American rapper Alexandra Reid. On November 4, DR Music confirmed that Alexandra Reid would be joining the group, Alex is the first Black woman to be an official member of a South Korean girl group.



DR Music sent out a letter to fans announcing their Makestar project, informing them that Rania's comeback had been pushed back to August 2016 and that they were working on a Hyeme and Alex sub-unit instead. On July 13, 2016, however, Makestar announced that due to repeated failed attempts to contact DR Music about the project's progress and "the continued irresponsible behavior and stance taken by the Rania project creator, and our unwillingness to ignore the inconvenience this is causing to the project participants", the project was terminated and all money returned to the fans.

On May 26, it was revealed that the last three original members of the group (Di, T-ae and Xia) had chosen to not renew their contracts and left the group.

On August 15, 2016, Alex announced that she was the group's new leader.
DR Music stated that out of the seven DR Music trainees they would choose new Rania members. On December 23, 2016, DR Music revealed a teaser image for "BP Rania", "Black Pearl" Rania, in reference to Alex's darker skintone) and hinted a comeback as a seven-member group.

It was reported that former member Saem had rejoined the group two years after her departure in late 2014, and that she had changed her stage name to Yina. The single "Start a Fire" was released on December 30, 2016, along with their fourth EP of the same name.



2017: Refresh 7th and Line-Up Changes
On February 10 2017, DR Music announced that BP Rania would start promotions for their second song "Make Me Ah" from the Start a Fire EP, on February 14. It was also announced that this would be the first time that Alex would take part in the entire choreography.



On May 12, DR Music announced that they were looking for three to four new members to start BP Rania W, a worldwide group that would promote alongside the current members of BP Rania. At the end of March, Yina revealed that she had left the group again. The agency later confirmed her departure from the group to focus on acting.

BP Rania continued as a six member group, releasing their fifth EP "Refresh 7th" on August 12, with title track "Beep Beep Beep".



Promotions became controversial when fans and viewers noticed that Alex had few lines and spent the majority of the performance standing to the side while the remaining five members continued to dance and sing. When fans asked the company to clarify, the choreographer responded "[Alex] said she won't do it because she's a rapper", to which Alex replied via Twitter "If these lies keep magically surfacing, I'll go ahead and come out with the truth. Let it really hit the fan." DR Music then issued a statement saying "The rumors that Alexandra was not willing, able, or present at practice to participate in the full choreography are false. Her level of talent is surpassed only by her work ethic and dedication to the team. It is for those reasons that we gave her the position of leader."

Soon afterwards it was announced that Alex had left the group. Alex took to her own Twitter and critized the company.

On September 13, it was announced that the group would be making a comeback with "Breathe Heavy" from their Refresh 7th EP.



2018–2019: Forthcoming comeback as Rania, hiatus and member changes
In January 2018, after fans noticed that Ttabo had missed several appearances with the group, DR Music issued a statement stating she was filming a movie in China. On May 31, DR Music announced the departure of Yumin from the group due to her having "recently been faced with circumstances that make it increasingly hard for her to follow the extremely demanding team schedule".
It was also announced that the group would be having a comeback in June and releasing a "Best Of" album in August, but neither event occurred. Soon afterwards it was announced that Yumin and former Topp Dogg member P-Goon had married and were expecting a child. The pair has since divorced.

On June 28, it was announced that a new member named Namfon had joined the group, making her the group’s second Thai member. She made her first appearance on Rania's Malaysia tour.

On November 7, when asked via SNS by fans if she was still a member, Ttabo stated that she was an “ex-celebrity”. Shortly afterwards, fans noticed that every remaining member of the group had removed "Rania" from their social media accounts and that the company had unfollowed some of the members, leading to rumors that DR Music as a company had gone bankrupt and the group had unofficially disbanded.

On August 18, 2019, Rania announced via their official Instagram account that they would be performing in Romania. Fans began speculating that this meant Zi.U and Jieun had left the group. On August 28, the group's official YouTube account uploaded a video promoting their Romanian performance as well as revealing the three new members as Seunghyun, Larissa, and ex-Stellar member Youngheun, as well as confirming the departures of Jieun, Zi.U and Ttabo.

2020—present: Reformation as Blackswan, Goodbye Rania, temporary hiatus, Hyeme’s departure and forthcoming comeback
On January 25, 2020, Namfon was announced to have left the group.

On June 26, 2020, Hyeme announced through DR Music’s social media pages that the members of Rania at that time with the exception of Seunghyun would rebrand as B.S, which was later changed to Blackswan, with two new members; Judy and Fatou. On October 9, 2020 Blackswan‘a social media pages announced that they would be making their debut with the full album "Goodbye Rania" on October 16, 2020. The lead single was titled "Tonight".



On November 9, Hyeme was involved in a scandal in which it was revealed that she had allegedly scammed a friend out of 50 million KRW (approximately $44,800 USD). On November 10, DR Music announced Hyeme would left Black Swan due to the expiration of her five year contract. They also announced that, due to the aforementioned controversy, Blackswan would be going on a brief hiatus.

On December 9, Fatou mentioned Blackswan was preparing for their next comeback through an Instagram livestream.

Sources: KBS World, M-NET KPOP, bbvoxlover, Wikipedia, gfycat, MBCkpop, tumbral.

Previous: Nine Muses, 4Minute, Girl's Day, Sistar, Secret, Orange Caramel, Rainbow, 2NE1, Dalshabet, Stellar, Miss A, After School, Spica, Hello Venus, Wonder Girls, f(x), Crayon Pop, WA$$UP, BESTie & GLAM, I.O.I, Pristin, Pristin V & Hinapia, Gangkiz, The SeeYa, Coed School, 5Dolls/F-VE DOLLS, Fiestar, Boyfriend, MBLAQ, ZE:A, G.NA, T-ara [1], T-ara [2].


I thought it would be nice to do Rania because they officially (?) said goodbye to Rania. Thoughts on the group? Out of all the installments I have done so far this is definitely one of the messiest ones. I feel like I kept writing about member changes, what a shady company.
They do have some very good releases though, in general I always really enjoyed their music. I also really liked Blackswan's Tonight and I'm curious to see what they will come up with from now on. It's too bad their agency still, after all these years, is not any better than they were before but I wish the members well. What is your favorite release? Thoughts on their future as a group?


Date: 2020-12-19 01:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dior-chic.livejournal.com
Rania is one of those groups you know the song but not necessarily the group themselves. Their history is a mess so I really had no opportunity to get attached. I was close to learning members around the Demonstrate/Breathe Heavy era but I already forgot who is who, only remembering the foreign members. Maybe one day it’ll click and I’ll remember who is who again.

Dr. Feel Good is that song, almost 10 years later and that song is still legendary lmao. I’m sort of joking but really its an amazing product of its time. Demonstrate is still pretty catchy but I have no desire to replay it nowadays. Otherwise their discography isn’t really anything special for me anyways. I tried relistening to some of them but they’re just ok or didn’t age well.

Even though I’m not a big fan I still wish the best for everyone involved in this and hope they find success in some way. I’m sorry the company itself is so terrible. They really should not be involved in the idol industry and come off as extremely sketchy.

Date: 2020-12-19 02:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] greasetastic-x.livejournal.com
It honestly amazes me that some sort of iteration of this group has managed to carry on for this long. The company is an obvious mess. The fact that they will somehow manage to lure new girls into this company and group is astounding. They're doomed to fail not because the girls lack ability but because the company is clearly incompetent. This history is so messed up.

Companies typically throw away groups quickly if it’s not working out (which sucks) but this company hanged onto this group for too long. The group was never big enough that the name needed to stay around despite the numerous member changes. I hope that they don't treat Fatou nearly as bad as they did Alex. I'm sure it could be enough rougher on her as she is a dark skinned Black woman. You do not need to be pulling Black women through your mess, we already have enough problems.

I really liked Just Go back in the day. I did not know thar Dr. Feel Good was their debut. That song is a lot. But I didn’t hate it. I didn’t hate Demonstrate when it came out.

Date: 2020-12-19 03:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adenar.livejournal.com
Dr Feel Good is just such an eternal bop, and the choreography was before its time. I'm glad that Jooyi at least seems to have forged a path for herself, and that Joy had a girl group career in Thailand for a bit. I think my favourite of all the lineups was Ttabo, she was so funny and adorable and sexy, I hope she has something in the pipeline.

I haven't checked out Blackswan. It's always tricky with nugus because you know a lot of the agency's aren't shit but any other company would have folded by now with DR Music's constant fuckups. I genuinely believe it would be better for the girls if the company folded and they were disbanded and free to pursue other avenues (it would have been better in the first place if DR Music had just quietly disbanded Rania and debuted a new group, or just not even debuted a new group at all).

Date: 2020-12-19 03:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myungung.livejournal.com
Dr Feel Good was probably the only song I knew from them. and it's really a song that can last. what a pity it all went downhill. I remember Teddy Riley being involved in this and The Boys, which made it seem like he was transitioning to kpop, but I feel like nothing came out after?

the Alex situation was always shitty as an outsider just reading up all this, and the new group is also worrying. the company is shady as hell and I feel like it's one of the few that we know, while many others operate under the general public's noses and don't get that negative attention. hopefully the girls who have left are in a better place now.

also, thanks OP once again for the series. it's nice to see it being bad. (I'm also sorry for forgetting to comment in depth about T-ara's one, it had slipped my mind)

Date: 2020-12-23 03:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myungung.livejournal.com
Omg my English. I meant back instead of bad!

Date: 2020-12-19 04:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vintage-boom.livejournal.com
when we talk about groups being a front for illegal activities Rania is a prime example for me. they're a group that shouldn't have lasted as long as they did, that company has never made any money from them.

but thats not the girls fault, I just feel bad for them mostly. I can't believe they still have/had trainees. :/

Date: 2020-12-20 12:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanilla-09.livejournal.com
Wait what do you mean illegal activities?

Date: 2020-12-20 01:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vintage-boom.livejournal.com
most likely money laundering, the label is some kind of front for someone

Date: 2020-12-21 11:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rightclick5ave.livejournal.com
100000% shady shit is going on behind the scenes, there's no way anyone would continuously pour money into an unprofitable group over so many years

Date: 2020-12-19 04:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] frequency.livejournal.com
style is their best song imo.

this company is a fucking dumpster fire. i feel sorry for the girls at this point.

Date: 2020-12-19 04:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] broadcities.livejournal.com
ugh i feel for these girls. i always love these posts by you op but they always make we realize again how many shady kpop companies exist and how they abuse the talent of women

Date: 2020-12-19 04:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] goshipgurl.livejournal.com
Man, I remember when they debuted and people on omona and everywhere else where shocked after watching the Dr. Feel Good MV and choreo. We've had dark and sexy concepts in Kpop before but they really took it to another level.
The song is a bop and the dance is iconic but it sucks that their youngest member was only 16 at the time...
Also the girl with the high note at the end was one of the best vocalists in Kpop back then, sad she never got anywhere.

Style was given to them by YG Ent because their companys CEO was an old friend by YG or something. They also used to train there during preperations. You could tell that it was basically a 2NE1 reject.
Despite their shady management, DR Music somehow managed to give them great songs, outfits and solid choreographies.

They were fine up until Just Go promos. Everything after that was not Rania but just a bunch of new groups using the same name.
As for Blackswan, I just hope for Fatou that they give her a different hair colour for their comeback. The blonde really washes her out.
Edited Date: 2020-12-19 04:53 pm (UTC)

Date: 2020-12-19 06:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dior-chic.livejournal.com
‘ it sucks that their youngest member was only 16 at the time... ’

eww gross

Date: 2020-12-24 07:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com
Yeah, I actually do like all of their songs up to Just Go. Group history and shady company aside, they had some bops.

Date: 2020-12-19 05:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tsubaki874.livejournal.com
Dr. Feel Good and Just Go are iconic, and if any other group had those songs, they would have exploded. Imagine if T-Ara did Just Go or hell even Hello Venus doing DFG lmfao.

Company was shady as shit and I don't particularly care for Teddy Riley, but damn they really did him dirty and he said fuck you and went on to produce 'The Boys' lol 🥴 Good for him

Date: 2020-12-19 06:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paige-nevaeh.livejournal.com
What a WILD RIDE.
They really had some bops - I loved Dr Feelgood, Style & Pop pop pop.

Date: 2020-12-24 07:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com
Taste! Those were all my fave songs too.

Date: 2020-12-24 09:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paige-nevaeh.livejournal.com
Sat & listened to them all after seeing this post! The nostalgia

Date: 2020-12-19 08:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lightframes.livejournal.com
I saw on Twitter that Fatou likes SHINee. Queen ✨ I wish her the best and hope she can have some success from this.

Date: 2020-12-19 08:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] soulhades.livejournal.com
Fatou's white hair colour really doesn't fit her at all, they really should have stayed with the dark red colour she had in her first photoshoot with the band...

Anyway, Dr. Feelgood is such an eternal bop !!!!!!!!!!!!

Date: 2020-12-19 10:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] senshicalico.livejournal.com
Dr Feel Good wa THAT song / video back in the day. I had no idea some of them were really that young though. :\ Sounds par for the course.

Date: 2020-12-20 03:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebloomroom.livejournal.com
An entire mess. Poor girls

Date: 2020-12-21 10:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bauci.livejournal.com
This whole article was wild. Ty, OP!!!

Date: 2020-12-21 11:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rightclick5ave.livejournal.com
won't write much bc it's the most unique, painful and traumatising fandom I've ever been in... but I'm glad the chapter is truly closed for me now that Hyeme's finally out. I just wish the best for all past and present members..

Date: 2020-12-22 10:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com
this group makes me so sad. I wanted them to be the Korean Pussycat Dolls and was sadly mistaken.

Date: 2020-12-24 07:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aeries-amethyst.livejournal.com
Dr. Feel Good was a cultural reset! That was such an iconic era! I think my fave songs aside from that were Just Go, Pop Pop Pop and Style. I did like Masquerade and Killer, but I wouldn't call them standouts because they sounded more like B-sides. I stopped checking for the group because all the member changes and the mismanagement was a mess. I did tune in to see what they were gonna bring to the table with Demonstrate because as a black woman, I was curious to see how they'd integrate Alex into the group...and of course, it was just as much of a mess as I should have expected. I had really wished this group the best, but they were never going to get anywhere when they were backed by that kind of company.

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