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On April 6, BLACKSWAN's Fatou posted on her personal X account, seemingly calling out the alleged racism and blackphobia in the K-pop industry. In the post, she stated that she wanted people to address apologies personally to the black community rather than generalizing.
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She also seemingly pointed out that many people in the industry who have offended Black people often try to dismiss the situation without taking accountability. Fatou ended her post by requesting people to do their research on the Black community to understand the culture better.
Here's what she wrote:
"If u wanna apologize to us black people, make sure you address us. Don’t use everything we’ve created , run with it, and then try and acting clueless.We’ve gone through this circus before, and I hope that it’s the last one so please do the right thing. It’s not gonna kill you."
She continued,
"Gonna say this before I sleep, know that you would be nothing without black/afro music so please respect the people behind it and the culture, and if you really want to understand it do some research (it’s really fun actually) you’ll fall more in love with it."
Following the same, many fans and netizens were happy to see BLACKSWAN's Fatou stand up for her community. Here are a few fan reactions regarding the same:
"A black kpop idol openly criticizing racism and specifically blackphobia in the kpop industry? Oh we love to see it !"
"imagine how fatou must feel being a black kpop idol and all of the other groups are constantly mocking you and your people for content.….. thank you fatou for speaking up! YOU are the only one who truly understands," said a fan on X.
"Being in an industry that has nothing but disrespect for her and her culture, I have no idea how she manages to tolerate this for 5 years. Glad she's spoken up," added another fan.
"Love seeing a Black woman in the K-pop industry calling out the racism out loud. It’s raw, real, and refreshing. She’s standing up not just for herself, but for all of us who’ve been mocked, disrespected, and erased. It’s about time someone with a platform told it like it is," commented a netizen.
More fans and netizens talked about how the idol's post was important and necessary for the K-pop industry.
"Thank you for speaking up, its important to open topics like this to ensure it doesnt get brushed off like it has always been in the past. its time for real change," stated a fan
"let them know!!! your culture is not a concept!!! SPEAK LOUDER QUEEN!!" added an X user
"Yk it’s bad when Fatou is speaking cuz she usually minds her business, that being said she worded this perfectly we love you mother," said a netizen.
All you need to know about the multi-national K-pop girl group, BLACKSWAN
BLACKSWAN is a four-piece K-pop girl group that debuted in 2020 under DR Music. They are a multinational group currently consisting of four members Fatou, Gabi, Sriya, and NVee.
The group also holds an admission and graduation concept. This means that the group's members often change. The original group initially debuted under the name Raina in 2011 through their EP titled, Teddy Riley, the First Expansion In Asia.
They rebranded in 2016 as BP Rania (short for Black Pearl Rania) and rolled out two more EPs under the name, Start a Fire and Refresh 7th. While they went back to promoting as Rania in 2018, they did their final rebranding as BLACKSWAN in October 2020. They released their album, Goodbye Raina, with two new members, Judy and Fatou.
In October 2021, the group released a single album, Close to Me. In 2022, after Judy left, three new members, Sriya, Gabi, and NVee, were introduced in BLACKSWAN.
In 2023, they rolled out their single album, That Karma. Most recently, in July 2024, the group released its EP, Roll Up. On the other hand, the group is also featured in the Apple TV documentary K-pop Idols.
