Korean music, particularly K-pop and its subsections is heavily inspired by Black and African American culture. K-pop often takes its themes from Black music and sound, as well as music videos, fashion, choreography, and more. Most of the time, Black creatives in, or out of, the industry fall into the background. Without them, K-pop would be very different in sound, genres, and concepts. In honor of Black History Month, POP TOKKI has compiled a list of Black and African American creatives who have been shaking up the Korean Entertainment and K-pop Industry.
Fatou – K-pop Idol (Black Swan)
Fatou, or Samba Fatou Diouf, is the main rapper, lead dancer, and leader of the K-pop girl group BLACK SWAN as of July 2020. The K-pop girl group BLACK SWAN is known for its revolving members, with the first Black female K-pop idol, Alexandra Reid, being from an earlier version of this group, RaNia. BLACK SWAN often highlights talented women from different countries, nationalities, and ethnicities. Fatou hails from Senegal and is the first K-pop idol from Africa. Noticing the absence of Black idols in South Korea, she became motivated to be one.
Fatou first visited Korea at 23 years old. A little over a year later, she signed with DR Entertainment and began her dream of training to become a K-pop idol, at the recommendation of the CEO. Although Fatou was announced in July of 2020, she didn’t debut until October 2020 with the song “Tonight” from their debut album ‘Goodbye Rania.’
Since then, the group has had two comebacks. Fatou released two independent mixtapes titled, ‘PWAPF‘ & ‘Letter 1 – Adaeh.’ Although some K-pop fans were skeptical about BLACK SWAN, which has no Korean or Asian members, many international and Korean fans support the group. Fans continue to support them in their endeavors and Fatou has become a fan favorite in the K-pop space. She sets new standards for K-pop, bringing Hip-hop and African styles into her music and highlighting her culture in everything she does. In an interview with Business Insider Fatou said, “You don’t have to be Asian to make K-pop.”
Latrice Kabamba – Choreographer (Street Woman Fighter 2)
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Latrice Kabamba has been heating up the dancing scene in South Korea. Latrice Kabamba is a professional dancer and choreographer currently based out of Australia and a dance prodigy from a dancing family. She is associated with the Royal Family, the New Zealand/Australian branch of Jam Republic dance agency. With the rise in popularity of the Korean competition dancing show Street Woman Fighter 2, Latrice and the Jam Republic crew have been getting much due fame and respect. Latrice is the co-leader and choreographed the majority of the dances along with leader Kirsten Dodgen. She choreographed the “Angels in Tibet” dance, which went on to become a popular trend on social media. It is their most popular choreography on the show, sitting at over 3 million combined views on YouTube.
The choreography highlighted Latrice’s specialties in Afro-fusion and Hip-Hop dancing and showed off her innate dancing skills and precision. Since Street Woman Fighter ended, Latrice has collaborated with HYBE musical artists, such as Jungkook from BTS and TXT. South Korea isn’t her first foray into East Asian culture. She was previously based out of China for seven years and collaborated with popular Chinese artists such as Lay Zhang, Caixu Kun, and Wang Yibo. She also does dancing workshops in South Korea and continues to share and showcase her dance skills all over Asia.
Kany Diabaté Ahn (KANY) – K-pop Choreographer
From choreographing for Beyonce to Shinee’s KEY, KANY hit every milestone she aimed for, and is just getting started! Kany Diabaté Ahn, or KANY, is a French Senegalese dancer and choreographer. Before coming into K-pop, she choreographed Beyonce’s song, ”MY POWER” from Beyonce’s visual film BLACK IS KING. Relatively new to the K-pop scene, KANY has already collaborated with K-pop artists, KEY, Shinee, and VIVIZ. Her first choreography was KEY’s 2022 single “Gasoline”. Her newest choreography, VIVIZ’s single “MANIAC,” has become a popular dance trend on social media, bringing more popularity to KANY and her trendy choreography.
After featuring with KEY on MBC WORLD’s “I Live Alone,” KANY gained fans for being funny and relatable. Her blossoming friendship with KEY, of whom she used to be a massive fan, draws in fans. KANY is also friends with BLACKSWAN’s Fatou and Nvee. Playfully coining their relationship, the MELAGURZLS, they showcase their pride in their skin color in an industry that lacks black and brown people. Currently, she is permanently stationed in South Korea and recently signed an exclusive contract with the company Big Planet Made.
Rodnae “Chikk” Bell – Singer/Songwriter
Rodnae Bell, or ‘Chikk,’ is a songwriter from America who wrote songs for Izzy Azeala and Jennifer Hudson, but transitioned into K-pop songwriting in 2014. Chikk went from songs cut from major Western artists’ albums to two number-one K-pop singles in only a year. After signing with the Recording Academy, Chikk came to Korea for the first time in 2013 for a 10-day writing camp. Her two number-one singles stemmed from this writing camp. She liked working for Western artists in Los Angeles but felt as though South Korea was a more welcoming environment that appreciated her natural talent. Writing primarily for SM entertainment artists, Chikk has written over 20 songs for K-pop artists, such as EXO, Red Velvet, aespa, Shinee, NCT, Girls’ Generation, and others. Many of her songs become singles or chart-topping hits. The most notable songs include, “Mr. Mr.,” “Monster,” “Don’t Call Me,” and “Overdose.”
Chikk still writes K-pop songs, with her last credit going to “Wanna Know,” by IRRIS in 2022. Chikk has been singing since she was 4 years old and often sings on backing vocals for the songs she writes. She also writes and sings her own songs and shares her experience as a songwriter on Instagram.
Dwayne “Dem Jointz” Abernathy – Music Producer
Dwayne Abernathy, Jr., or ‘Dem Jointz’, is an American musician and music producer from Compton, California. He is a multi-platinum artist and a three-time GRAMMY nominee. Dem Jointz won best rap song at the 64th Annual Grammys. He began making music at the age of 6 and was heavily inspired by NWA, DJ Quik, C.M.W., Fleetwood Mac, Anita Baker, and more. Dem Jointz is most known for collaborating with Western artists such as Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Dr. Dre, and Lil Wayne. He dipped into the K-pop scene in 2015 on Red Velvet’s Album “The Red.” Since then, Dem Jointz has collaborated with K-pop artists such as: J-HOPE, NCT, BTS, EXO, Shinee, and more. Dem Jointz often collaborates with songwriter Rodnae “Chikk” Bell on K-pop projects, including “Kick It,” by NCT 127 and “Don’t Call Me” by Shinee.
Today, Dem Jointz still produces music for Western artists. He also makes his own music with other artists and is a part of the group, Read The PDF. With many of the songs and albums that he’s produced becoming number-one hits when you hear his producer tag, “INCOMING,” you know it’s going to be a hit.
There are many more artists behind your favorite K-pop productions, so let us know who we missed on Twitter and Instagram!
Featured Image Credit: Micah Simmons for POP TOKKI
