Blackswan member Fatou has opened up about her personal experience as a Black idol in the K-pop industry.

READ MORE: SEVENTEEN – ‘Face the Sun’ review: seven years in, the K-pop stars are determined not to flame out

The Senegal-born singer recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the journey she had taken in order to debut as a K-pop idol, sharing that it hasn’t been easy for her to get to where she is today. The singer made her debut as a member of K-pop girl group Blackswan in 2020.

“Let me tell you the cold hard truth: It’s so goddamn difficult,” she told the outlet, in reference to the two-year-long training programme she was required to undergo before her made her debut. “But it’s all worth it at the end of the day.”

In spite of the arduous training programme, Fatou shared that the hardest part of being an idol for her was the inability to control how people perceive her; especially after finding herself bearing the brunt of public scrutiny as K-pop’s only prominent idol of African descent.

“Sometimes [people] don’t think of idols as human beings. They see me as… almost just a thing behind a screen. But I’m human and I have feelings,” Fatou said, adding that she “almost gave up” on being an idol.

Despite the trials and tribulations she’s had to go through, Fatou maintained that she doesn’t want to discourage other Black people from getting their feet through the door. “If it’s your dream, if you cannot do anything else, and you love it that much? Go after it, literally go after it,” she said.

“I don’t really think of it like, ‘Oh, I’m the only Black K-pop idol,’” Fatou added. “I just do what every other colleague in this industry is doing. I try to stay as far away from that thought as I can, because I feel like if I would think about it, I would drive myself crazy.”

Fatou was added to the group, which first debuted in 2011 as RANIA, in 2020, and is currently joined by fellow bandmates Youngheun, Judy, Leia, Gabi and Sriya. Their last release was the October 2021 single album ‘Close To Me’.

The post Blackswan’s Fatou opens up about being Black in the K-pop industry appeared first on NME.

MANILA, Philippines — Rebisco vows to continue its support for the national volleyball program after the Philippines nabbed two bronze medals in beach volleyball and missed the podium in the men’s and women’s volleyball tournaments in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. Rebisco Group Vice Chairman Jonathan Ng praised the teams of Sisi […]

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MANILA, Philippines—The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) on Wednesday handed out a three-month suspension on San Juan Knights-Go for Gold assistant coach Yong Garcia. The league also meted a P60,000 fine on Garcia “for tarnishing the image of the league and possibly endangering the health of the aggrieved party.” Garcia was caught spitting on Valenzuela […]

The post MPBL suspends San Juan’s Yong Garcia for 3 months, fined P60K appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

A resurgent Golden State Warriors are bidding to reclaim their throne at basketball’s summit against a Boston Celtics team chasing history when the NBA Finals tip-off on Thursday. After a grueling regular season and a roller coaster playoff campaign, Golden State and Boston will open their best-of-seven finals showdown on Thursday in what has all […]

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SEVENTEEN have revisited multiple fan favourite songs from their discography in a new medley for Dingo Music.

READ MORE: SEVENTEEN – ‘Face the Sun’ review: seven years in, the K-pop stars are determined not to flame out

The 13-piece recently made a guest appearance on Dingo Music’s Killing Voice, where artists are invited to perform a medley of their hit tracks. On SEVENTEEN’s 20-minute rendition of the medley, the group performed snippets from their debut song ‘Adore U’ and 2016 hit single ‘Pretty U’, to more recent tracks such as ‘Clap’, ‘Home’ and their new single, ‘Hot’.

Aside from title tracks, SEVENTEEN also sang several fan-favourite B-side tracks, including ‘Snap Shoot’ from their 2019 album ‘An Ode’. Other songs performed include ‘Run To You’ from their 2018 repackaged album ‘Director’s Cut’ and ‘Our Dawn Is Hotter Than Day’ from the group’s 2018 EP ‘You Make My Day’.

Last week, the 13-member boyband returned with their fourth studio album ‘Face The Sun’, along with a fierce new music video for its lead single ‘Hot’. The release had marked SEVENTEEN’s first domestic release of 2022, arriving over half a year after their October 2021 mini-album ‘Attacca’.

As usual, all of the songs were co-written and -composed by member Woozi and frequent SEVENTEEN collaborator and producer Bumzu. Other members of the boyband, including Vernon, Hoshi and S.Coups, also contributed to the record.

In other SEVENTEEN news, the boyband recently sat down with NYLON to discuss their careers and lives as K-pop idols, during which the interviewer referred to the 13-member group as “pop stars”. However, the boyband’s members did not seem to find the description as fitting, with member Vernon sharing that the moniker “sounds so cringe” to him.

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Tim Burgess has launched a jacket inspired by the one he wore in the video for The Charlatans’ single ‘How High’ to mark the song’s 25th anniversary.

The track was released in 1997 and appeared on the band’s fifth album ‘Tellin’ Stories’. In the music video, the frontman donned a yellow and black jacket.

READ MORE: ‘Tim In Listening Party Land’ – inside the retro-aesthetic game based on Tim Burgess’ Twitter phenomenon

“The question I get asked the most about The Charlatans isn’t ‘How does it feel to headline a festival?’ or ‘What was it like writing a banger like ‘The Only One I Know’?’,” Burgess told NME. “Nope. It’s ‘Where’s the jacket from in the ‘How High’ video?’

“And the answer? It was on a rail of clothes that the stylist brought. I handed it back never even knowing what make it was. Once we’d finished filming the video we were asked if we wanted any of the clothes that had been given to us, I said I’d like the jacket but they said it hadn’t been launched yet but they would definitely send me one. It never arrived, so 25 years later I thought we’d make our own.”

 

Inspired by the jacket’s popularity, Burgess has teamed up with the clothing brand Hikerdelic to make a replica version in honour of the 25th birthday of ‘How High’, which lands on June 9. The jacket will cost £125 (including postage in the UK) and will be on sale from 11am BST on June 9 until 11pm June 12 via the Hikerdelic website.

Each jacket will come with a special postcard, designed by @The_Ren1981 – see an example below. It will also come with a waterproof carry bag that bears the same logo as the outerwear, which incorporates the single’s title, the clothing brand, its age and Manchester (“MCR”).

CREDIT: @The_Ren1981

A spokesperson for Hikerdelic added: “The era when Tim started doing his thing is a big influence on our brand so when he got in touch with the idea of collaborating it was a no-brainer. We’re from a similar part of the world and the music community has always been receptive to what we do.

“The fact the jacket is inspired by the video of ‘How High’ makes it all even more fitting. We’ve been asked to work with other musicians but they need to be 100 percent right. This is the first time that has been the case. I’m really looking forward to seeing legions of people knocking about in our take on a classic piece of outerwear.”

CREDIT: Courtesy of Tim Burgess/Hikerdelic

Meanwhile, The Charlatans will support Gallagher at his gig in Cardiff in September. The show will mark the end of the former Oasis frontman’s summer tour and will take place at the open-air venue Alexandra Head on September 15.

Last month, Burgess reported that Nottingham’s Rock City venue had waived their traditional cut of merch sales during The Charlatans’ recent show at the venue. The singer has been a frequent voice of opposition against venues that take a percentage of merchandise sales from artists, saying last year that “the whole system needs addressing”.

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Pale Waves are set to top the line up for 2022’s Live At Leeds: In The City – get all the details below.

READ MORE: Live At Leeds 2021: up-and-comers showcase their post-pandemic potential

This year, the traditional multi-venue festival in Leeds will be split into two events – an outdoor event in June dubbed Live At Leeds: In The Park which will feature Bombay Bicycle Club, Arlo Parks, Sea Girls, Easy Life, The Vaccines and more, and the usual inner-city festival, now called Live At Leeds: In The City, on October 15.

Alongside Pale Waves at the October event will be Working Men’s Club, Baby Queen, Sea Power, Will Joseph Cook, Prima Queen, Palace, Highschool, Anorak Patch and many more.

See the full line-up below and pick up your tickets here.

Your first line-up announcement for Live at Leeds In The City is HERE!!! https://t.co/yWzky8vREs

Manchester indie icons @palewaves top the bill for our all day extravaganza! Joining them is alt-rock favourites @WeArePalace, Aussie songwriter & Tik-Tok sensation @thomasheadon pic.twitter.com/BFXLy4EFXh

— Live at Leeds (@liveatleedsfest) June 1, 2022

Reviewing last year’s Live At Leeds, NME wrote: “One of the country’s largest multi-venue, inner-city festivals, the pandemic seems to have not only affected Live At Leeds’ usual May timing, but the calibre of its booking.

“The top-of-the-billing bloke-fest feels like a shame, but nonetheless, Yorkshire folk are a stoic bunch. With the opportunity for all-you-can-eat gig-hopping on a crisp Autumn day, it quickly becomes a question of how quickly you can hotfoot it around the city buffet.”

At the show, Pale Waves have promised to play new music from upcoming third album ‘Unwanted’, which was announced this month with first single ‘Lies’.

“‘Lies’ is about someone who built up my trust and destroyed it like a wrecking ball,” frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie said of the track. “It caused some real trust issues, but fortunately for me that person is no longer in my life. Once you do me wrong you’re gone!”

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MANILA, Philippines—Many-time champion Joe Devance has retired after 16 seasons in the PBA. Devance announced his retirement on his Instagram on Wednesday four days before the new PBA season tips off. “I have made and built so many relationships within that time that will remain in my memories for a lifetime. All the battles That […]

The post Joe Devance retires from PBA after 16 seasons to ‘focus on family’ appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

MANILA, Philippines — Juan Gomez de Liaño beefs up Zamboanga Valientes in the  Thai Superleague from June 1 to 5 at Central Ayutthaya. The former University of the Philippines stalwart is set to team up with Reed Juntilla, Das Esa and Denver Cadiz. Besides Gomez de Liaño, Zamboanga also tapped National University standout Issa Gaye […]

The post Juan Gomez de Liaño leads Zamboanga Valientes in Thai 3×3 league appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala — who are each dealing with various injuries — were full participants in practice for the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. The Western Conference champions will host the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, so gaining extra reinforcements along the bench […]

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Halsey has shared a release date for ‘So Good’, their new song that was reportedly delayed due to demands from their record label surrounding TikTok posts.

Last week, Halsey shared a message claiming that their label are holding a new song hostage until they can “fake” a viral TikTok.

READ MORE: Labels pushing artists to make TikToks: you’re spoiling the fun (and that’s not even the worst of it)

Taking to their TikTok page, the singer – who released latest album ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ last year – said in a post titled “I’m tired” that there is new music she wants to release “ASAP,” but that “marketing” is getting in the way and the label won’t let her share the new song.

Taking to Twitter yesterday (May 31), her label Capitol Records then responded, “committing” to a June 9 release date for ‘So Good’ and sharing a message of support for Halsey.

“We love you and are here to support you,” the label wrote to Halsey, adding in an attached statement: “We are an artist first company that encourages open dialogue.

“We have nothing but a desire to help each one of our artists succeed, and hope that we can continue to have these critical conversations.”

– @halsey, we love you and are here to support you. We are committing to a release of “So Good” on June 9th, 2022. pic.twitter.com/DKBrtRUCpk

— Capitol Music (@capitolmusic) May 31, 2022

Halsey herself then tweeted: “I didn’t expect so much conversation about this record. All I know is that I wanted you guys to hear it and now you can. So Good, song on June 9th and video the next day.”

In a further TikTok video, they played a snippet of ‘So Good’ and added: “After a tremendous amount of f*ck shit, ‘So Good’ is finally coming out. Thanks for keeping up with this fiasco. Hope you love the song.”

I didn’t expect so much conversation about this record, all I know is that I wanted you guys to hear it and now you can. So Good, song on June 9th and video the next day. Endy gave me my flowers pic.twitter.com/TIz6i3kLdV

— h (@halsey) May 31, 2022

@halsey

literally all I care is that you get to hear it now, thank u bye luv u

♬ So Good – Halsey

In the aftermath of Halsey’s comments, a number of artists have entered the conversation around artists’ use of TikTok and label demands.

They include FKA twigs, who has said: “It’s true all record labels ask for are TikToks and I got told off today for not making enough effort” and since deleted her TikTok account. Charli XCX, Florence Welch and more have also expressed similar sentiments.

Rebecca Lucy Taylor, aka Self Esteem, has since penned an essay about the pressure she believes female artists face to provide TikTok content.

Writing in The Guardian, Taylor said: “I think it’s no coincidence that the recent examples of artists who say their labels have forced them to get on TikTok are all women.

“My pub-psychologist theory is that the music industry thinks of social media as an inherently female thing – it’s just another patriarchal idea that women and gay men are interested in the minutiae of other women, while men are just too busy and important to be interested in that stuff.”

Writing on the subject, NME‘s Kyann-Sian Williams said: “Forcing the superstars of today into making would-be viral videos can be a huge deterrent for budding stars wanting to get into the pop world. And if you’re an internet-savvy artist on the rise? You don’t need the huge push of a marketing team to make a viral moment.

“The premise (and slogan) of TikTok is to ‘Make your day’, and seeing a bunch of disingenuous, mediocre content isn’t going to infiltrate someone’s life. Record labels, stop trying to force it – you can’t fake the funk.”

The post Halsey announces release date for song reportedly held up by label’s TikTok demands appeared first on NME.