Fatou Samba is a Senegalese-Belgian rapper, singer-songwriter, and model based in South Korea. She is best known as a member and leader of the girl group Blackswan, being widely recognized as the first African-born idol in the South Korean music industry.[1][2][3][4]
Fatou Samba | |
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 Fatou in September 2024 | |
| Born | Samba Fatou Diouf March 23, 1995 |
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| Years active | 2020–present |
| Musical career | |
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| Years active | 2020–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
On August 19, 2022, Fatou made her solo debut with the mixtape PWAPF.[5]
Life and career
editFatou was born on March 23, 1995, in Senegal. She later moved to Belgium at the age of 12, where she pursued a career in modeling.[1][6] She became inspired to pursue a career in the K-pop industry after being shown Shinee's "Replay" by a friend, travelling to South Korea following her graduation from university, and joining a K-pop cover dance crew.[3][7]
After two years of training, Fatou made her debut in the South Korean girl group Blackswan on October 16, 2020.[8][9][10] In August 2022, it was announced that Fatou would be making her solo debut with her first mixtape, PWAPF.[11][12][13] She later returned in December 2023 with her first EP, Letter 1 - Adeah.[14][15]
Discography
editEPs and mixtapes
edit| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOR |
US Heat |
US World | |||
| PWAPF |
Track listing
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— | — | — | — |
| Letter 1 - Adaeh[16] |
Track listing
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— | — | — | |
References
edit- ^ a b Yoonji Han (November 19, 2023). "Four years ago, I moved to Korea without speaking the language. Now, I'm K-pop's first African idol". Business Insider.
- ^ "'I'm Just Living My Dream': Blackswan's Fatou on Becoming K-Pop's First African Idol". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2022.
- ^ a b "Meet K-pop's first African idol: Fatou of Blackswan". Yahoo! News. June 2, 2022.
- ^ "Video Everything about K-pop's first African star, Fatou Samba". The Korea Herald. April 28, 2023.
- ^ Ashlee Mitchell (August 19, 2022). "K-Pop Idol Fatou on Her Solo Debut, Black Artists in K-pop, and Blackswan's Future".
- ^ "다국적 걸그룹 블랙스완, '검은 진주' 파투(Fatou) 전격 신상 공개". Sports Donga. October 27, 2023.
- ^ ""It's all worth it at the end of the day": BLACKSWAN's Fatou opens up about her journey of becoming a K-pop idol". Sportskeeda. June 7, 2022.
- ^ "Blackswan's Fatou opens up about being Black in the K-pop industry". NME. June 1, 2022.
- ^ "걸그룹 블랙스완의 파투, 한국 사랑하는 오리지널 아프로-유러피안". The Korea Herald. October 28, 2020.
- ^ "이제 막 데뷔한 K-POP 최초 세네갈 출신 '흑인 래퍼'의 넘사벽 비주얼". Insight. October 16, 2020.
- ^ "블랙스완 래퍼 파투, 19일 믹스테이프 발표…벨기에 출신 흑인래퍼의 K힙합 도전". Sports TV News. August 5, 2022.
- ^ "블랙스완 래퍼 파투, 19일 첫 솔로 믹스테잎 앨범". Newsen. August 4, 2022.
- ^ "벨기에 출신 블랙스완 파투, 19일 솔로 믹스테이프 발매". News1. August 4, 2022.
- ^ "블랙스완 파투, 오늘(8일) 첫 믹스테잎 발매…걸그룹 초기 힘들었던 자아 표출". December 8, 2023. 8 December 2023.
- ^ "'블랙스완' 래퍼 파투, 오늘 첫 솔로 믹스테이프 발매". Newsis. December 8, 2023.
- ^ "Blackswan's Fatou Samba Unleashes Solo Mixtape EP 'Letter 1 - Adaeh'". Times of India. December 8, 2023.