Blackswan, Kpop Group Who Don't Have Members From Korea

SOUTH KOREA - Applause and hysterical screams were heard as four women who were members of Blackswan took to the stage. The four of them performed a kpop dance following the sound of speakers listening to music.

These are Blackswan, a K-pop group whose members come from around the world. There is Gabi from Brazil; NVe from the United States; Sriya from India; and Fatou who was born in Senegal, who now lives in Belgium.

Together, they hope to break into a very competitive and worth billions of dollars in industry but first they have to convince those who are skeptical that it is real.

Blackswan is not the first K-pop artist to include foreign members. Groups like GOT7 and UNIQ have Korean and Chinese mixed members, for example. But in the past, these groups tended to fail, or even worse: EXP Edition, a boy band that is mostly white and has no Korean citizens at all, sparking controversy when they appeared a few years ago, with some critics accusing them of cultural confiscation.

Blackswan also has doubts. At Waterbomb, the water-based music festival that Blackswan held in June, one of the participants told CNN they were questioning the group's authenticity although others see non-Korean artists as a positive sign of the growing influence of Korean culture on the world stage.

For Fatou, member citizenship and lack of Korean heritage are not a problem. They still have a factor K.

"We speak Korean. K-pop is Korean pop. So as long as the language exists, it's still K-pop," he told CNN during an interview with the group.

Gabi agreed, then replied: Everything K-pop group has, we have. he said.