RaNia 2017 K-Pop Comeback: DR Music Girl Group Teases Upcoming Return With New Lineup — Original Member Saem Said To Return As Seventh Member [Images]

12/26/16 Update: The chatter about the seventh member of Rania proves to be true. Hwang Saem, better known by her stage name Saem, is returning to Rania after two years when she originally left back in late 2014. The news was officially made known on Rania’s official Twitter account. Anyways, Saem is one of the original members of Rania making her debut back in 2011. However, reports claim that Saem may be going by a different stage name which will supposedly be Yina.

12/25/16 Original Article: Regeneration Idol of Asia, better known as Rania, made huge news since late 2015 since they took on Alexandra Reid who goes by her stage name Alex. The then-new member of Rania was reported to be the first African-American to debut in a K-pop girl group. Needless to say, with all the emphasis on race in the United States, it was huge news to read that the K-pop industry has reportedly broken down another barrier making its music less inclusive on an international scene. Eventually, Alex would make news again this year as Rania’s new leader when group members (which included the past leader) Di, T-ae, and Xia left to sign with new label ENTER HAMA to re-debut as new girl group, ELA8TE.

Now after more than a year from her debut, Alex will lead the way for the new Rania as they prepare for their upcoming K-pop comeback in 2017. She, along with current girl group members Zi.U and Hyeme, will debut with three more new members, Jieun, Youmin, and Ttabo. Not to mention, this particular comeback for Rania will be very important not just for the girl group but for DR Music because the entire lineup consists of non-original members unless reports of Saem returning prove to be true.

Teasers for Rania’s upcoming K-pop comeback were first revealed on their official social media accounts, particularly their Twitter. Hyeme and Jieun’s individual teaser images were released first on Christmas Eve, Zi.U (formerly Seulji) and Youmin’s individual teaser images were released on Christmas, and Alex and Ttabo’s individual teaser images were released on the day after Christmas. Apparently, DR Music wanted to reveal Rania’s new lineup as a sort of Christmas gift to K-pop fans, especially those who are A1st (official fan club of Rania). It should also be noted that pre-release promotions for Rania’s 2017 comeback will continue up to December 28. This can possibly mean their comeback will drop early in January.

Now that details of Rania’s initial teasers for their 2017 K-pop comeback have been reported, it is best to explain who exactly are the new members, Jieun, Youmin, and Ttabo.

• Jieun: Kang Ji Eun is 23-years-old and born in South Korea on October 17, 1993. She is a former member of Aquagro Entertainment girl group Lovely Pretty Girls or LPG. She made her first performance with Rania back in June 2016 and was introduced as a new member on Christmas Eve.
• Youmin: Kim You Min is 22-years-old and born in Osan, Gyeonggi, South Korea on April 22, 1994. She was introduced as a new member on Christmas.
• Ttabo: Her real name is unknown for the time being but she is 21-years-old and born in China on June 8, 1995. She is the second foreign member on the current lineup alongside Alex and a former member of Chinese girl group Miss Mass. She was introduced as a new member on the day after Christmas.

From the teasers already revealed, it looks as if Rania will make their comeback with none or the original members thus making this particular one very important for the girl group as well as DR Music. However, one of the released teaser images for Rania’s comeback shows seven members with one of the members silhouetted out. News about this mysterious member have not been released as of yet, but chatter among K-pop communities and social media (Facebook and Weibo) is that one of the original Rania members who left before Di, T-ae, and Xia is returning and that member is Saem.

If chatter about Saem returning to Rania prove to be true, she will definitely provide insight and wisdom only a senior member can do given the fact she’s been with Rania since they debuted back in 2011. Also, she’ll definitely be a “Noona” to all the members of Rania but more importantly to Alex. Though Alex is the leader, we know very little about her speaking Korean or understanding Korean culture. By now, she should have a hold on certain things, but given her appearance on Korean variety show My Neighbor Charles, it seems as if DR Music jumped the gun and had her debut way too quickly.

Right now, a concrete release date for Rania’s upcoming K-pop comeback has yet to be announced. However, for those who want to check out Rania before this current lineup, one in which Alex, Hyeme, and Zi.U make their debut, check out the music video (attached above) of their song “Demonstrate.”

[Featured Image by DR Music]