Idols/Music
20110525_seoulbeats_rania

So Teddy and Rania are kaput. Now what?

16
Written by On May 26, 2011

Teddy Riley has announced to Korean media that his professional relationship with Rania has come to an end, so now what?

Rania debuted to much hooplah purely because they are a Teddy Riley product, and Teddy Riley’s name has almost been synonymous with Rania’s debut, which we now know was done without Riley’s camp’s permission.

Rania is supposed to be the group to conquer Asia and the US. Usually when Korean companies say this, I ignore the press banter, but with Teddy Riley on board and such a strong debut song, I was definitely interested and Rania has not disappointed. I don’t want to go into whether or not they have the look for the US or whether a standard Pussycat Dolls-esque girl group is going to make waves, but they already are more on mark than some of their other Kpop peers because Teddy Riley is undeniably knowledgeable of the market.

But now that Riley is backing off, what’s going to happen with Rania? We know from experience that before anyone in Kpop even has a chance of making it anywhere in the US, they need strong management behind them. Rania comes from a who-the-hell? company. That would’ve been okay if they had Riley, but they don’t anymore, so now they are left with almost no credibility.

The other big problem is that 100% of Rania’s image was based off Riley’s song. They could do a complete 360 and pull a Orange Caramel on us, but Rania is one of those unique groups that pushed the boundary SO hard that I don’t think they can reign it in. Mind you, I loved their image and I wouldn’t mind seeing more, but without Riley, who in Korea has the guts to push sexuality that hard? Even though I don’t think the girls in Rania are exactly comfortable with being so hardcore with the sexy, they’ve also ventured into no man’s land and have been slut-shamed and all that good stuff. How do they daintily ease back into Korean mainstream? With an American producer on board, at least they could’ve blamed it on the American dude, but now, without him, they can’t, and there are no other successful models of sexuality done right in the Kpop scene, so they will have to be pioneers, and I’m not sure they or their management company have the ability to do that.

(Via TeddyRiley1

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  • nmrie

    That’s a shame cause after how many months since their debut, Teddy Riley just decides to back off?? I mean, people change their minds all the time, but that’s kinda sad still. IMO, I just never really thought that he was sincere with the girls. Oh well. :-<

    • anon

      it is way more to it. just wait for the press conference

  • …

    off topic but i think it’s pretty exciting that you use “kaput” in english :) yaay another german word (kaputt) in english :D

    • kpopboi

      kaputt’s been used in the english vernacular for decades now. sheesh.

    • Hazel

      Yeah, ‘kaput’ has been around, in American English at least, for a long time. There’s many Americans of German descent, though, so it’s not surprising.

  • J

    LOL some sort of fan posted some juicy shizz about Rania and TR splitting up on AKP it’s just crazy.

    Either way, I just feel sorry for the girls. I mean, they’re just like any other idol out there who wants to have work/promote/be recognized at the same time, and they actually have some skills and talent to back up their concept, so. This is just crazy. I hope they still manage to pull through.

  • shiz

    I don’t know how well they did in Korea, but doesn’t seem like much that’s probably why Teddy pulled out.

  • ArtemisFowl

    Hmm… Too bad for Rania. I actually loved Dr Feel Good and the whole promotions. It was a good club song and I didn’t find their outfits especially revealing. Brigitte Jones huge panties covered their belly-buttons, boots covered all of their legs and that bra-shirt thingie covered the little chest they have.
    2ne1 is hella more provocative (Bom, Cl, Mizy’s dancing).
    But oh well. Not trying to start a fan war.
    Boy bands are way sluttier. And fangirls are way more perverted and disgusting than fanboys.

  • hyuk-ki

    There are many reasons why RaNia didn’t work and TR is the main reason in my opinion. They needed a powerful debut song and they didn’t get it from TR. It was a mediocre. That allowed people to focus on other areas such as consume and dancing and etc… I don’t think TR was a good fit for Kpop. Period! He also claimed that sexy dance concept was not his idea. It was DR music’s.

    In any event, I’ve said this before and I will say it again. RaNia is a talented group who needs a powerful Kpop song. RaNia needs to be with JYP because history proves that he can produce high quality music. Now, I would not recommend that JYP to manage/promote them necessarily. History proves that JYP is a terrible promoter. RaNia needs a fresh start with a catchy song. And then they can dance anyway they want.

    • huh

      JYP produces high quality music?! LOL
      Good one!

  • lol

    IKR 2NE1 is so much more sluttier! They expose more skin than RaNia on stage wearing bras and they do even more provocative things like hump the floor and grab their chests. /end sarcasm

    • lol

      Directed @ ArtemisFowl btw.

      • butterbacon

        you know your sarcasm will just go to waste, right? anyone who thinks that they dance “too sexy” is bound to go through life with things just going by too fast.

  • StickyFingers

    Why dont you post Ted Riley’s tweets? He left bc the record company was shady

  • png

    Their company wasn’t a “no-name” company before. It’s DR Music I think and they were the ones responsible for Baby V.O.X (The originals) but then they went downhill after the group broke up.

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