RaNia Makes K-Pop History — Latest Comeback Featuring Alex, First African-American Member In Any K-Pop Girl Group Ever

Throughout the lifespan of K-pop groups, there are times when they go through member changes, either losing or gaining a member. As an example, we will use the two biggest K-pop groups today, Big Bang and Girls’ Generation. The former originally had six members, but dropped So-1 before their official debut. And for the latter, its “first member,” Jessica Jung, officially left the group back in 2014 followed by leaving SM Entertainment altogether the following year.

However, there are certain groups that go through more member changes compared to the average. KARA and Baby V.O.X. are well-known for this, but one group that is getting a lot of attention for their recent member change is RaNia. It was recently announced the K-pop group will break a new barrier by signing on an African-American member, a first for any K-pop girl group ever.

The announcement pertaining to RaNia’s newest member was made on Wednesday, November 4, 2015. According to KpopStarz, Alexandra Reid was made known to be the sixth member of the K-pop group, just ahead of their return to the music scene later this month. Similar to most members of any K-pop group, her name will be stylized for RaNia, and it will simply be “Alex.” Apparently, Alex will be RaNia’s rapper. As mentioned earlier, RaNia signing on Alex breaks barriers and makes K-pop history because she is of African-American descent.

DR Music, the label RaNia is under, released the official music video for “Demonstrate,” a song that features Alex’s rapping, though she is not in the video itself. A fan-made video, however, combined other Alex teasers with the official music, kind of showing what it would be like when she is fully in the group.

It should be noted that the reason why Alex was not featured in earlier promotions for RaNia has to do with issues pertaining to her visa, as reported by Korean news outlet Xport News. Maybe that is why for the time prior to her arrival, RaNia was often publicized as the “RaNia Five.” In the end, however, everything worked for the better because the news surely caught the eye of the K-pop community. Eventually, Alex was well-received with her first performance with the other five RaNia members – Di, T-ae, Xia, Hyeme, and Seulji – when they performed on M! Countdown.

As for how Alex is handling being in Seoul, South Korea, she took to her official Twitter account to express her gratitude for being accepted, as well as her anticipation to learn more of the Korean culture. She even tweeted a picture of all RaNia members, now complete with her arrival.

SQUAD UP pic.twitter.com/1YcHtmvlyo

— Alexandra Reid (@thealexreid) November 5, 2015

There are some questions the K-pop community are asking given the limited information available on Alex. Will she simply be a rapper in the group or will she provide vocal backup (harmonization) as well? Will she be dancing too? Can she speak Korean? First and foremost, it should be a given that Alex has some knowledge of speaking Korean as shown with recent uploads on social media in which she updates her fans of her RaNia journey in Korean. Second, Alex recently posted a blog entry explaining how she came to love K-pop and how she dreamed of being a part of a K-pop group, despite thinking she would never get such a chance because of her background. Alex wrote that she is now in the studio, doing dance rehearsals, and also in hair and make-up tests, and wardrobe fittings.

It is safe to say Alex is being taken seriously by DR Music and will be a full-fledged member of RaNia, not just some sales hook. And just so people do understand, Alex is going into RaNia with music industry experience, previously working with Def Jam Records and even appearing in Jamie Foxx’s music video for “You Changed Me.”

[Image via Alex Reid’s Facebook Fan Page]