Alex Versus RA-GI: Fans Debate If 1st African American K-Pop Girl Group Member In BP RaNia Not Doing Choreography Because ‘She’s A Rapper’ Or If Choreographer Is Lying [Video]

https://youtu.be/yp5vQm-UmbU

Alexandra Reid, better known as Alex, has one of the most peculiar careers pertaining to K-pop. Back in 2015, she made her debut as the final member of K-pop girl group Regeneration Idol of Asia, better known as Rania, for their second lineup change. She was promoted and hyped as the first African American woman to debut in a K-pop girl group in the history of Hallyu and she showed what she could deliver in their third extended play (EP) or mini-album, Demonstrate.

Later in 2016, Alex would become the new leader of a re-debuting Rania after the remaining “original” members at the time — Di, T-ae, and Xia — decided to leave. With remaining members Zi.U (formerly known as Seulgi) and Hyeme along with the addition of three new members Jieun, Yumin, and Ttabo, along with returning “original” member Yina (formerly known as Saem), they became known as Black Pearl Regeneration Idol of Asia, or BP Rania. They would officially make their re-debut late in 2016 with their fourth EP or mini-album, Start A Fire.

Though Alex has already been in two K-pop comebacks, one with Rania and the other with BP Rania, one glaring peculiarity is present pertaining to the choreography: she is not in any of them. There are stated reasons why Alex is not in them, but the choreographer of “Start A Fire” RA-Gi provided insight, claiming in summary, Alex does not do choreography because “she is just a rapper.” In defense, Alex has retaliated claiming RA-GI is spreading lies.

It must be noted that ever since Demonstrate, many in the K-pop community have pointed fingers to DR Music for Alex not participating in the choreography to the point she comes off as a prop. According to AllKpop, that is not the case as choreographer RA-GI stepped forward with a statement on the matter on January 7.

“She [Alex] said she’s not going to [participate in choreography] because she’s a rapper.”

RA-GI further clarified her previous statement five days later. It generally softened what she said earlier, but also pitted her with a flurry of questions.

“No matter who looks at it, don’t you think the label would want Alex to be in the full choreography as well? It’s pushing it to say the label pulled Alex out of the choreography~ Things that people can’t generally understand is probably not understandable or pardonable to the label, as well. Probably, it’s because of her personal issues, and there are issues that come from those such as problems with the stage flow, and more. If the fans try to too deeply participate in everything, the artists that make Rania get exhausted. We can’t fit everything to every fans’ tastes, so I believe it’s the best to watch her improve and support her. I hope Rania does well.”

Alex would not site idly by as RA-Gi continues to give her reason for Alex’s lack of choreography. She took to her official Twitter account to express her disdain in quite an aggressive way.

If these lies keep magically surfacing I'll go ahead and come out with the truth. Let it really hit the fan.

— alexandra reid (@thealexreid) January 30, 2017

To be frank, the situation of Alex not participating in choreography extends back to her debut in Rania with Demonstrate and the title track song of the same name. Given the fact “Demonstrate” was featured, it had a music video and would be promoted during music show competitions. Ergo, choreography was important. Alex was hardly a part of the choreography for the song but her reported valid reason was that she was having trouble with her passport so she couldn’t arrive in South Korea in time to learn the moves. Since then, passport issues have been resolved.

Alex coming off as a “prop” in the title track song for Start A Fire, which also has the same name, is no excuse by now. Yet, we cannot just put the full blame on Alex, BP Rania, or DR Music. We can speculate, but only the parties directly involved know the true reason behind this matter. Let’s hope it gets resolved soon because the longer this situation stretches out, the worse it looks for Alex.

[Featured Image by DR Music]