Alex Of BP RaNia: K-Pop Idol Tease Fans To Be In Volume 4 Of ‘Unpretty Rapstar’
https://youtu.be/yp5vQm-UmbU
Within the last three months, Alexandra Reid — better known by her K-pop idol moniker Alex — has been a hot topic in K-pop. Often recognized by the K-pop community as the first African-American girl to debut in a K-pop girl group, she made headlines as the leader of Black Pearl Regeneration Idol of Asia or BP Rania, the third version of Rania since their debut back in 2011. Their title track song “Start a Fire” did not chart but it did spark much argument among K-pop fans.
One such argument was the fact Alex was not seen in any of the dancing scenes in the music video for “Start a Fire.” Ra-Gi, the choreographer who worked with BP Rania on the dance sequence for the song, claimed that Alex did not want to dance because she said “she’s a rapper.” Alex did retaliate saying Ra-Gi was lying. Eventually, DR Music would intervene on behalf of Alex thus ending the debacle between the two.
Now, Alex has once again caught the attention of many K-pop fans. It appears that she will be one of the contestants of Unpretty Rapstar: Volume 4, the fourth season of the popular music competition variety show on Mnet.
We don’t have much to go on at this moment, but all we do have points to such a possibility from the recent Twitter posts Alex uploaded on her official Twitter, as reported by AllKpop. A few days ago, she tweeted that she had a meeting with Mnet. At the time, the statement was very broad so it could have been for anything.
After a great meeting at MNet… update coming soon pic.twitter.com/zeIVxYIDxt
— alexandra reid (@thealexreid) February 9, 2017
K-pop fans eventually found out what Alex and Mnet’s meeting was about. Just yesterday, she tweeted a photo of wearing a cap with the logo of Unpretty Rapstar on it.
— alexandra reid (@thealexreid) February 11, 2017
To be frank, Alex being a contestant on Unpretty Rapstar: Volume 4 has the potential to do a lot of good for her. For starters, it will give her more exposure. Sadly, BP Rania is no longer one of the big K-pop girl groups in the industry proven by not charting on music charts and their sales being so low, they are unrecorded.
Second, Alex’s participation will give her a chance to introduce Koreans to more English rap as K-pop is becoming a multicultural entertainment industry. Finally and most importantly, it will give Alex the chance to show Koreans she can rap in Korean. One of the biggest issues many K-pop fans have with her, or at least how DR Music is handling her, is that she comes off more like a prop than an actual member of BP Rania and Rania before that. She did not appear in the music video “Demonstrate” and she only appears twice in “Start a Fire.” Also, all her lines are in English which is fine, but she is part of a K-pop girl group so speaking Korean is a necessity. If she did indeed skip a trainee period, that is one of the important lessons she missed because foreign trainees not only learn how to sing and dance, but also the language and culture of South Korea.
Unpretty Rapstar: Volume 4 is still in the works so we do not even know when it will debut. However, for those who want to check out what the K-variety show is all about, the past three volumes (seasons) can be viewed on OnDemandKorea.
[Featured Image by DR Music]
