REI
PROFILE
| GIVEN NAME | Rei Naoi 直井 怜 (나오이 레이 /なおい れい) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2004-02-03 (February 3rd, 2004) |
| NATIONALITY | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| HEIGHT | 170cm / 5’ 7’’ |
| MANAGEMENT | Starship Entertainment |
| GROUP | IVE |
| OFFICIAL POSITION(s) | Rapper |
| DEBUT | 2021-12-01 as IVE with Single Album ELEVEN |
| MBTI | INFJ |
| OFFICIAL COLOR | Green #7ec249 from RGB, primary colors of light |
| @reinyourheart | |
| SIGNATURE |  |
CAREER SUMMARY
PRE-DEBUT
Rei was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan. Her mother had been a fan of TVXQ, and this influenced Rei to like K-Pop from an early age. Rei herself was a fan of Joy from Red Velvet, and dreamed of becoming a K-Pop idol from watching Red Velvet stages.
In April of 2018, Rei became a trainee of Starship Entertainment by auditioning at the “Loen Friends Global Audition in Japan.” Rei auditioned by singing “Happiness” by Red Velvet. She came to Korea at the age of 14 and was a trainee for 3 years before she debuted.
AFTER DEBUT
In the December of 2021, Rei debuted as a member of IVE, a 6-member group under Starship Entertainment, with An Yujin, Gaeul, Jang Wonyoung, Liz, and Leeseo with “ELEVEN.” Upon debut, Rei garnered attention for her unique visuals and distinctive rapping tone. She has been compared to a Korean doll / character called Kongsuni for its resemblance to her cute visuals.
Rei is the first Japanese idol to debut from Starship Entertainment, and the only non-Korean member of IVE.
In 2023, Rei got her own web variety series called Follow REI (”따라해볼레이”), in which Rei goes to a bunch of “hot places” or trendy/viral places among the Korean MZ generation. The series also features variety videos in the format of mukbang, and has hosted Gangnam as a guest in 2024. The series is uploaded on the @followrei_shipdo YouTube channel (”섭씨쉽도”) every Thursday at 7PM, KST.
POSITIONS
VOCAL
Even though Rei is one of the official rappers of IVE, she’s often regarded as the third-best singer of the group, after the two vocalists, Liz and An Yujin. Her unique tones, stable pitch, and skillful note bends have earned her many “killing parts” of IVE title tracks, along with Gaeul.
RAP
Rei is officially part of the rap line with Gaeul. Rei writes her own raps, and has written rap lyrics for IVE trackssuch as “ROYAL,” “After LIKE,” “Kitsch,” “Hypnosis,” “NOT YOUR GIRL,” and “Next Page.” She has shown that she can write lyrics in three languages - Japanese, Korean, and English.
Even though she is not a native Korean speaker, her diction for Korean rap verses has been praised for its accuracy. Rei is good at delivering powerful, rhythmic rap verses with a punch.
DANCE
The general consensus is that Rei improved the most in her dancing skills since debut. Rei has been praised for her stage presence and clean execution, but has been known to lack fluidity or flexibility in certain parts of the choreography. Her fluidity and muscle strength, especially in the core area, has become much more elevated from the promotions for “Kitsch.”
Rei is also known for her unique facial expressions and stage presence for many of IVE’s title tracks.