Alexandra Reid Varley, professionally known as Alex Reid, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and model. She is a former member of the South Korean girl groupBP Rania, becoming the first African-American idol in the group.
Early life
Alexandra Reid was born on March 5, 1989 in Kansas City, Kansas. Relocating to Plano, Texas as a child, Reid began working as a highly in demand print model in the Dallas fashion scene. She has Swedish, African American and Hungarian heritage.
Career
2011–14: ''Letters to My Ex''
Reid was introduced as one of the sixteen cast members of the of Discovery Kids' reality television children's program Endurance in 2004. She was partnered with and competed together as the Green Team, ultimately placing seventh overall in the competition. Shortly after, Reid's Myspace profile was discovered by L.A. Reid's assistant, thus prompting her to move to New York City, New York and initiated preparation for her debut—ultimately signing a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings and a publishing contract with Sony Music. She then moved to Los Angeles, California and was managed by Scooter Braun. Reid ultimately released her debut single, "Body to Body," on November 7, 2011 with an accompanying lyric video. The lyrics of the song were penned by herself, while the instrumental was produced by Dru Castro and Phil Margaziotis. The song was performed live for the first time in conjunction with a rendition of "Do It Like a Dude" by Jessie J at the Kwanzaa Fest 2011 event held in Dallas, Texas. Reid released her debut extended play, Letters to My Ex, on August 31, 2012. Despite failing to chart, the extended play received positive reviews from online music blogs and forums. Letters to My Ex produced two singles prior to its initial release—the first advanced single, "Soldier", was released on August 3, 2012. The song featured Traphik, who also contributed in the penmanship of the song. The second advanced single, "My Ex", was released on August 10, 2012. In the midst of an interview with Chan Lo, reporting for the Chicks N Kicks online magazine, she revealed that production for her then-upcoming second extended play, Chik Muzik, has initiated and deemed it a "'take it or leave it' type record; young, fresh, and bold—music that doesn't take itself too seriously." The extended play was planned to be released in March 2013, although it remained unreleased since. Following a hiatus spanning a year, Reid released a stand-alone single, "Want Me Some U", on February 14, 2014.
announced a comeback for Rania with six composing members following numerous line-up changes prior to the announcement on October 29, 2015. Reid was subsequently unveiled as the third and final—following Kim Seul-ji and Kim Hye-me's unveil on November 3, 2015—newest addition to the line-up on November 4, 2015. The unveil received approval from Korean netizens, with many complimenting her appearance; on the other hand, the unveil resulted in a "heated debate between hardcore and casual fans of K-pop and hip-hop, points of contention between cultural appropriation, creative licenses, and proper representation." Their third extended play, Demonstrate, was released on November 4, 2015, although the accompanying music video did not feature Reid and instead displayed numerous shots of the other members throughout her verses. The situation was addressed by South Korean media, citing mainly visa issues as the problem behind her absence in the video. The music video was re-released on November 11, 2015, featuring numerous shots of Reid filtered in grayscale. The song was performed live for the first time with the complete line-up on the November 14, 2015 broadcast of MBC's music television program Show! Music Core. In 2016, DR Music launched a fundraiser in order to fund the debut of the sub-unit Hex—composed of Reid and the youngest member Hyeme—as well as Rania's then-upcoming fourth extended play, which was planned for an August 2016 release. However, the fundraiser was terminated by Makestar following numerous failed attempts of communication between the two parties. The termination followed the departure of the three remaining original members of Rania—Kim Da-rae, Lee Tae-eun, and Jang Jin-young—forcing the release date of their then-upcoming extended play to be pushed. Reid then revealed her promotion as the leader of the group. Following a brief stint in the United States to finalize the production of Rania's next album, she performed at the W Concert event held in Seoul, South Korea on November 20, 2016. DR Music announced that the group would be renamed BP Rania and ultimately released their fourth extended play, Start a Fire, on December 29, 2016. "Make Me Ah" served as the second promotional single from the extended play. DR Music announced Reid's absence from the remaining scheduled performances for the single on February 21, 2017, citing an acting opportunity from an unspecified production team behind it. Following a series of events including a feud with BP Rania's choreographer, DR Music announced her departure from the group on August 19, 2017.
2017–present: "East West" and "Gretchen Wieners"
On December 9, 2017, Reid announced the upcoming release of "East West", which was initially intended for the Hex sub-unit, although a time frame was not provided. The single was ultimately released on March 19, 2018. "Gretchen Wieners" was released as a follow-up single on June 24, 2018.
