Rei

Rei (레이, Naoi Rei, 直井れい; born February 3, 2004, Nagoya, Japan) is the main rapper and sub-vocalist of IVE, and the group's most artistically multidisciplinary member. She passed the Loen Friends Global Audition in 2018 and relocated to South Korea at 14 to begin training under Starship Entertainment, making the move before most of her peers had chosen a high school. In a group defined by visual precision and musical cohesion, Rei brings a quieter distinctiveness: a natural rap delivery that resists posturing, a vocal tone that sits comfortably outside typical idol registers, and an illustrator's eye that extends her creative output beyond music. Her fan-facing artwork circulates in the IVE fandom as genuine creative work rather than promotional content. IVE's December 2021 debut launched one of K-pop's more rapid group ascents: "Eleven," "Love Dive," and "After LIKE" established the group as a dominant presence within a single year, and albums I've IVE (2023), IVE SWITCH (2024), and IVE EMPATHY (2025) sustained that momentum through multiple release cycles. On REVIVE+ (2026), the group's second full album, Rei contributed the solo track "In Your Heart," a reflective piece that highlights the softer, more introspective register she deploys away from IVE's harder-edged material.