Rei

Rei (레이), born Naoi Rei (直井れい) on February 3, 2004, in Nagoya, Japan, is the main rapper and one of the most stylistically distinct members of IVE. She passed a Starship global audition in Japan in 2018, relocated to South Korea as a teenager, and debuted with the group in December 2021 under Starship Entertainment. Since then, she has turned a quieter public image into a real creative advantage. Rei does not perform like an idol trying to imitate aggression. Her rap delivery is measured, her tone is immediately recognizable, and her illustration work gives fans a second creative lane that feels personal rather than merch-driven. That mix is why she often feels like the member most able to move between pop performance, fashion, and authored fan culture without losing coherence. On the music side, IVE's 2025 and 2026 release run kept her visible through IVE EMPATHY, XOXZ, the second full album REVIVE+, and the 2026 Japanese EP Lucid Dream. Her solo track "In Your Heart" showed a softer, more reflective register, while her writing reputation kept growing after credits on earlier IVE material. She is not only the group's Japanese member. She is one of the clearest reasons IVE still feels textured inside a tightly controlled pop system.