BEPs and BAP Speak

Yes, the BAPs' shiny new soul sister BEP has emerged in all her glamorous glory - thanks to a new magazine called Society. Hyping itself as a Hello!-style publication for black readers, last month the magazine 'launched' four girls on to London's social scene. They are Kunbi, Sharon, Kyrin and Aret. They are inseparable. And they are - officially - London's first Black It Girls.

Great, you're thinking, just what London needs, a whole new bunch of Tara-mara-torias fluttering round the freeloader circuit. But this is a different breed of It Girl. Intelligence, not money, is the defining trait of the Black It Girl.

As Society puts it: 'In Britain, It Girls are traditionally white, wealthy and woefully inadequate in the IQ department... but these [girls] combine beauty and brains.' Kyrin, Sharon, Kunbi and Aret have Careers. Not pretending-to-run-a-dodgy-fashion-boutique kind of career, but record company management (Sharon), broadcast journalism (Kunbi), law (Aret) and acting (Kyrin). They party hard but they make their 9.30am meetings the next day.

'These women are role models for black women,' says PR guru Kizzi Nkwocha, editor of Society. 'They are more "It" than other It Girls. There are huge numbers of glamorous, successful black people in the UK, but they have never been high profile. These girls, and having a black society magazine, should change that.'

Another departure from your common or garden It Girl-ishness is that upbringing is irrelevant. While Kyrin and Aret have moneyed backgrounds (Kyrin's father is a lawyer for a multinational and Aret's mother is the Nigerian singer/actress and Tory hopeful Patti Boulaye), Sharon had a modest childhood in Herne Hill and Kunbi grew up in middle-class North London. 'We are high-achievers,' says Kunbi proudly. 'We made our own lives rather than getting Daddy to set us up in a house in Notting Hill.'

But the girls are also keen to distance themselves from the Black Princess concept. 'The BAP mindset breeds arrogance,' explains Sharon. 'I never thought I was better than anyone else.'

So far, the Black It Girl idea has been a huge success. 'Before, invites used to come in twos, now they come in fours,' explains Kunbi, referring to the flood of promotional requests the group has received.

Savvy to her Black It Girl core, Kunbi has copyrighted the concept (she dreamt up the idea) on their behalf. And she has clear ideas about her new identity: 'Let me tell you how I want my name written. I want it double-barrelled. Refer to me as Kunbi Jegede-Tinuoye, not just Kunbi Tinuoye.'

Go, It Girl!

Bap Speak

Buppy Black Urban Professional - not to be confused with a Black American Princess. While a BAP can be a Buppy, a Buppy will not necessarily have BAP-titude.

Betty The quintessential BAP. A Betty is a BAP born not made. A regal child of privilege.

Boho The most free-spirited BAP. A birthright BAP who devises a hippyish, unorthodox identity. Attempts to reject her materialistic background, but never really succeeds.

Butterfly Self-made BAP. Misses out on the fairy-tale start to life, so achieves BAP-dom through determination and sheer hard graft. Of all types of BAP, is most aware of the value of knowing the 'right' people.

Bogus Imposter whose vanity and material greed give BAPs a bad name. Real BAPs hate her because she reinforces the stereotypical image of the spoilt BAP brat. Ostentatious and vacuous.

BEP Black English Princess. BAPs assume that England is swimming with UK versions of themselves except with a rather weird accent.