It’s mid-December and Jurin, Maya, Chisa, Hinata, Juria, Cocona and Harvey, the seven members of XG, catch their breath after vogueing, breaking and duck-walking their manner by “Gala,” a tribute to ballroom tradition and the lead single from their upcoming first full-length album.
Quickly, they’re surrounded. A cluster of make-up artists, PR reps, translators and crew members huddle about whereas some members steal a smile and change hand hearts with giddy followers within the viewers.
Sienna Lalau is a part of the group assembled on the Common Studios soundstage for XG’s taping of “The Voice” season finale. Choreographer and motion director for the downtown L.A.-based Lab Studios, Lalau, 25, works incessantly with Jennifer Lopez and has created and carried out with Ciara, Missy Elliott, BTS and Ozuna, amongst others. She has choreographed for XG, since earlier than the group’s 2022 debut.
For Lalau, XG stood out from the start.
“Carrie, my manager, she had told me, ‘Oh, there’s this new Japanese group that wants you to choreograph for them,’ ” she says over the telephone throughout a break in rehearsals for Lopez’s Las Vegas residency.
Prior to now, Lalau had minimal interplay with labels concerning Ok-pop submissions — “send in the thing, and then that’s pretty much it,” she says. Against this, XG’s firm, XGALX, despatched over an in depth temporary of its younger members, every of whom had spent the earlier 5 years honing their nascent rap, vocal and dance abilities.
Lalau jumped on the prospect of working with a gaggle from the bottom ground. “I remember I had sent in videos to choreograph for “Mascara” and “Tippy Toes,” which had been the primary two songs I believe they had been planning on popping out with. And you understand, I’m right here 5 years later, nonetheless working with them which is so loopy to say.”
Transcending boundaries
For Ok-pop fans, XG’s flawlessly executed choreography is acquainted territory. However scratch the floor and the identification of the group is a fluid mix of cultures. Whereas all of the members are Japanese, Hinata has Korean heritage and Harvey is Japanese-Australian. Their music, nonetheless, is firmly rooted within the golden age of American ‘90s R&B and hip-hop. Then there’s their out-of-this-world visible identification referencing the whole lot from anime to streetwear to house aliens.
In 2022, “Galz Xypher,” a stand-alone YouTube single, introduced XG worldwide consideration. Predominant rappers Jurin, Harvey, Cocona and Maya commerce bars in three languages over samples from Ty Dolla Signal, Rosalía, Dreamville, JID, Jack Harlow and 24kGoldn (the JID observe, in flip, samples Aretha Franklin’s legendary sped-up pattern of “One Step Ahead”).
What surprises many is the group’s potential to transcend language boundaries. XGALX govt producer and CEO Simon Junho-Park, who goes by JAKOPS, defined what language shifting means to him and the group musically.
JAKOPS, 39, is comfy transferring between cultures. He was born in Seattle to Korean-Japanese mother and father. He spent 10 years as a member of the boy group DMTN and later expanded into songwriting and producing. He realized first-hand each the ability, and limitations, of the Ok-pop coaching tradition.
“As an artist, what I want to do with XGALX is create this environment where growth is encouraged in a way I don’t necessarily think it was in the old systems,” he says.
“I think it’s more about a mindset … the relationships between team members, the staff, the culture we’ve built, the attitude we have towards a lot of things,” he says. “It almost feels woven into our DNA that we’ve built together. … But I think that’s why we don’t associate with the existing status quo and are very attracted to aliens and [the] unknown, so that kind of translates into our global mindset, global attitude.”
A part of creating that world mindset means rigorously selecting collaborators like Chancellor, a producer and artist in his late 30s who grew up in L.A.’s Koreatown studying from acts just like the Neptunes. Upon transferring to Korea, Chancellor bonded with JAKOPS over shared musical pursuits and keenness. Not not like Lalau, he has been with the XG members from the start, serving to to form their output, together with their upcoming album.
Chancellor, over a Zoom name from Korea, is fast to level out that in the case of artistic enter with XG, it’s a two-way road. “From their training days up until today, they’ve already been listening to the ‘8701’ Usher album,” he says of the members. They’ve been listening to the Omarion album. Like, these women are already so in love with music, even earlier than I met them.”
Xtraordinary Genes
A few days after taping “The Voice” efficiency, XG information right into a Koreatown resort convention room. It’s Harvey’s birthday, and selling an album or acting on a vacation isn’t something new. The disco-meets-space-cowboy stage outfits that the members wore for “The Voice” taping are swapped out for Gen Z streetwear. Chatting collectively, they may simply be mistaken for a pack of younger mates hanging out as a substitute of the Coachella-headlining superstars they’ve develop into.
XG used to face for Xtraordinary Ladies, however with the brand new 12 months got here a reputation change: Now XG stands for Xtraordinary Genes. This got here on the heels of an excellent larger change, which had been introduced in early December.
Jurin took the softly lit photographs of Cocona accompanying their announcement whereas Hinata did their make-up. Surgical procedure scar peeking from behind a black blazer, their gaze is each comfortable and agency. They maintain a big, crimson dahlia.
“I didn’t want to completely lose my old self, but I wanted to let it wilt in a way,” they are saying, explaining how they noticed themselves mirrored within the dahlia. “It looks very strong and powerful, but at the same time, knowing that one day it is going to wither and die, I think this captures almost like this smothered passion … or this love that is right beneath the surface. I think a lot of the meaning was representative of both XG and myself.”
The journey to ‘The Core’
Launched in late 2024, XG’s second EP, “Awe,” earned a primary entry on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. Shortly after, they launched into a world tour, their first probability to see the North American followers who kind their greatest viewers outdoors of Japan.
“Howling” — the fierce but honeyed lead observe on “Awe” — noticed the group remodeled right into a futuristic wolf pack. It’s an analogy Chisa likens to their evolving relationship with followers they name “Alphaz.”
“Even the name Alphaz comes from this idea of the leader of a wolf pack,” she says. “In some ways the Alphaz are the alpha: They lead us to the next stage and vice versa. We’ve been on this journey together, and that hasn’t changed, but what has changed is the depth of that bond.”
In October, “Gala” entered the High 40 on U.S. radio whereas its spacy couture music video reached No. 1 on YouTube’s trending worldwide chart. Later this 12 months, XG embarks on a second world tour in assist of the brand new album (North American dates haven’t been launched but).
Known as “The Core,” the album cowl options a big kanji character that interprets to “core” or “nucleus.” Jurin, XG’s doe-eyed chief, confesses the title is difficult to translate.
“We’ve hit a lot of these big goals that we’ve always had from a long time ago, and we wanted to capture a lot of that emotion in the album,” she says. “And I think it’s what was at our core that helped us to get where we were. … The whole album has a very diverse set of genres, and all of them are different elements of our core.”
XG’s first full-length launch builds on its signature sound with a few twists. “Gala” strikes in a dance/home course, whereas “Take My Breath” expands and softens on that theme. “Hypnotize,” the subsequent single to launch, brings in a dreamy ingredient, enjoyable into the Doja Cat-esque “Up Now.” “4 Seasons,” a soulful, ode to loss that includes Juria, Hinata and Chisa, got here out proper earlier than the vacations, whereas PS 118 is traditional hip-hop (Jurin launched a stand-alone model with Rapsody in November). Issues take an abrupt activate “O.R.B. (Obviously Reads Bro).”
The emo pop-punk observe is a favourite of Harvey, whose distinctive Betty Boop tone is integral to XG’s edge.
“It’s the first time we swore in our lyrics, and in a way, we didn’t want to be afraid to capture that feeling we have inside and express it in music,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of this inner energy that we are trying to bring to the surface, not being concerned about how others see us … enjoying life on our own terms and in our own way.”
“We want to keep going as we are right now,” provides Maya earlier than XG heads out. “Not trying to aim too high but just being true to ourselves, doing what we love to do, keeping this passion. That is our goal forever.”
