{"id":2071881,"date":"2026-07-31T23:12:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T20:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2071881"},"modified":"2026-07-31T23:12:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T20:12:31","slug":"befirst-is-ready-for-the-world-inside-the-j-pop-superstars-long-planned-u-s-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2071881","title":{"rendered":"BE:FIRST Is Ready for the World: Inside the J-Pop Superstars\u2019 Long-Planned U.S. Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tBE:FIRST boasts a dozen No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, played its first stadium concerts this past spring and has a world tour set for the fall. Now, the group is officially unveiling the first step in its effort to rise to greater prominence in the U.S. market. <\/p>\n
\n\tWith the release of its new single, \u201cBRUCE WAYNE,\u201d the J-pop band is revealing its new U.S. distribution partnership with The Orchard, along with hello82 for physical distribution, Tom Windish<\/strong> at THE\u00b7TEAM for touring outside Asia, and ex-AVEX USA CEO Naoki Osada<\/strong>\u2018s Nebula17 for A&R and marketing initiatives.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tBE:FIRST\u2019s \u2018Missing\u2019 Tops Japan Hot 100 as Summer-Themed Hits\u00a0Return\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tGlenn A. Baker, Australian Music Historian and Former Billboard Correspondent, Dies at 74\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tChris Brown Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge of \u2018Affray\u2019 in 2023 London Club Assault Case\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\u201cBRUCE WAYNE,\u201d BE:FIRST\u2019s first release under its Orchard deal, is a swaggering, Atlanta hip-hop\u2013indebted single produced by ATL Jacob and featuring Flo Milli, with lyrics by Starrah (Rihanna, Drake, Camila Cabello), Taylor Ross (Normani, Pitbull, Bebe Rexha) and the group\u2019s executive producer SKY-HI, who is also CEO of the group\u2019s Japanese music label BMSG. The track feels in line with some of the group\u2019s harder hits, including 2023\u2019s sleek and synth-y \u201cMainstream\u201d and the anthemic \u201cBE:FIRST ALL DAY\u201d and its B-side \u201cRondo,\u201d released in the spring.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBRUCE WAYNE\u201d is the lead single from WATCH ME<\/em>, which the group describes as its first \u201cglobal\u201d EP, slated to arrive on Sept. 18. The set will also include a track featuring BIA as well as production from Tommy \u201cTBHits\u201d Brown.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile three of BE:FIRST\u2019s members did recently carve out a trip to the World Cup final (\u201cI love Messi,\u201d youngest member Ryuhei says), the group is largely in discipline mode to meet arguably its biggest global moment yet. Over a video call from Los Angeles on Friday (July 31), group members Manato, Ryuhei, Sota, Junon, Shunto and Leo are quick to clarify that they have not been sightseeing but have instead spent their days taking English-language lessons, rehearsing choreography and undergoing media training with their new U.S. partners. <\/p>\n
\n\tThis weekend, BE:FIRST heads to Phoenix to perform at the 2026 World Hip-Hop Dance Championship (the same competition BE:FIRST member Sota won four different times), before playing Head in the Clouds in Los Angeles on Aug. 8. The group\u2019s upcoming world tour, its second, launches in September, with two shows slated in New York.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo time to play, basically,\u201d Manato says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\ther0ism Talks J-Pop\u2019s Global Moment, From MAJ\u2019s Co-Writing Camp to the Grammys\u2019 New Asian\u00a0Category\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tFormed on Japan\u2018s 2021 singing competition THE FIRST<\/em>, BE:FIRST has been mapping out its current global push years in advance as part of its annual goal-setting summits, the members tell Billboard<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe run-up has already included two collaborations with K-pop chart-conquerors ATEEZ (plus an opening slot at that group\u2019s 2024 Los Angeles stadium shows) and a hit Janet Jackson remix released after the American pop icon played four dates across Japan this year (BE:FIRST and Jackson\u2019s collaborative \u201cDoesn\u2019t Really Matter (Remix)\u201d hit No. 12 on the Japan Hot 100 in June, while its video has earned 7.9 million YouTube views to date).<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOur entire team is giving absolutely everything we\u2019ve got to bring you the absolute best version of BE:FIRST and share their music with the world,\u201d SKY-HI shared in an exclusive statement with Billboard<\/em>. \u201cPlease look forward to what\u2019s to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBelow, read more from Billboard<\/em>\u2018s exclusive interview with the group, spoken in a mix of English and Japanese, with members\u2019 Japanese responses translated.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve made some moves to collaborate beyond Japan via the K-pop market: Janet Jackson, Jonas Blue. Why was this the right time to go bigger?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Shunto:<\/strong> Every year, SKY-HI and the members hold a meeting where we set goals \u2014 \u201cby such-and-such year, we want to be doing such-and-such.\u201d This [upcoming] year is our fifth, so there had been discussions that starting from the fifth anniversary, we\u2019d push to further [our] worldwide presence and exposure. At that stage, we couldn\u2019t yet picture the songs or what this would look like, but it\u2019s been in the works for us. So, now that that\u2019s arrived, we\u2019ve been pushing and polishing ourselves \u2014 mentally, but also in practical ways too, like going to language school. All of it is an accumulation of work that we\u2019ve done, and now we\u2019ve sort of arrived at the right time to put things in a different gear.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tInside Japan\u2019s Effort to Export J-Pop to the\u00a0World\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Let\u2019s talk about \u201cBRUCE WAYNE.\u201d You\u2019ve got Flo Milli, you\u2019ve got ATL Jacob. How did the song come about, and why was it the right introduction to this new chapter?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Manato:<\/strong> I was in the same studio with ATL Jacob and Starrah in January. Actually, I was a fan of him. We also love Future, Atlanta hip-hop itself, and we kind of have an Atlanta sound style ourselves, so we were very excited to record the song. We gave some directions, like how we wanted a more dark sound, so we went back and forth. It\u2019s not the typical kind of hip-hop; it\u2019s like a luxurious style of hip-hop. We can easily sing the words. Also, all of us \u2014 but especially Manato \u2014 like Batman. [Laughs.]<\/em> It feels like our \u201cdestiny song.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was Flo Milli attached from the beginning or did she record her part later? <\/strong><\/p>\n
Leo:<\/strong> It came together partway through \u2014 once the track was made, we searched [for a feature]. I think ATL Jacob shared it and she really loved the song. And we loved it, so we were like, \u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>BE:FIRST (Courtesy of Harmonic Public Relations)<\/span>Takahiro Tsuboi (hof inc)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
This leads off WATCH ME<\/em>, which is being described as your first global EP. What does that sound like and what do you want it to say to listeners?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Ryuhei<\/strong>:<\/strong> Rather than targeting one specific culture or sound, we pursue whatever fits the things we love and think are genuinely cool \u2014 and that will create our own style. So, this album has a lot of genres and styles packed into it. But for each genre we settled on, we wanted the idea that \u201conly BE:FIRST can do this\u201d as the core, and we pushed the quality as far as it could go. Compared to our last releases, we were that much more focused and concentrated to make it a really quality album.<\/p>\n
Does it feel like there are still barriers for Japanese artists trying to cross over into the Western markets?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sota: <\/strong>There\u2019s a real focal point on calling it a \u201cglobal EP\u201d for us. We can be seen as a dance team with a layer of hip-hop, singing in Japanese as a Japanese boy band. That is who we are, but we want to be seen not just as a Japanese boy band. I think the EP really defines what that means. Rather than keeping it contained within Japan, we want it to finally go out into the world. It\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Sota:<\/strong> The biggest thing is that the trends and the culture \u2014 around the world, in specific parts in Asia, even just in America or the music industry \u2014 we don\u2019t know them the way we know Japan. America is a big country. What we don\u2019t know, we don\u2019t know \u2014 sometimes it\u2019s even like that in Japan. How much will the things that we believe are good actually be accepted? That\u2019s the barrier we hit, and not being able to break that wall feels a little challenging and difficult. But what we don\u2019t want to do is make any kind of creative sacrifice or bend in order to go global; that would make going global meaningless. So, it comes down to how much we can raise what we want to do \u2014 in terms of quality, in musical value \u2014 put it out and have it recognized as something that\u2019s uniquely us as BE:FIRST. On that, we can\u2019t compromise. That\u2019s what\u2019s most important for us.<\/p>\n
Leo, you mentioned being in the studio, and I know several of the members write on songs. How are you all creatively involved so you don\u2019t lose that identity?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Manato: <\/strong>We build together. That\u2019s our style. On one Japanese release, four members might do the co-writing; on another, three. Rather than one member being in charge of something, everyone participates, brings their best parts, and everyone\u2019s identity feeds into it.<\/p>\n
You did a remix with Janet Jackson when she came to Japan, and also have recorded two songs with ATEEZ and opened their Los Angeles shows. What did you take from these experiences?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n
Sota:<\/strong> From start to finish, [collaborating with Janet Jackson] was like a dream come true \u2014 that\u2019s the number one thing; it was a really big moment for us. But in terms of what we learned as artists, singing and<\/em> dancing is the single most important thing about BE:FIRST, and to see up close a legend who still treats both as essential and strives for perfection \u2014 it made me feel like we\u2019re on the right path. That\u2019s the reputation we\u2019re going for too. Honestly, when you\u2019re a group, people tend to focus on one or the other, but there\u2019s a chemical reaction that comes from doing both singing and dancing. Seeing and feeling that up close, my respect grew enormously, and so did my gratitude that she keeps doing it.<\/p>\n
Junon:<\/strong> After our own opening set, we got to watch ATEEZ\u2019s show and took it all in as any member of the audience. There was a side of them, fully immersed in the performance, with such an incredible force that you can\u2019t imagine from how they normally are. It\u2019s an originality only they can produce. Watching it made us want to push the things that make us stand out.<\/p>\n
Do you have any Billboard<\/em> chart goals you want to put out there as you start this new era?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Leo: <\/strong>Be first.<\/p>\n
Manato: <\/strong>Yeah!<\/em><\/p>\n
Sota: <\/strong>Yeah, BE:FIRST will be first.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01-be-first-2026-cr-Harmonic-Public-Relations-BMSG-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard BE:FIRST boasts a dozen No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, played its first stadium concerts this past spring and has a world tour set for the fall. Now, the group is officially unveiling the first step in its effort to rise to greater prominence in the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2071881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2071881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2071881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2071881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2071881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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