World lady group XG has been arduous at work making ready for an enormous second half of 2024: Their new single, “Woke Up,” drops right now (Might 21) after they kicked off their first world tour on Saturday.

“[The tour] is one thing that we’ve been wanting ahead to ever since our debut,” the group’s chief, Jurin, instructed The Hollywood Reporter by means of a translator simply days earlier than their first present.

The seven-piece hip-hop and R&B-inspired group — made up of members Jurin, Chisa, Hinata, Harvey, Juria, Maya and Cocona — debuted in 2022 with the one “Tippy Toes,” that includes a daring prediction of their future as belted by Chisa: “Perceive that we didn’t come to play, babe. Right here to dominate.”

True to these lyrics, XG (brief for “Xtraordinary Women”) has been on a meteoric rise since then. The group hails from international leisure firm XGALX, which was initially created as a worldwide artist mission underneath Japanese leisure conglomerate Avex in 2017.

A worldwide viewers has been the group’s focus from the beginning. XG’s discography is totally in English. They’ve beforehand promoted throughout the Okay-Pop system, attending and acting at Korean weekly music exhibits (suppose MTV’s TRL, that includes performances pre-recorded in entrance of dwell audiences and the top-charting tune awarded dwell on-air). The group has already carried out at music festivals in a number of totally different international locations together with the U.S., Australia and Singapore.

Following their debut single, XG and their producers have continued to experiment with new sounds. Within the group’s third single album, that includes songs “Left Proper” and “Capturing Star,” XG channeled the breezy, addicting sound of Y2K R&B lady teams, including what has grow to be a signature futuristic science-fiction really feel with their music movies.

Their subsequent launch NEW DNA, the group’s first EP, seamlessly showcased the numerous sides of XG with the Y2K-reminiscent summer season single “New Dance” and the futuristic hip-hop heavy “GRL GVNG,” which references the “feminine empire” that XG is attempting to create.

With their new single “Woke Up,” XG are persevering with their artistic evolution. The tune marks the group’s first all-rap single, which XGALX has described as “a monitor with 808 bass infused with sounds distinctive to East Asia.”

As Maya places it, all seven members of the group are portraying a unique character within the single and within the music video, and every have their very own major character second. “You possibly can see within the music video, as properly,” she says. “We actually really feel like every of us suited the characters rather well.”

When requested about what they had been most excited for his or her followers, collectively often called Alphaz, to see within the music video, Maya notes the joy round her fellow members’ new seems. A number of of the group members have new hair colours and types, a certain signal to followers {that a} new chapter within the group’s story was underway. Additionally they expressed their pleasure for followers to see all of the little particulars of the music video, together with the costumes and choreography.

On high of their many actions, the group not too long ago collaborated with Riot Video games to sing the official hype tune for the Valorant Champions Tour Pacific 2024, a aggressive e-sports match for the developer’s wildly common Valorant online game. The tune “Undefeated,” launched in April, suits proper in with XG’s discography, delivering a message of throwing away one’s fears and rising victorious.

“It was a great match,” Juria stated of the collaboration, noting that she felt the message of the tune was “actually, actually sturdy.”

Within the midst of single releases and collaborations, XG has additionally been making ready for his or her first world tour. The tour kicked off on Saturday and Sunday with two nights in Osaka, Japan. The group then heads to Yokohama, Japan for 2 exhibits on Might 25 and 26. From there, the group will tour varied cities throughout Asia earlier than heading to america in October and Europe in November, though precise particulars have but to be introduced.

XG has been diligent in making ready for this subsequent step. “It was an enormous aim for us, so after we first heard we had been going to go on a world tour, we had been simply so, so comfortable,” Jurin stated.

“We’re rehearsing proper now to arrange, from morning to nighttime,” she continued. The 21-year-old famous that the group is placing within the arduous work and that she thinks the ultimate end result will “simply knock the socks off of all of the Alphaz on the market.”

With a variety of songs, one would assume that the members might need totally different songs they’re excited to tackle the tour. In what is probably a testomony to their synergy as a bunch, after a vigorous and endearing dialogue with each other, all seven members selected one tune they’re most excited to carry out on tour, answering in unison: “Left Proper.”

Unsurprisingly, the group is happy to see their followers from around the globe on the upcoming tour. “The Alphaz are an enormous motivation for lots of what we do,” Jurin defined. “Simply with the ability to ship the music that we make, to them, is a big a part of XG.”