leans

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 way through “Gala,” a tribute to ballroom culture and the lead single from their upcoming first full-length album.

Soon, they are surrounded. A cluster of makeup artists, PR reps, translators and crew members huddle about while some members steal a smile and exchange hand hearts with giddy fans in the audience.

Sienna Lalau is part of the team assembled on the Universal Studios soundstage for XG’s taping of “The Voice” season finale. Choreographer and movement director for the downtown L.A.-based Lab Studios, Lalau, 25, works frequently with Jennifer Lopez and has created and performed with Ciara, Missy Elliott, BTS and Ozuna, among others. She has choreographed for XG, since before the group’s 2022 debut.

For Lalau, XG stood out from the beginning.

“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 phone during a break in rehearsals for Lopez’s Las Vegas residency.

In the past, Lalau had minimal interaction with labels regarding K-pop submissions — “send in the thing, and then that’s pretty much it,” she says. By contrast, XG’s company, XGALX, sent over a detailed brief of its young members, each of whom had spent the previous five years honing their nascent rap, vocal and dance skills.

Lalau jumped at the prospect of working with a group from the ground floor. “I remember I had sent in videos to choreograph for “Mascara” and “Tippy Toes,” which were the first two songs I think they were planning on coming out with. And you know, I’m here five years later, still working with them which is so crazy to say.”

Transcending barriers

For K-pop enthusiasts, XG’s flawlessly executed choreography is familiar territory. But scratch the surface and the identity of the group is a fluid blend of cultures. While all the members are Japanese, Hinata has Korean heritage and Harvey is Japanese-Australian. Their music, however, is firmly rooted in the golden age of American ‘90s R&B and hip-hop. Then there’s their out-of-this-world visual identity referencing everything from anime to streetwear to space aliens.

In 2022, “Galz Xypher,” a stand-alone YouTube single, brought XG worldwide attention. Main rappers Jurin, Harvey, Cocona and Maya trade bars in three languages over samples from Ty Dolla Sign, Rosalía, Dreamville, JID, Jack Harlow and 24kGoldn (the JID track, in turn, samples Aretha Franklin’s legendary sped-up sample of “One Step Ahead”).

What surprises many is the group’s ability to transcend language barriers. XGALX executive producer and CEO Simon Junho-Park, who goes by JAKOPS, explained what language shifting means to him and the group musically.

“When we rap in multiple languages, we don’t think of it as simply switching languages,” he said by email. “It’s closer to switching the shape of the rhythm and the energy. Each language is completely different in terms of things like the length of pronunciation — the attack of consonants and vowels and its natural intonation. So, if you take the exact same flow and just drop it in another language, it won’t sound natural.”

JAKOPS, 39, is comfortable moving between cultures. He was born in Seattle to Korean-Japanese parents. He spent 10 years as a member of the boy group DMTN and later expanded into songwriting and producing. He learned first-hand both the power, and limitations, of the K-pop training culture.

“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.”

Part of developing that global mindset means carefully choosing collaborators like Chancellor, a producer and artist in his late 30s who grew up in L.A.’s Koreatown learning from acts like the Neptunes. Upon moving to Korea, Chancellor bonded with JAKOPS over shared musical interests and passion. Not unlike Lalau, he has been with the XG members from the beginning, helping to shape their output, including their upcoming album.

Chancellor, over a Zoom call from Korea, is quick to point out that when it comes to creative input with XG, it’s a two-way street. “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 girls are already so in love with music, even before I met them.”

Xtraordinary Genes

A couple of days after taping “The Voice” performance, XG files into a Koreatown hotel conference room. It’s Harvey’s birthday, and promoting an album or performing on a holiday isn’t anything new. The disco-meets-space-cowboy stage outfits that the members wore for “The Voice” taping are swapped out for Gen Z streetwear. Chatting together, they could easily be mistaken for a pack of young friends hanging out instead of the Coachella-headlining superstars they’ve become.

XG used to stand for Xtraordinary Girls, but with the new year came a name change: Now XG stands for Xtraordinary Genes. This came on the heels of an even bigger change, which had been announced in early December.

Choosing the auspicious date of their 20th birthday, which in Japan marks the official transition to adulthood, Cocona, writing on XG’s official Instagram account, shared they are AFAB (assigned female at birth) transmasculine nonbinary and had earlier in the year undergone top surgery. As the news spread, making headlines around the world, JAKOPS followed up with a statement of support from his personal account.

“Simon and all the members are a huge part of my identity in a way. And Chisa, my roommate, knew how I felt,” Cocona shares from across a conference table in the Koreatown hotel conference room. “Breaking this news to them was a huge moment. I questioned it a lot too. ‘Is this good?’ ‘Is this really a part of me?’ … But when I told the members, they said, ‘Wow, Cocona, we still love you,’ and they listened and took what I was trying to say very seriously,” the rapper said. “Because it is hard to put something like that into words. And that’s when I first realized what I’m doing is OK and isn’t wrong. … That’s when I wanted the members to be involved in this process from a very early stage, because I think it gave me a lot of reason to love me for myself and going on this path together, I think they were able to see it from a vantage point that not a lot of others really could.”

Jurin took the softly lit photos of Cocona accompanying their announcement while Hinata did their makeup. Surgery scar peeking from behind a black blazer, their gaze is both soft and firm. They hold a large, red dahlia.

“I didn’t want to completely lose my old self, but I wanted to let it wilt in a way,” they say, explaining how they saw themselves reflected in 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’

Released in late 2024, XG’s second EP, “Awe,” earned a first entry on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. Shortly after, they embarked on a world tour, their first chance to see the North American fans who form their biggest audience outside of Japan.

“Howling” — the fierce yet honeyed lead track on “Awe” — saw the group transformed into a futuristic wolf pack. It’s an analogy Chisa likens to their evolving relationship with fans they call “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 Top 40 on U.S. radio while its spacy couture music video reached No. 1 on YouTube’s trending worldwide chart. Later this year, XG embarks on a second world tour in support of the new album (North American dates haven’t been released yet).

Called “The Core,” the album cover features a large kanji character that translates to “core” or “nucleus.” Jurin, XG’s doe-eyed leader, confesses the title is hard 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 release builds on its signature sound with a couple of twists. “Gala” moves in a dance/house direction, while “Take My Breath” expands and softens on that theme. “Hypnotize,” the next single to release, brings in a dreamy element, relaxing into the Doja Cat-esque “Up Now.” “4 Seasons,” a soulful, ode to loss featuring Juria, Hinata and Chisa, came out right before the holidays, while PS 118 is classic hip-hop (Jurin released a stand-alone version with Rapsody in November). Things take an abrupt turn on “O.R.B. (Obviously Reads Bro).”

The emo pop-punk track is a favorite 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,” adds Maya before 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.”