BE:FIRST, the seven-piece Japanese boy band, is on the precipice of worldwide acclaim. To fans in Japan, that much is clear.
Nikkei Entertainment! Magazine has ranked them as one of their next breakthrough groups on its annual Talent Power Ranking. The group has hit No.1 on Japanese charts a dozen times since their first album in 2022, with their recent song “Missing” capturing that spot again this July.
However, the last time BE:FIRST took over international charts was with their debut album, which topped the United World Charts in 2022. The last time a Japanese-born artist was on Billboard’s Top 100 was indie-pop star Joji, four years ago.
The group was selected by Japanese management company BMSG in 2021 after appearing on the survival show “THE FIRST” with the goal of “aiming for the top” and spreading Japanese culture to the world.
With the group’s upcoming album, “WATCH ME,” set to release Sept. 18 and its accompanying tour following shortly, BE:FIRST aims to reach the world once again and remind them who they are.
For now, they’ve released a new rap and hip-pop single with arguably the biggest artists and producers they’ve worked with so far. Rounding out their collaboration catalogue is “BRUCE WAYNE”, an atmospheric hip-pop single fusion featuring American rapper Flo Milli and mastered by legendary producer ATL Jacob, best known for his work with Future, Nicki Minaj and Lil Baby.
The group’s success could be attributed to their authenticity. There’s a clamoring, a fanboying that breaks through their well-polished media training. They are still young, passionate fans: the youngest of the group turns 19 years old this year (Ryuhei), and the oldest is 28 year sold (Junon).
“There’s a uniqueness in the storytelling of the track, combining all of that and bringing the moves to match was definitely a new challenge for us,” said BE:FIRST’s dance ace Shimao Sota, who goes by SOTA.
The song is dripping in atmospheric bass, reckless confidence and the liquid mix of vocals, beat and instrumentation elicits an urban, Gotham-like feeling.
It’s a departure from their recent output, but also a return to the bravado of their first album “BE:1.” The channeling of gritty urban rap offers a refreshing swagger to their catalog in relation to some of their mellow easy-listening songs like “Missing.”
“We’re taking [our experience with American rap] as something that we can use as a hint to see how we can drop that into Japanese rap. Phonetically, we only have so many notes we can hit. That means it makes it very unique when we rap. I think that allows us to bring out the best in our style,” said band member Hirose Manato, who goes by MANATO.
This choice to integrate rather than assimilate comes down to BE:FIRST’s founding philosophy: “Japan to the world.” The group is CEO SKY-HI’s rebellion against the country’s talent drain as Japan’s future stars leave for opportunities in Korea and its flourishing K-Pop industry. Instead, the group hopes to bring J-Pop to the world and showcase how their musical identities can fuse with international styles to create a unique performance experience.
Just this year alone, they’ve collaborated with Philippine-Pop group SB19 and UK DJ Jonas Blue, while also touring with pop sensation Janet Jackson.
This style mix on the international stage is also a culmination of a long-held dream.
Some have watched family members perform on stage ever since they were kids (Ikegame Junon). Some have been training for this very opportunity since they were seven years old (Kubo Shunto), abroad and at home. Some have gone from background dancers for K-Pop groups they admired to outright collaborating with them (Sota).
They’ve kept these beginnings in mind as they each pursue their own ideals. Each of the boys has their own childhood idols they’d like to emulate. Ryuhei Kuroda would like to aim for Black Street’s cool vibe and influence. Sota admires Bruno Mars’s artistry. Shunto likes Jason Statham.
Despite not growing up in the cultures they’ve sampled from in their songs, they’ve grown up thoroughly immersed in the music, culture and foods of America. Manato and Ryuhei said they love Panda Express while saluting like role-called soldiers. Leo, starry-eyed, said he wanted to go to Universal and meet Chris Evans. He owns a mid-size bust of Batman from the chest up– cowl and all.
“Our current goal is to deliver on all those expectations and have our own identity as artists from Asia, but perform on a global stage,” MANATO said. Just like how K-Pop has its own gravitational pull, American culture has its own legacy that can be tempting to imitate. The boys must tread the line of inspiration whilst keeping their musical identity.
BE:FIRST is Japan’s proof-of-concept that Japanese talent can be pop stars in their own right.
There may not be a better group to carry these heavy expectations than BE:FIRST. The survival show that introduced them to the world had multiple elimination rounds, creative screenings, group auditions, training camps and professional trials arranged to find Japan’s future flag-bearers.
“I don’t think we even had the luxury of thinking about the amount of pressure on us. We were moving so quickly that we were desperate to keep up with what was going on. That itself kept us going,” said MANATO.
As they prep for the next round of interviews with the Philippine press, the boys fooled around with each other and teased a band member as he sat in the glam chair. Despite the heavy pressure of carrying the flag as the first full J-Pop boy band, BE:FIRST is, first and foremost, a group of boys that just love music.