H inata’s hair is a pale green, or maybe a washed-out teal, depending on how the light from the window behind her hits it. The 23-year-old singer’s fringe curls softly around her face, the color made even brighter by the beige curtains that line the walls of the otherwise nondescript room in Tokyo where XG are gathered between photo shoot setups. The group’s seven members sit around two white folding tables pushed together for this morning’s video call, already attuned to the strange choreography of international interviews like this one. 

Even through a screen, there’s something fluid about the way the group presents itself. Every impression seems to shift slightly upon closer look. Onstage, Jurin, Chisa, Cocona, Hinata, Maya, Juria, and Harvey — all in their early twenties — look like the coolest people you’ve ever seen, with asymmetrical haircuts, smoked-out eyeliner, and bold styling that oscillates between colorful Japanese street fashion and the sleek futurism of a space-age It girl. Yet the energy they bring into the room is unexpectedly quiet. Chisa, the group’s social center, and Maya, XG’s resident English speaker, take the lead in driving the conversation while the others warm up. Staff members hover just beyond the edge of the frame while an interpreter calls in from another time zone.

XG’s music videos unfold like dispatches from another planet, full of sci-fi mythologies from the kind of worlds where women run the universe and nobody seems particularly interested in rules. But the ideas underneath it all are surprisingly human. Jurin, the group’s leader and a former pro snowboarder, describes this current version of XG as “space warriors,” searching for connection and peace across the universe. As she speaks, it becomes clear she isn’t talking about lore or branding. She’s envisioning a world without rigid borders or fixed definitions, one where the lines people draw around themselves no longer feel quite so absolute. “There are a lot of constraints and definitions people create, whether it’s language or borders or gender, a lot of lines we draw arbitrarily,” Jurin explains. “I think being a ‘space warrior’ means looking beyond that.” 

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It’s an answer that reflects XG’s history of living inside those contradictions: trained in the rigorously structured K-pop system but resistant to its boundaries, rooted in Japanese identity while pulling heavily from Black American musical traditions, obsessed with futuristic fantasy while deeply grounded in modern ideas of individuality and self-definition.

The seven Japanese members spent roughly five years training together as teens between Japan and South Korea before debuting in 2022, developing the synchronization and performance precision that are now central to the group’s international appeal. But from the beginning, the XGALX project was conceived with a borderless ethos in mind. XG’s creative language drew equally from American R&B and hip-hop, visual storytelling, and the structural rigor of K-pop performance.

As XG have evolved, the members increasingly describe themselves in opposition to fixed industry categories altogether. The group defines its music not as K-pop or J-pop, but “X-Pop,” a deliberately open-ended label that reflects both their global ambitions and their resistance to being confined by a single genre.

What initially set them apart musically was the group’s refusal to divide itself neatly between rappers and vocalists, even as clear strengths emerged within the lineup. Chisa, Juria, and Hinata anchor many of XG’s smoothest melodic moments, their lush harmonies steeped in R&B history. Meanwhile, Jurin, Maya, Harvey, and Cocona built an early reputation as some of the most technically dynamic rappers in their generation of idol groups, balancing multilingual flows with ease.

That chemistry became impossible to ignore in 2022 with “GALZ XYPHER,” the viral YouTube cypher that first introduced many listeners to charismatic XG’s rap line. Trading bars in three languages over a dizzying patchwork of samples and references from Ty Dolla $ign to Rosalía to J.I.D, rappers Jurin, Maya, Harvey, and Cocona moved with the confidence of artists already fully aware of their own distinct identities. Cocona, then only 16, emerged as the breakout presence, their deep, controlled delivery cutting through the cypher with a level of composure that felt startlingly self-assured.

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But it was 2023’s “Shooting Star” and “Left Right” that crystallized XG’s broader musical vision. Colorful and deeply indebted to the late-Nineties, early-2000s golden era of American R&B, both tracks fused Y2K nostalgia with ultramodern polish, establishing the group as one of the most adventurous acts in pop. Releases like New DNA and AWE expanded that range further, moving fluidly between U.K. drill, trap, dance-pop, hip-hop, and airy, vocal-driven R&B without ever fully settling into one mode for long.

“We have a really great respect for all types of music,” Chisa says. “Over these nine years together, we’ve shared so many artists and genres with each other. We’re always thinking, ‘How do we take this influence and transform it into XG’s own expression?’ Our sound is constantly evolving because we don’t want to be bound by any one form.” 

By the time XG released their first full-length studio album, The Core, this January, the group’s genreless ambitions no longer felt theoretical. The album plays like a compilation of their evolving musical sense. “ROCK THE BOAT” reimagines Aaliyah’s 2001 hit of the same name through XG’s slick, performance-heavy lens, while “GALA” pulls Chicago house music into the group’s universe through a pulsing beat, avant-garde fashion, and a brief sample of Styx’s “Mr. Roboto.” Elsewhere, tracks like “Take My Breath” shimmer with disco-pop maximalism, while “No Good” settles into the kind of slow-burning R&B groove that has become one of XG’s signatures. Then there’s “O.R.B (Obviously Reads Bro),” the album’s most unruly moment, channeling Avril Lavigne-style pop-punk through hyperactive chants, distorted guitars, relentless bro-speak, and a defiant refrain of “if you don’t like it, fuck you.” 

The album arrived amid a period of significant transition that included the launch of their latest world tour in February; the sudden departure of their label’s founder and former CEO, Simon Junho Park, as the group’s executive producer and creative architect in March; and the introduction of “Xtraordinary Genes,” a new name meant to reflect XG’s growing emphasis on nonconformity. (XG previously stood for “Xtraordinary Girls.”) The concept took on additional resonance when Cocona, the youngest member of the group, publicly came out as transmasculine and nonbinary late last year, sharing in an Instagram post that “the hardest thing I’ve ever faced was accepting and embracing myself.” The announcement was met with overwhelming support from international fans and marked a rare moment of openness around gender identity within the world of idol pop.

“We’re still searching for what the definition of this new XG is going to be,” Jurin says. “How we get there, how we express it, how we commit to it, and how seriously we look at it.” When discussing their new era now, Cocona frames it as something far more collective. “Of course, there was the timing of my coming out,” they say. “But I think it’s more than just me. Everyone in this unit, we’re all aliens in some regard, and really discovering what it means to express X-Pop.” 

For Chisa, the idea behind “Xtraordinary Genes” is ultimately about freedom. “It’s about not being bound by any sort of molds or boundaries,” she says. “Whether it’s music or fashion or visual expression, it’s about transforming what we feel into our own form of expression. To me, that’s what extraordinary is.” 

Ask XG where they feel most themselves, and the answers vary in detail but not in spirit. The members speak about expression as a total experience, something constructed through performance, styling, music, movement, and visuals all at once. Their identity is assembled piece by piece. As Jurin describes it, it’s “the culmination of everything.”

The answer feels revealing coming from a group so often defined by aesthetics first. XG’s visual identity is undeniably striking — structural outfits and hair pieces, vibrant makeup — but the members consistently describe those choices as extensions of who they already are, not costumes. Juria lights up while explaining how her transformation begins with styling. “When my hair and makeup team dresses me up, my switch gets turned on,” she says with a smile. “When I have the hair and makeup that I really like, I know I’m expressing myself in the best possible version.”

Jurin, meanwhile, laughs while trying to explain the differences in how each member approaches expression. Hinata gravitates toward fashion and personal style. Offstage, she embraces Lolita fashion, a style rooted in Victorian-inspired clothing and feminine styling — think bows, lace, and ruffles. Chisa, known for her soulful voice, sees expression through performance itself. Harvey, known for her bubbly personality and distinct tone, says she reveals the “real Harvey” most clearly onstage. Cocona approaches creativity through subtraction rather than accumulation, searching for meaning in absence and “what doesn’t exist.”

Constantly shifting silhouettes have become central to the group’s visuals, one that pulls equally from Harajuku street fashion, high-fashion editorialism, and retro-futurism. One moment, the group appears in exaggerated, spaceship-like ensembles; the next, they lean into distorted proportions from Chinese designer Sensen Lii’s label Windowsen for “GALA,” including a sculptural dress printed with Chisa’s own face. Cocona shaved their head entirely in one take for 2024’s “Woke Up” before later switching to the asymmetrical cut they wear now, while Chisa recently traded her long hair for a dark pixie that she says makes her feel more like herself than ever. The effect is striking precisely because none of it feels static. XG’s visual world constantly mutates without ever feeling disconnected from the members themselves. 

That becomes even more palpable onstage. Over the past year, XG have brought their maximalist vision into increasingly larger spaces. Their ongoing world tour, The Core, which arrives in the U.S. later this year, has pushed the group into a new phase of performance: bigger stages, louder crowds, and a looser, more instinctive energy. In videos from the Japan leg of their tour, which wrapped in April, the members sprint across stage, shout ad-libs back and forth, and feed off the audience’s reactions, turning songs like “O.R.B (Obviously Reads Bro)” into chaotic explosions of pop-punk catharsis. “For me personally, ‘O.R.B’ is hard to top [live],” Harvey says. “It almost feels like a very honest expression of who I am.” 

“I feel the most me when I’m on stage,” Maya says. “When I’m XG’s Maya, I’m also just Maya.” The distinction feels central to understanding XG. 

This summer, XG will also take on the festival circuit, bringing that energy to Head in the Clouds in Los Angeles and Fuji Rock in Japan. “Hopefully, this will be the opportunity to interact with even newer fans who don’t yet know about us,” Jurin says. “We really want to break through and do something that hasn’t been done. So I think there’s going to be a lot to look forward to.” 

“There’s aspects of XG you’ll only get to see at these festivals, like the real core of us,” Chisa says. “It’s where you get to share that power we bring with the audience, and it’s really just like this energy overflow.” 

Jurin refers back to the idea of “space warriors,” the phrase she used earlier to describe XG’s larger philosophy. “There’s going to be a lot of confidence onstage,” she says. “We’re pulling people in with our energy, and that energy resonates.” Then she smiles. “If we can get even one more person anywhere in the world to howl with us,” Jurin says, “then I think we’re bringing something meaningful into the world.”

XG and their fandom, ALPHAZ, frequently describe themselves as a pack, a lupine metaphor that surfaces constantly in the group’s music. It’s a collective strength, or “this idea that each other is all that we have,” Jurin says. 

The members often talk about one another like family. Touring, they explain, has only intensified that closeness. This time around, instead of staying in separate hotel rooms, they chose to become roommates in order to communicate more. Cocona laughs while describing what they learned from rooming with Juria during the Japanese leg of the tour. “Juria is really kind of the princess archetype,” they say affectionately. “She takes her skincare very seriously, takes her mental care, her body care, very seriously. I received a lot of inspiration from that.”

Juria smiles shyly across from her. “I think we’re supporting each other in ways we probably don’t even realize,” she says in response. “I don’t know if perhaps this is a sign of my growth, but this idea of giving something and also receiving something is quite wonderful.” 

Hinata, who spends much of the conversation quietly listening before speaking carefully, describes the emotional closeness that develops while touring. “When we’re on tour, we spend a lot of time together,” she says softly. “We can feel each other on a much deeper level, whether that’s emotionally or even just the subtle nuance in facial expressions.” 

That attentiveness seems to define the way XG function as a group. Throughout the interview, answers pass easily between members. Someone trails off mid-thought; another instinctively steps in to help finish the sentence. Even the group’s silences feel collaborative.

“For me personally, the tour has given me an opportunity to realize more about myself,” Chisa says. “By interacting with others constantly, it almost serves as a mirror.” 

The idea surfaces again later when Jurin reflects on how much the members have changed since their trainee years. “When we were trainees, we were all in the same environment,” she says. “We would go to sleep at the same time, wake up at the same time, eat the same food. But now we’ve been able to find our own identities and individuality.” She pauses before smiling. “All that different identity has become XG’s weapon.” 

Harvey articulates the balance most clearly. “Recently, I feel ‘me time’ has helped me see myself more clearly,” she says. “The days off, I get to forget XG Harvey, and just become me, just become Harvey. It’s a way to better understand myself. Having this time really tells me how different Harvey is from XG Harvey… Sometimes it’s very easy to lose yourself when you’re onstage. I hear a lot of artists talk about how hard it is to find the right balance; they lose themselves, or they’re leaning too far one way or the other. But I don’t really feel that, especially recently, because I have this support system. I have everyone, and I have this environment, this space that feels like home, that feels like family, and people who really, really understand me.”

The distinction matters to all of them. Maya talks about learning how to spend time alone, using rare moments away from the spotlight to better understand herself outside the constant demands of performance. “I’m getting to know myself more every single day,” she says. “What do I like to do on my day off? What do I not like to do? I think that’s very important when you’re an artist and when you’re in the public eye.” Then she pauses. “We’re all aliens,” Maya says with a small smile. “But we’re also human beings, too.”

For Chisa, music itself becomes a way of processing both joy and pain. “This experience we’ve been through, it’s not all positive,” she says. “Sometimes there’s pain, sadness, things we have to overcome. But as musicians, we can take those feelings and project them back into the world in our own way.” The comment lands firmly, reframing much of what makes XG compelling in the first place. Beneath the larger-than-life performances is a group of young artists trying to understand themselves and using music as a way to make sense of it all together.

“There are times when we’re sad and we’re down,” she adds. “We all feel this, myself included, and the power of music really comes through, especially when I’m with the other members.” 

What ultimately emerges from our conversation is a true sense of intimacy, one that can only be forged from a decade together — in and out of practice rooms, sneaking off for midnight snacks, sharing playlists. That’s something they don’t want to lose. “I like what we have right now,” Jurin says, making eye contact with her bandmates around the table. “I hope that we’ll be able to continue doing what this is.”

Yet XG are clearly not interested in standing still for long. They’re already thinking about the next evolution of XG. It’s an instinct the group has carried since their trainee years, a hunger that still drives them forward even as their world continues expanding.

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“There’s always going to be this very powerful hunger that we have,” she adds. “I think there’s going to be some new emotion, perhaps, that we’ll be able to express.”

This story was originally published as a digital exclusive cover story for Rolling Stone Japan.