South-East Asian Girl Bands Break Through Beyond K-Pop — SkimNews
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- BINI became the first south-east Asian girl band to perform at Coachella and has since completed a tour of Japan, with member Jhoanna Robles saying the goal is for Filipino music to enter global conversation 'naturally.'
- No na of Indonesia blends dangdut — a genre with Indonesian, Malay, Arabic, and Indian roots — with reggaeton and pop, including on bilingual hit 'Rollerblade,' which has garnered 16 million views.
- Thailand's 4EVE reflects Bangkok street culture in their videos while Malaysia's DOLLA released 'Raya Raya Raya' celebrating Ramadan, performed in hot-pink kaftans.
- Fungjai co-founder Piyapong Muenprasertdee said the western music industry largely ignored Asian music before 2012's 'Gangnam Style,' which went viral in part through its popularity in the Philippines and its diaspora.
- Girl bands across the region maintain deep fan networks with dedicated names — BINI's 'Blooms,' no na's 'Orchids,' 4EVE's 'For Aye,' and DOLLA's 'iDollas' — who amplify dance challenges and concert support beyond traditional marketing.
- The Grammys' new Asian pop category drew criticism for ringfencing Asian artists from top categories and explicitly naming only K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop, overlooking the region's broader diversity.
Why it matters: Southeast Asia's emerging girl bands are translating cultural specificity — dangdut cymbals, Tagalog lyrics, Molam folk — into global streaming numbers, with no na's 'Rollerblade' alone clearing 16 million views. The fan-club-driven promotion model cuts against the grain of western label-led marketing, giving artists like BINI a lower-cost path to international stages such as Coachella, even as the Grammys' narrower Asian pop category signals the industry's institutional framing has not yet caught up.
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