Japanese dance & vocal group BE:FIRST spoke with Billboard Japan for its Monthly Feature interview series highlighting today’s leading artists and works. The hugely popular boy band released their second album, 2:BE, on August 28.
Ever since its formation three years ago through an audition by BMSG, the record label headed by SKY-HI, the group has created countless hits and appeared on numerous music TV shows and festival stages. In 2024, they performed two solo shows at Tokyo Dome and two solo shows in Kyocera Dome Osaka. The seven members of SOTA, SHUNTO, MANATO, RYUHEI, JUNON, RYOKI, and LEO are shaping up to be an undeniable juggernaut of a group. Their fandom and the scope of their activities is constantly growing, but since their debut, they have shown a consistent dedication to their singing, rapping, and dancing, and they’ve been actively and enthusiastically involved in songwriting, lyric-crafting, and choreography.
Their musical journey is reflected in their second album, 2:BE. Billboard Japan spoke to all seven members of the group about what went into the creation of the new album.
In the three years since your debut, what kind of group do you feel that BE:FIRST has become?
LEO: We’ve always been a group that really enjoys the music. We don’t think of music as work, it’s more like we’re just doing what we want. Personally, none of it has ever felt like a burden for me. I’ve never once thought “I don’t really feel like doing this now.” I think that’s because of the kind of team we are.
I feel like that’s one of the notable features of BE:FIRST, because all of you are actively involved in the group’s creative process. But that usually involves growing pains, right? I’m sure you’ve had slumps.
LEO: Of course, there are times when I’ve found myself butting up against an obstacle, or I’ve felt anxious. But those never made me dislike what we’re doing. After all, I’m here because I love music, and I want to become a better artist. No matter how scared I might feel, it’s fun to hold that mic up on stage, and I feel full of joy when I’m listening to music. That’s always true, no matter what the situation.
SOTA: Our agency also puts music first, so we’re never given work that would interfere with our ability to focus on music. We keep on doing what we want to do. Our work environment is stress-free, and the more songs we create, the more our musical appetite grows, so it’s a lot more common for us to find ourselves struggling to choose between lots of different options than for us to be hitting a wall. I think all of our struggles are positive struggles. I feel very grateful to be able to work in this kind of environment.
That’s truly one of BE:FIRST’s strengths.
SOTA: When we released “Mainstream,” there was a time when we were trying to figure out how to best showcase ourselves as a group. But our agency let us make the kind of music we wanted to make, and all seven of us are united in giving 100% to whatever we want to do. These will continue to be our strengths, and I truly feel that over the past three years we’ve become a group that’s completely focused on music.
MANATO: THE FIRST was an audition focused on each person’s abilities and individuality, so everyone came to the group with their own personal strengths. Over the past three years, we’ve evolved into a group where each of these strengths passes through the filters of our individuality to produce our group’s output. Initially, Hidaka (Mitsuhiro Hidaka/SKY-HI) defined our group’s approach, but from around 2023, we started to think about what we ourselves wanted to do. We became more involved in the creative side, and as soon as we finished a song, we were like “okay, now what should we do next?” I think that was a big transformation.
How do you think that you, as individual artists or as a group, have evolved since your last album, BE:1?
RYUHEI: Our new album, 2:BE, has a mixture of songs that Hidaka wanted BE:FIRST to perform and songs that we wanted to perform. We tried a lot of new things, and I think we’ve become a lot better at reproducing what’s in the recordings. I feel like, through the process of everyone working on their own singing, we’ve taken things to a higher level.
JUNON: Compared to our first album, on this second album, there’s a much smaller difference between the way we sound live and the way the album sounds. Also, we did a lot in the recording process to reflect aspects of our performances in the music, which you can hear even now (before we tour), so I think it’s the kind of album that will make people look forward to seeing our live shows. That’s one way we’ve evolved since our first album.
So you feel you’ve made solid progress.
RYOKI: We’ve already got songs done by sub-units of the group, there are lyrics that we’re finally in a position to write, and the album has a raw feel to it. That’s because BE:FIRST has always lived in the moment—we’re always in an environment where we can do what we want. I think 2:BE reaffirms that sense of freedom to live in the moment. “Blissful” personifies it. When we debuted, it was all we could do just to take care of whatever was right in front of us, but lately we’ve been able to relax a bit, in a good sense.
So you’ve been able to express yourselves more naturally?
RYOKI: Yes, I think so. That’s true musically, and I think also in our day-to-day lives, we’ve now got some breathing space. Thanks to that, we can focus on our music, which I think has created a positive feedback loop. Being in an environment that provides us with freedom also creates responsibilities, but then all you need to do is make an environment in which living up to your responsibilities is itself also enjoyable. I think BE:FIRST can do that.
SHUNTO: A lot of the songs on the new album have a strong message. It’s an album in which these can also serve as our strengths. The new album is really packed with what it means to be BE:FIRST. I think it’s a well-balanced, highly listenable album.
“Hush-Hush” is a collaboration between yourselves and ATEEZ, right?
SOTA: A long time ago, Hidaka talked about how there was a K-pop group that he particularly liked. It was shortly after our debut, but he was saying “there’s an artist I’d like you to collaborate with one day.” There are certain ways in which we’re alike, so I guess he realized that we’d be a good match.
What did you feel like you had in common?
SOTA: How well we all get along, and the mood within our teams. We feel like hometown friends.
RYOKI: We both have a very down-to-earth feel. ATEEZ has a really warm vibe. That’s something that BE:FIRST also places a lot of importance on.
SOTA: Right. That focus sets ATEEZ apart from a lot of other K-pop groups. As far as music, another similarity is that we both write our own lyrics and take part in the creative process. I feel like there’s a lot of overlap in the core parts of what we focus on.
In closing, then, could you share your vision for the group in the future?
RYOKI: The musical direction we want to go in is always changing. But, no matter what, I want to keep this “Avengers” feel.
SHUNTO: But you can’t really produce that Avengers feeling on purpose. That variety in the way that we shine comes from us all combining our varied strengths.
RYOKI: Everyone’s so impressive. I love everyone in our group.
SOTA: But if we stopped enjoying creating music together, all seven of us working as one, then we wouldn’t need to keep that seven-person approach. Our strength isn’t really a group-focused approach in which, for example, we’re using synchronized choreography or we’re separating singing parts to give songs different feels. Instead, for us, it’s more important that we’re enjoying the vibes together. When we’re doing anything, whether it’s hip-hop or funk, it’s like all seven of us are jamming. One of the things that makes a group so fun—one of its qualities—is the feeling of bouncing the music off of each other. I think the best thing would keep on making the kind of music we want to make, all seven of us.
So it has to be the seven of you.
SOTA: That’s right. If we just did synchronized dancing, it wouldn’t make a difference if one person left.
Everyone: (Laughs)
SOTA: I think it’s when we’re having fun ourselves that it becomes fun for other people to watch. That’s our greatest point of appeal, the way we spread the enjoyment of our music.
—This interview by Takuto Ueda first appeared on Billboard Japan
