Taking Flight

Having made their mark in Japan, Japanese boy group BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE has started their run in Thailand. Up next? The rest of the world.

- Charmaine Tan

Pursuing music is supposed to be straightforward. When there is passion and a will to act on it, the next step is clear: do whatever it takes to get there. But the reality of creative pursuits begs to differ, especially if the scale of one’s targeted reach is global — nobly gargantuan, as is the courage it takes to dive head-first into an industry where measures of success are innately subjective.

This is what makes these adventures worth the ride, and luckily for RYUTA, YOSHI, RYUSEI, MIKU, RICKY, RIKI, and MASA of BALLISTIK BOYZ — the forerunners of these once uncharted paths are also their designated guides.

The sixth group to come out of the supergroup collective — EXILE TRIBE — is the first “tribe”, with all members tackling everything from singing to dancing to rapping. They’ve been gathering loyal fans since their debut in 2018 and were recently based in Thailand for half a year as part of a partnership between their management, LDH Japan, and High Cloud Entertainment — to gain newfound inspiration, experience and perspective that could gift their craft a new multicultural flavour. Their latest release with Thai artist Gulf Kanawut — an upbeat dance track titled “All I Ever Wanted” — perfectly demonstrates that, but that is not all they have taken away from this extended play overseas.

Earlier this month, when the septet visited Singapore for the first time for some agency meetings, we caught them right after their early morning flight from Bangkok for a chat. Here, BALLISTIK BOYZ gives us the low down of their highlight reel to date: their roots, growth, the present and their dreams — a preface for when the world’s stage comes their way.

RYUTA