Phrases / Jovita Tedja
Pictures / Head within the Clouds LA
Head within the Clouds (HITC), the annual music pageant celebrating Asian artists from world wide, returned to Los Angeles for its eighth version on Saturday, August 8, 2026. Hosted by music label 88rising and Goldenvoice, the pageant as soon as once more introduced collectively a dynamic lineup of artists from throughout the worldwide music scene.
Typically dubbed the “Asian Coachella,” LADYGUNN was on the bottom to expertise the high-energy pageant firsthand. From thrilling newcomers making their Head within the Clouds debut to veteran performers returning to the HITC stage, listed here are a number of the acts that stood out to us essentially the most.
ONE OR EIGHT
Japanese boy group ONE OR EIGHT, a last-minute shock addition to the invoice, kicked off the pageant with a high-octane set that lived as much as their motto of ichi ka bachi ka, “all or nothing,” they usually actually gave it their all. Consisting of members MIZUKI, NEO, REIA, RYOTA, SOUMA, TAKERU, TSUBASA, and YUGA, ONE OR EIGHT was shaped by Japanese music label Avex via the year-long audition program WARPs DIG, which ran from 2022 to 2023. The group tore via performances together with their hit “TOKYO DRIFT” and newest digital single, “YANKEE SQUAT,” launched forward of their forthcoming EP, EN-GÏNE, arriving subsequent month on September sixteenth, 2026.
The idea behind “YANKEE SQUAT” attracts from Japan’s yankii subculture, a time period traditionally related to rebellious youth who reject the polished habits and social expectations of mainstream Japanese society. The titular squat itself carries that very same defiant repute: crouching or squatting in public has lengthy been stereotypically related to yankii or delinquent youth cultures, making the posture seem intentionally unrefined and even confrontational, however ONE OR EIGHT turns that stigma into a press release of nonconformity. In a tradition the place becoming and sustaining appearances can carry appreciable weight, the “YANKEE SQUAT” turns into a visible declaration of the group’s willingness to face aside and outline themselves on their very own phrases.
With Head within the Clouds 2026 being their first worldwide music pageant look, ONE OR EIGHT made essentially the most of their festival-opening second, delivering the form of introduction that made it clear they’re an act to control.
no na
no na and dancers at Head within the Clouds LA. Photograph credit score: Sarah Midkiff
88rising’s first woman group challenge, no na, made their debut in Could 2025 with the discharge of their single “shoot,” which rapidly captured followers’ consideration with a music video that fantastically showcased Indonesian landscapes, conventional clothes, and cultural influences. Consisting of an all-Indonesian lineup of Christy, Esther, Baila, and Shaz, the quartet are not any strangers to Head within the Clouds, having carried out on the pageant’s Los Angeles and Brooklyn editions final 12 months, in addition to HITC Tokyo earlier this 12 months. However this time round, no na upped the ante, bringing an infectious vitality to the stage with upbeat bangers like their January 2026 breakout hit “work” and up to date launch “honk!” proudly introducing Indonesian sound and tradition onto the worldwide stage.
“honk!” serves as a pre-release single from no na’s debut album, island woman. The observe attracts from the melodic airhorns of Indonesia’s intercity buses, a sound that grew to become internationally recognizable via the viral 2016 phenomenon “Om Telolet Om” (roughly translated as “Uncle, honk, uncle”). The phrase originated with youngsters gathering alongside roadsides, notably in smaller Indonesian cities, and calling out to passing bus drivers to sound their distinctive, typically personalized klaxons. “Om Telolet Om” is woven instantly into the music itself, with the catchphrase delivered via a shock look from Indonesian rapper and fellow 88rising artist Wealthy Brian.
However “honk!” reaches past nostalgia or web tradition. Its hook chants, “Get on the angkot,” referring to the ever-present minivans and minibuses that stay probably the most inexpensive and accessible types of public transportation throughout many Indonesian cities. The music video pushes this imagery even additional, staging a dance sequence inside a rumah susun advanced, which is Indonesia’s high-density, sponsored residence housing related to lower-income city communities.
For a bunch as unapologetically Indonesian as no na, these decisions carry explicit weight. Moderately than presenting Indonesia via the polished imagery of luxurious resorts, tropical escapism, or the quickly modernizing skylines typically exported to worldwide audiences, “honk!” turns its consideration towards the on a regular basis infrastructure and working-class environments that form life for hundreds of thousands of Indonesians. The angkot, the intercity bus, and rumah susun will not be handled as backdrops to be hidden or romanticized, however as recognizable items of a rustic marked by important socioeconomic inequality and vastly totally different lived realities throughout class traces. By inserting these distinctly native, working-class symbols on the middle of a globally distributed pop launch, no na affords a imaginative and prescient of Indonesia that feels each celebratory and refreshingly grounded, in addition to one that enables the textures of atypical Indonesian life to take up area on the worldwide stage.
With their debut album, island woman, slated for launch on September 18, 2026, no na are solely getting began. Spanning 15 tracks, the challenge guarantees to showcase the numerous totally different colours of the group and provide followers a fuller image of what no na have to supply.
UMI
UMI on stage at Head within the Clouds LA. Photograph credit score: Head within the Clouds LA
Slowing issues down with a romantic and sultry set, American singer-songwriter UMI introduced an enthralling R&B efficiency to the Head within the Clouds stage, full with a shock visitor look from rapper 6LACK. Identified for her dreamy mix of R&B and neo-soul, UMI first gained widespread consideration together with her hit single “Bear in mind Me” in 2018, adopted shortly after by her EP Stability in 2019.
Amid the pageant’s many high-energy performances, UMI’s set felt refreshingly grounding and nearly meditative, charming the viewers together with her delicate, honeyed vocals. A private spotlight was her efficiency of the 2022 observe “say im ur luv,” alongside fan favorites like 2019’s “Love Affair” and “wherever u r,” her collaboration with V of BTS. In opposition to the backdrop of the setting solar, UMI introduced a welcome dose of romance and intimacy to Head within the Clouds, proving that even among the many pageant’s louder, extra explosive units, her quieter presence instructions the stage simply as powerfully.
Wealthy Brian
One of many first worldwide artists to hitch 88rising, Wealthy Brian has grow to be a well-recognized presence at Head within the Clouds, showing on the invoice at almost each version of the pageant. Following the discharge of his newest album, The place Is My Head?, in August 2025, Brian’s set supplied a mixture of new materials and longtime fan favorites. Standouts included “Timezones” and, after all, his viral debut single “Dat $tick.” Earlier than taking the stage for his personal set, Brian additionally made a shock look throughout fellow Indonesian artist Warren Hue’s efficiency, becoming a member of him for “Getcho Mans,” a observe from Brian’s 2022 EP Brightside.
Originating from Jakarta, Indonesia, Brian was primarily homeschooled and taught himself English via the web, the place he additionally found his love for hip-hop. He has steadily cited artists similar to Infantile Gambino, 2 Chainz, and Tyler, the Creator as a few of his largest influences. Earlier than pursuing music, Brian first constructed an internet following via comedy sketches on platforms like Twitter and Vine, however his trajectory modified dramatically when his tongue-in-cheek debut single “Dat $tick” went viral, accompanied by a music video that playfully subverted the conventions of stereotypical rap movies in opposition to the suburban backdrop of West Jakarta, the place Brian grew up in a Chinese language-Indonesian household. That distinction carried explicit resonance in Indonesia, a rustic marked by stark financial disparity, the place the aspirational wealth and conspicuous extra typically celebrated in in style rap tradition stay far faraway from a lot of the inhabitants.
Since then, Wealthy Brian has grown into one in all Indonesia’s most internationally acknowledged musical artists, serving to pave the way in which for a brand new era of Indonesian rappers and musicians seeking to make their mark on the worldwide stage.
XG
XG is one in all Japan’s largest world acts, bringing collectively seven extremely proficient artists: JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA, and COCONA. After first gaining widespread consideration with their 2023 record-breaking tracks “SHOOTING STAR” and “LEFT RIGHT,” the group has been on a rare run ever since, persevering with to construct their discography with fan favorites like “HYPNOTIZE” and “GALA.”
XG’s HINATA, CHISA and JURIN acting on stage. Photograph credit score: Head within the Clouds LA
Simply as they declare in “GALA” that they “turned the Met Gala into an X-GALA,” XG actually remodeled the Head within the Clouds stage right into a present solely their very own, shifting the gang with the boldness and charisma of a full-fledged XG live performance. Followers may have lots extra alternatives to expertise that vitality because the group continues their XG WORLD TOUR: THE CORE via the rest of 2026 and into early 2027. After kicking off the tour in Japan in February 2026, XG will deliver THE CORE to cities world wide, together with a run of North American stops this November.
Past their music, XG has grow to be equally acknowledged for his or her boundary-pushing visuals, from hanging trend to experimental make-up appears that steadily draw inspiration from Japanese avenue type and subcultures. The group additionally not too long ago entered a brand new chapter with the evolution of the XG title to “XTRAORDINARY GENES,” following member COCONA publicly popping out as an AFAB transmasculine non-binary individual late final 12 months.
KATSEYE
Acting at simply their second-ever pageant as headliners, KATSEYE’s DANIELA, MEGAN, LARA, and YOONCHAE took command of the Head within the Clouds stage, delivering an electrifying set regardless of performing as a quartet with out members SOPHIA and MANON, who’re presently on health-related hiatuses. Shaped via The Debut: Dream Academy, a collaboration between South Korean leisure firm HYBE and Geffen Information, KATSEYE formally debuted in June 2024 with their aptly titled single “Debut.” In simply two years, the group has amassed an enormous world following and emerged as one of many era’s largest woman teams.
Being the primary world woman group developed via the HYBE x Geffen partnership, KATSEYE represents an intriguing evolution of the Ok-pop mannequin. Earlier than their debut, the members spent almost two years coaching inside the famously rigorous Ok-pop trainee system, a course of documented via The Debut: Dream Academy and later explored extra intimately within the Netflix docuseries Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE. That basis is clear within the group’s razor-sharp choreography, efficiency self-discipline, and thoroughly constructed inventive world. But KATSEYE has by no means positioned itself merely as a Ok-pop group. As an alternative, the group takes the infrastructure that helped flip Ok-pop into a world phenomenon and adapts it for a distinctly worldwide pop act, bringing collectively members from totally different cultural backgrounds whereas largely performing in English. In that sense, KATSEYE advantages from the precision and artist-development equipment of Ok-pop with out permitting it to outline the boundaries of their identification, maybe, one of many clearest examples but of how the system’s affect is increasing past Ok-pop itself.
At Head within the Clouds, KATSEYE introduced loads of theatrics to the stage with their efficiency of the hit “Gabriela,” simply one of many standout moments of the night time. The group additionally carried out their new music “Animal,” written by Ed Sheeran and launched forward of their EP WILD, which is out now alongside their documentary, WILD HEARTS. To shut out each their set and the pageant, KATSEYE launched into their breakthrough single “Gnarly,” reworking the packed Rose Bowl into one large dance celebration, and ending Head within the Clouds on an simple excessive.
