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From YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM’s sets to the combining of star power thanks to 88rising Futures, the promise of Asian pop music was on full display in Indio.
Yūta Jingūji, Yuta Kishi, Sho Hirano of Number_i, Jackson Wang and Liu Yuxin perform during the 88rising Futures showcase at the Mojave Tent during the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 14, 2024 in Indio, Calif.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella
Historically, Coachella has leaned upon trusted partners to deliver a major “who’s next” artist from Asia when it sets up camp in the desert.
Long-running K-pop label YG Entertainment first landed hip-hop trio Epik High at the 2016 fest before having BLACKPINK in 2019 and 2023 (where the girl group was a headliner), as well as their long-running boy band BIGBANG for the ultimately canceled 2020 Coachella. Music and media company 88rising has brought the likes of Jackson Wang from China in 2023 and as a surprise guest this year, Joji from Japan in 2022, and both NIKI and Rich Brian from Indonesia in 2022. Korean indie-rock acts Hyukoh, those in electronic spaces like Peggy Gou, and even Japan’s vocaloid scene via Hatsune Miku’s booking in 2020 as well as this year all brought a much-needed range of representation to the festival in the past.
But for 2024, Coachella opened its arms to a range of new and rising artists boasting a vast range of seniority, label homes and backgrounds, casting its widest net yet across Asia’s varying pop scenes — most boasting fanbases that display their fandom in fierce fervor — giving the artists a similarly large spotlight offered to pop, rock, electronic and Latin music at the influential festival.
From ATEEZ, YOASOBI, The Rose, LE SSERAFIM and ATARASHII GAKKO! all rocking their own sets to the exciting mashing of worlds and surprise guests that came together at the 88rising Futures showcase, read on for more about the artists representing this year and why Coachella 2024 clearly did their research when it came to this year’s expanded spotlight on Asian pop.
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ATEEZ
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella Leading this year’s charge was ATEEZ, the first K-pop boy group to take on Coachella where their rebellious brand of cinematic showmanship took over the Sahara stage on Friday night — best displayed in both the country-western set design as well as shirtless members San and Mingi unbuttoning their jackets mid-performance to distinguish themselves from any preconceived boy-band notions. With a series of mysterious hints towards new music and a future stadium tour at the festival as well as across social media after the high-octane set, ATEEZ ensured every moment was used wisely for their Coachella debut.
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Xin Liu
Image Credit: Natt Lim/Coachella Xin Liu not only lit up the Mojave stage with her famously intense and intricate choreography alongside a large dance troupe but literally sparkled with the shards and scraps of glistening gold decorating her outfit. Beyond the stage, the Chinese starlet also appeared to be one of the most-discussed artists on social media with the latest 88rising signee using Coachella to raise her visibility ahead of upcoming English music.
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ATARASHII GAKKO!
Image Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella Fresh off their first Pop Songs airplay hit with “Hello,” ATARASHII GAKKO! showed off all aspects of their performance styles by hopping like gymnasts into pyramid formations, incorporating live taiko drums, wearing outfits that mixed traditional and modern Japanese fashion, and delivering some of the cutest crowd interactions across all genres.
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The Rose
Image Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Coachella Representing rock, The Rose’s booking at Coachella marked a breakthrough moment for the quartet who have transitioned from Korea’s pop scene to the indie route alongside their partner, Transparent Arts. The Rose’s 2023 album DUAL, their first to enter the Billboard 200, boasts some Coldplay-esque atmospheric hymns inside but the band’s intense on-stage energy much more so warranted hyped-up shout-alongs to their tracks, aided by their backing LED screens boasting the lyrics to anthems like “Back to Me.”
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YOASOBI
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella Following last year’s international breakthrough track “Idol” (which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart for seven weeks) and a string of internationally focused music, YOASOBI took their Coachella debut to rock both their set on the Mojave stage (where singer Ikuta Lilas pranced across the multilevel stage while never forgetting to play to her producer-instrumentalist partner Ayase) as well as join the 88rising Futures showcase (bringing ATARASHII GAKKO! to join them onstage for an epic ending).
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Number_i, Jackson Wang & Xin Liu
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella One of the most exciting parts of the 88rising Futures stage was the mixing of talent coming on stage together. Japanese singers Yūta Jingūji, Yuta Kishi and Sho Hirano of the trio Number_i, Hong Born–born K-pop star Jackson Wang, and Xin Liu of China all joined their star power in the Mojave Tent for what’s likely a one-time-only collaboration for fans. Jackson even performed with Number_i for their single “GOAT,” hinting at a global remix of their No. 1 hip-hop Japan Hot 100 hit.
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Peggy Gou
Image Credit: Quinn Tucker/Coachella Korean-born, Germany-based Peggy Gou had her audience (that reportedly included the likes of Lisa from BLACKPINK) enjoying her range of dance and disco music in the Sahara Tent, but the DJ-producer-singer also brought her own set of dancers — not typically seen in the EDM space — with the gender-bending troupe’s voguing, whacking and group choreography bringing some additional appetizing visuals beyond the mega-watt LEDs.
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LE SSERAFIM
Image Credit: Rachael Polack With less than two years under their belt, girl group LE SSERAFIM also delivered their brand of attitude-driven K-pop performance style to Sahara as their Billboard Global 200 hit songs like “ANTIFRAGILE,” “Smart” and “Unforgiven” (with a cameo from the song’s legendary featured guitarist Nile Rodgers) all delivered the internationally eclectic sounds already inside Coachella. The quintet’s live debut of new song “1-800-hot-n-fun” also pointed to the festival being a place for artists to deliver musical surprises and wouldn’t be the only new music debuted at the fest.
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BIBI
Image Credit: Natt Lim/Coachella A last-minute surprise announced just hours before the 88rising Futures showcase, BIBI performed her No. 1 South Korean hit “Bam Yang Gang” and shared her new duet with Jackson Wang during her short-but-heavily effective time at the Mojave Tent. It wouldn’t be surprising if the quick cameo just secured BIBI her own set for Coachella 2025.
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Tiger JK & Yoon Mi-rae
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella After first joining 88rising’s 2023 Coachella stage, Korean hip-hop pioneers and married couple Tiger JK and Yoonmirae joined 88rising once again this year for a refreshed set of music and collaborators. The duo unexpectedly opened with a rendition of Stray Kids song “Topline,” which features Tiger who called the K-pop boy band “the beautiful group Stray Kids.” Xiu Lin later joined the couple to perform the song “Boom Tick Boom,” which the two wrote and Tiger produced.
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Awich
Image Credit: Natt Lim/Coachella With her eye on the international market, Awich played her first Los Angeles concert just days ahead of joining the 88rising Futures showcase. The Japanese rapper brought YOASOBI and ATARASHII GAKKO! onstage to showcase a versatility that could be key as she preps future English music
