BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE

Overview

BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE is a seven-member Japanese dance and vocal group managed by LDH JAPAN, with releases on LDH Records. The members are Miku Fukahori, Rikiya Okuda, Masahiro Sunada, Ryuta Hidaka, Yoshiyuki Kanou, Ryusei Kainuma and Riki Matsui; the group has no designated leader. They made their major debut on May 22, 2019 with the self-titled album BALLISTIK BOYZ and won the MTV VMAJ 2019 Rising Star Award.

Career

2018: Formation

In April 2018, the TBS program Weekly EXILE announced a new group co-produced by DOBERMAN INFINITY and EXILE HIRO. The candidates were Vocal Battle Audition 5 finalists Ryuta Hidaka and Yoshiyuki Kanou (vocal), Ryusei Kainuma and Riki Matsui (rap), plus Global Japan Challenge winners Miku Fukahori, Rikiya Okuda and Masahiro Sunada. The group formed on April 23 and its name was announced on May 1, chosen to evoke shapeshifting and lightning speed. On May 12 they began activities as the opening act for FANTASTICS' FANTASTIC 9 tour, and in July they opened Dance Earth Festival 2018 Splash Summer.

2019: Major debut

From March 2 to 31, 2019, the group held its own Musha Shugyo tour and announced its major debut on the final day, also releasing its first official music video, "Tenhane 1000%". They debuted on May 22, at which point the name became BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE. They appeared in the joint live BATTLE OF TOKYO ENTER THE Jr. EXILE from July 4 to 7. In August they announced their first single "44Raiders" for October 23, performed in Malaysia and Taiwan in September, and launched a YouTube channel in October. On December 31 they appeared in LDH PERFECT YEAR 2020 COUNTDOWN LIVE 2019▶︎2020 "RISING".

2020-2021

A national tour in 2020 was partly cancelled due to COVID-19. The group instead performed livestreams including LIVE×ONLINE IMAGINATION (September 20) and LIVE×ONLINE BEYOND THE BORDER (December 23), and joined the LDH countdown livestream on December 31. In 2021 they took part in EXILE TRIBE LIVE TOUR 2021 "RISING SUN TO THE WORLD" (March 10 to June 28) and held BALLISTIK BOYZ PROLOGUE LIVE TOUR 2021 “PASS THE MIC” ～WAY TO THE GLORY～. From April 2021 to October 2025 they hosted the radio show BALLISTIK RADIO.

2022-2023

From the end of August 2022 to February 2023, the group based its activities in Thailand for half a year. They received the Thailand Digital Awards 2022 "ASIA RISING STARS" award and Thailand – Japan Ambassador 2023. On May 22, 2023 they launched the apparel brand HYSFORM™, and on October 11 announced the fan name BALLY'S. They were special supporters of the Osaka-Kansai Expo from 2023 to 2025.

2024 onward

In 2024 they released the singles "HIGHER EX" (May 22), "Icy Fire" (July 16), "7" (October 16) and "SAY IT" (November 4), and held fan meetings in Taipei (June) and Kuala Lumpur (September). In 2025 came "Get Wild" (January 10), "Stardust Forever" (June 13) and "Winter Glow" (November 14), along with the video release BBZ EVOLUTION (February 12) and the live release BALLISTIK BOYZ LIVE TOUR 2024 "HIGHER EX". "Perfect" followed on March 6, 2026.

Musical style

BALLISTIK BOYZ are a J-POP group who combine dance, vocals and rap in their performances.