FEATURE:
Spotlight
that I have featured an Indonesian girl group on my blog. I have featured K and J-Pop groups, though I don’t think any from Indonesia. I feel there is so much reliance on heralding and discussing music from the U.K. and U.S., we do not realise the wealth and breadth of talent around the world. The tremendous no na are comprised of Christy Gardena, Esther Geraldine, Baila Fauri, and Shazfa Adesya. They debuted in May 2025, so it is still new days for this exciting, dynamic, hugely talented and promising group. I want to get to some interviews with them. Their recent single, rollerblade, is tremendous. They have such chemistry and this incredible sound that sets them apart from any other group. In October last year, Masarishop introduced us to the members of no na and outlined what makes them unique:
“No Na was formed under the banner of 88rising in Jakarta, Indonesia, a hub of cultural creativity and music innovation. The group is composed of four multi-talented young women, each four No Na members are has unique backgrounds and artistic influences that shape the group’s identity:
1. Baila Fauri: Powerhouse Vocalist with Creative Flair
Born in Jakarta on September 28, 2001, Baila Fauri holds the position of main vocalist and emotional center for No Na. She comes from a background rich in classical singing and theater. She initially caught public attention as a Top 6 finalist in Indonesian Idol Junior 2014. Her impressive vocal range and strong stage presence are complemented by her creativity off stage, Baila enjoys fashion design and content creation. She frequently sketches outfits or shares covers and behind-the-scenes moments on social media. Her earlier solo tracks like "Eye to Eye" (2019) and "3 Dots" (2020) have made her a Gen Z icon, combining artistry with authenticity.
2. Christy Gardena: Graceful Soul with a Ballet Background
Christy Gardena, born September 4, 2000 in Lombok, brings elegance and depth to No Na as both a soulful vocalist and trained dancer. Before her debut, Christy was already recognized in Indonesia’s performing arts scene, securing third place in the International Dance Asia Competition 2019 in the duo category. Her professional ballet background enriches No Na’s choreography with grace, while her heartfelt voice adds warmth to the group’s sound. She also built a loyal following on TikTok with her dance content, admired for her down-to-earth personality and poetic sensibility, which occasionally finds its way into No Na’s lyrics.
3. Shazfa Adesya: Dancer, Scholar, and Digital Creator
Shazfa Adesya, born in Jakarta in 2003, is the lead dancer and visual of her group, recognized for her precise moves and captivating presence. She graduated from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, with a degree in Media in Public Relations & Advertising, showing a blend of intelligence and creativity. Shazfa developed her skills in campus K-pop dance groups and quickly gained popularity online as a TikTok influencer with her dynamic and innovative dance videos going viral. Her stage charm and academic accolades, like being on the UNSW Dean's List in 2022, make her a unique talent admired for both her art and adaptability.
4. Esther Geraldine: Versatile Vocalist with a Creative Edge
Esther Geraldine was born in Bali on September 13, 2001. She contributes her skills as a singer, rapper, and songwriter to No Na. Coming from a family rich in musical talent, she learned to blend Western pop with Indonesian traditional sounds, influences evident in her writing style. Esther gained attention on Indonesian Idol Season 10 and later released her own track, "Rarity" in 2021. She also teamed up with Dipha Barus and Afgan on "Keep It Hush", displaying her wide-ranging abilities and willingness to work with others. Her relaxed but engaging manner endears her to fans, as does her bold approach to artistic experimentation and advocacy for mental health.
What Makes No Na Unique?
Unlike many emerging girlbands, No Na thrives on authenticity and cultural pride. They often weave Indonesian identity into their artistry, whether through instruments like the angklung and gamelan in their arrangements or choreography inspired by traditional dances. This blend of modern pop and heritage resonates with both local fans and international audiences seeking something fresh.
Beyond their music, No Na is committed to addressing socially relevant themes. Their songs touch on empowerment, mental health, equality, and environmental sustainability—topics that make them relatable to Gen Z and millennial listeners. This thoughtful storytelling creates a deeper connection with fans and positions them as role models in the industry.
By early 2026, No Na’s international trajectory reached new heights with their headline-making appearance at the Head In The Clouds (HITC) Music Festival 2026 in Los Angeles. Taking the global stage alongside heavyweights like Rich Brian and the global girl group KATSEYE, No Na proved they belong among the world's elite performers.
Their HITC 2026 set received unanimous acclaim, with critics praising their sharpened choreography and the seamless integration of Indonesian cultural motifs into a cutting-edge pop production. Sharing the lineup with such powerhouse acts not only solidified their status on the international circuit but also served as the ultimate launchpad for their 2026 world tour. With a full-length album on the horizon, No Na’s presence in Los Angeles has firmly established them as a premier force in the global music scene”.
I am going to move to an interview from March from FZINE who spent time with this phenomenal quartet. A genuinely thrilling prospect, no na are the “rising pop princesses from Indonesia who are carving out a new brand of pop girl groups: SEA-Pop”. I am not sure if they are coming to the U.K. at all this year, though I know they would be hotly in demand, as their fanbase here is growing:
“They’re Indonesia’s first global girl group – a new term that’s been coined to describe musical ensembles that have been assembled specifically to appeal to audiences across the globe. This brand of girl group was first introduced by K-Pop behemoths JYP Entertainment and Hybe Entertainment in 2024 through VCHA (now Girlset) and Katseye.
No Na, on the other hand, was assembled by 88rising with a pretty similar method — sans the drama of a reality competition show. All the girls were scouted from Indonesia, moved to Los Angeles a year later for training and development, and then made their debut as No Na in May 2025 with Shoot, an R&B-inspired single that showcases their silky, clear vocals and harmonies.
“We were forced – just kidding!” Baila jokes, when asked about how they came together as a group. It’s clear that there are going to be a lot of giggles during this interview.
“It wasn’t really training, but we explored a lot of genres here and there, and then we finally made our debut!” Shaz explains. “The artist development phase was about two to three years,” Baila elaborates, “We spent a year in Jakarta and a year in Los Angeles.” Now, the whole group is based in Los Angeles.
As No Na starts their journey of musical world domination, spotlighting their Indonesian roots is a non-negotiable. As Esther explains: “We always strive to put some sort of Indonesian element into everything we do — the music we release, the dances, our clothing, our styles, the way we represent ourselves. We’re very proud of our culture and we want more people to know Indonesia. There are so many talented creatives to work with in our country.”
On being an all-Indonesian girl group representing Indonesia to an international audience:
The most obvious way is their style, which Shaz sums up perfectly: “Look at our outfits! Very island concept — all Indonesian.” She strikes a pose. Each of the girls have on variations of Indonesia’s traditional wear of kebayas and sarongs – with a No Na twist, of course.
Esther and Baila, for example, accessorise with corsets, Shaz has a pair of brown knee-high boots, Baila has a plastic skirt layered over her outfit – all of them are wearing gold jewellery with an orchid motif (a small dedication to their fans named Orchids). “Everything’s intentional!” Esther grins when this is pointed out.
Their R&B-inspired sound is blended with traditional Indonesian instruments. Their biggest musical inspirations are some of the greats from the ‘80s — Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston, for example. “We love blending different eras and genres to create a No Na sound,” Esther says.
So far, it’s working. Numbers aside, the high-energy Work has accumulated dance covers, music video reactions, even memes. “We were so excited. We were very proud,” Esther says, about their initial reactions as the song started to go viral on social media, “It’s so fun to see everyone’s versions of the dances and everything.”
“Everything’s so creative,” Shaz adds.
“The ambulance!” Esther exclaims, as the other girls squeal and laugh, “[The fans] want to send us their hospital bills.” They’re talking about their favourite reactions now. The best ones they’ve seen have been fans’ attempts to recreate Christy’s backbend at the start of Work’s choreography.
“Shout out to Raffy!” Baila exclaims. “Raffy did this [piece of] content where he attempted Christy’s backbend and ended up in an ambulance,” Esther explains.
“Man, he tried everything,” Baila says.
“Everything. And he’s still trying to do it until now, I think,” Christy says.
As talents across Southeast Asia begin to make waves across the world, it only makes sense for No Na to think beyond Indonesia and consider regional representation. SEA-Pop, short for Southeast Asian Pop, is now a growing pop sub-genre, especially given the slew of homegrown acts going international.
Label-mates like Indonesian singer Niki, Indonesian rapper Rich Brian and Thai rapper Milli, are just some of the examples of musicians who are making it abroad. In the girl group category, Filipino girl group Bini and Malaysian girl group Dolla have gained plenty of traction too.
Esther says it best: “There are a lot of amazing Southeast Asian artists out there, and we’re glad to be part of that movement, and we’re just so lucky that we’re moving alongside so many wonderful Southeast Asian individuals and groups and just incredible creatives. We’re very proud.”
Anyone watching them can see just how strong their bond has become after several years of living and training together. There’s an ease in how their conversation flows and how they interact with each other; when one member flounders with English, another easily supports. When one member speaks, all the other girls nod along, grinning when their eyes meet. They speak, move, and breathe as a unit.
Adjusting to a new foreign environment was hard, but their quick friendship made things much easier. After all, they were four young Indonesian girls chosen for a chance of international pop stardom – all they had was each other.
Christy, as the girls explain, had the most difficult time: “It was my first time going abroad, so of course I missed my family, friends, and food. But now I have the girls here, so it’s fine!”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Athirah Annissa
There are great interviews like this from Billboard last year after no na debuted with shoot. 888’s incredible girl group looking to the future. How they want to represent Indonesia and showcase the country to the world. There are some incredible girl groups at the moment. From British acts like FLO and Say Now to K-Pop’s AHOF, Cortis, KiiiKiii, IRISÉ, and idntt. However, I think that no na are going to be one of the biggest in the world. Even if it is early days, they are already causing a lot of tremors. Their music hitting people in a very powerful way. Fusing traditional and classic R&B with their Southeast Asian roots, NME featured this incredible group last month. It is clear that this phenomenal group are going to be conquer the globe. Proudly representing Indonesia:
“Even when you are exploring different genres, at the core of your sound is R&B. Where does that stem from?
Esther: “We grew up with R&B. And I think also [when we were] starting out, [during] the artist development three years ago, we were also singing a lot of R&B songs. We were paying homage to a lot of early-2000s artists as well. We practised TLC, we practised Ciara.”
Baila: “We got to choose our songs, and we chose R&B. It’s just in our blood.”
How did you work with 88rising to find and build upon this island girl sound and concept?
Esther: “We say ‘island’, they say ‘yes’.” [No Na laugh] “We communicate our wants, they communicate their wants, and we find a middle ground.”
Shaz: “We discussed a lot. We tried a lot of concepts. I remember before we debuted, we tried so many photoshoots just to see how we look in different concepts, but island girl was just what defined us, so that’s what we went for.”
Christy: “I remember, we were all together [thinking about what we] all have in common. And then, we said it together: ‘Island girl’.”
Baila: “Because Indonesia has like 17,000 different islands, so we’re all island girls.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Toshio Ohno
You really bring your Indonesian and Southeast Asian roots into your music. It’s in the lyrics, sound, outfits, dance…
Shaz: “Every time we do something, we always try to implement Indonesian elements. For example, before we make our [music videos], we have a discussion on what [we can add] that is very Indonesian or Southeast Asian. With ‘Work’, it was the traditional ceng-ceng instrument from Indonesia and the batik in our costumes.”
Being in a girl group isn’t easy, especially in this era of social media and parasocial relationships. How do you guys deal with the attention?
Esther: “I’m very into watching people’s reactions and what they like about it, what they don’t like about it. That way, we know for future releases and future projects what to do and what not to do, what people like and what people don’t like, while also protecting what we wanna do as artists. We’re very open to listening to what people say. But if it’s just coming from an ill-intentioned [place], we usually just…” [motions her hand over her head]
Baila: “Just know that we laugh at your hate comments.”
What parts of Indonesian culture have you not showcased yet, but would like to in the future?
Baila: “You know what I wanna try? I really want to try piring.”
Esther: “I was thinking the same thing!”
Shaz: “It’s a traditional dance from the Padang region and they do this…” [Esther passes Baila a plate to balance on her hand] “and they just dance with it on their hand.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Toshio Ohno
Esther: “I wanna showcase Indonesian food in our music videos. I don’t think we’ve done that before. More people need to know that we have really good food.”
Shaz: “For me, clothing. There are so many [types of] traditional clothing that we have, and because we have it different[ly] in every region, we just wanna show more and more.”
Christy: “I want people to know [that in] Indonesia we eat with our hands [without utensils]. People [are] gonna [be] like, ‘What?’”
Baila: “‘You eat with your hands?’ Yes, we do.”
Esther: “It’s [more] fun that way too.”
No Na will be turning one in less than a month. Did you ever imagine the group would be so successful in such a short time?
Baila: “This is all a surprise to us. Of course, we manifested for this to happen, but we didn’t actually think that it was gonna happen.”
Shaz: “And this soon!”
Baila: “Yeah, and we haven’t even turned one yet. We’ve barely started walking, but we’re so grateful for all the love and support.”
Esther: “And we still have a long way to go. As much as we feel like, ‘OK, this is a great start’, but we’re coming back for more.”
Baila: “Don’t get tired of us. We promise there’s more”.
I am going to leave things there. Perhaps the most promising and talented girl group to come through in quite a few years, perhaps they would not want to simply be labelled as a ‘girl group’. However, it is going to be wonderful seeing where they go from here. If you have not heard their music and amazing singles rollerblade, and work, then do make sure that you listen. You will be guaranteed to instantly fall for the stunning no na. This year has already been a big and busy one for them. They are only going to rise in popularity. This is one of the best, brightest and most talented groups…
IN the world.
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