For LIL LEAGUE leader SENA, the Singapore crowd changed the way he sang.
“The energy from the audience in Singapore was incredibly inspiring, and it heightened my excitement for the performance so much that I naturally found myself projecting my voice in ways I hadn’t even during rehearsals,” he said.
LIL LEAGUE and KID PHENOMENON made their Music Matters Live debuts at CQ @ Clarke Quay on 3 October, joining the showcase’s second day before KID PHENOMENON closed the main stage.
View this post on Instagram
Now in its 21st edition, the event brought together more than 44 artists from 15 countries, including the Philippines’ Lola Amour, Malaysia’s DOLLA, Mexico’s Bratty, and New Zealand’s Borderline. The two EXILE TRIBE groups introduced Singapore audiences to different sides of Japan’s emerging dance and vocal acts.
Both belong to NEO EXILE, the collective of LDH groups formed through the iCON Z ~Dreams For Children~ audition, alongside THE JET BOY BANGERZ and WOLF HOWL HARMONY. Each brought its own identity to the stage, from LIL LEAGUE’s exploration of growing up to KID PHENOMENON’s take on contemporary Tokyo culture.
LIL LEAGUE: Finding common ground
LIL LEAGUE’s six members built their performance around vocals, rap, dance, and the chemistry between them. Their LIL LEAGUE PARK concept takes its cues from the feelings that accompany youth: friendship, first love, uncertainty, farewells, and reunions.
For a fan who travelled from South Korea to see them, the members’ enjoyment of the performance was what stayed with her. An interest in Japanese music had first drawn her to the group, whose energy and individual personalities gave her more reasons to keep following.
“What especially stood out to me was how much the members themselves seemed to be enjoying the stage,” she said. “Seeing them having fun naturally made us have fun too.”
SENA felt that enthusiasm coming back from the audience, describing how it pushed him to sing differently from rehearsals. He also shared his hopes for developing LIL LEAGUE PARK into LIL WONDER PARK.
“Going forward, we want to expand the unique world of ‘LIL LEAGUE PARK’ that we shared this time into ‘LIL WONDER PARK’ and bring it to even more people,” he added.
KID PHENOMENON: Taking Tokyo abroad
KID PHENOMENON’s closing set followed another international showcase appearance at SXSW in Austin, Texas, in March.
The seven-member group brought their TOKYO NEO POP concept to Singapore, drawing together influences from Tokyo’s music, fashion, anime, and gaming scenes. For leader KENSUKE SOREMATSU, the idea extends across the members’ music, movement, and visual presentation.
“I was really happy to enjoy the music together while feeling the energy from everyone in Singapore,” he said.
“TOKYO NEO POP is a new culture that takes shape through the unique expression of the seven of us, encompassing not only music and dance, but also fashion and visuals. Someday, we hope to become a group that represents this culture and spread it from Tokyo to Asia and then to the world.”
For one Singapore fan, Music Matters Live 2026 offered a first-hand encounter with a group she had discovered through TikTok. Their music and social media content had already won her over, but being in the audience added something she couldn’t get from her phone.
“Seeing them live had a different appeal from watching them through a screen, there was something you could only experience by being there,” she said.
That sense of discovery gave both appearances their significance. For fans, it was a chance to see familiar faces step out of their feeds and onto a Singapore stage. For the groups, it was a chance to hear the response in person, with enough encouragement coming back to surprise even SENA.
Like what you read? Show our writer some love!
-