Emerging Girl Group, No Na, Ushers In A New Era Of SEA-Pop

Sparkly tops, micro shorts, knee-high boots, and a powerful, dynamic dance, all to the strut-your-stuff, confidence-inducing earworm: “Grab your waist trainers, hit the treadmill / Do Pilates, how ya legs feel? / Take a group hike, do them squat squats / Bitch it’s go time, go and put in that / Work.” 

If this sounds familiar, you’ve probably heard No Na’s latest single Work popping off on TikTok. So far, over 14,000 videos have been made to the song, and as of this article, it’s earned five million Spotify streams since it dropped in January this year. At the centre of all this internet buzz is the bubbly quartet comprising Esther Geraldine, Baila Fauri, Shazfa Adesya (Shaz) and Christy Gardena, known collectively as No Na. 

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.”

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!”

While the group has no official positions, each member seems to have their unspoken roles and strengths. Esther, for example, has the natural presence and eloquence of a leader. “She’s the frontwoman,” Baila jokes. “Only at work! Otherwise, you won’t see me out of my room,” Esther laughs.

Baila keeps the girls laughing with a consistent output of witty comments and cheeky one-liners. Shaz, the youngest, is pretty shy but is so sweet, always the first to burst out laughing and dance along to the members’ jokes.

The eldest, Christy, is much quieter than the others (a huge contrast from the explosive charisma she showed in Work) but definitely holds her own against the girls’ antics. “Christy is the biggest extrovert,” Baila says. “Yeah, you can see that,” Christy says whilst shaking her head no.

“It means sisterhood. It means…” Shaz says, when asked about what femininity and womanhood means to them. Nona roughly translates to ‘miss’ from Indonesian. “Being a girl’s girl,” Baila adds. ”It means putting in the work.”

“Confidence, power, energy, passion — everything,” Shaz says. Baila wraps it up cleanly: “Everything in one: No Na.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR NO NA?

They released an explosive teaser for a new song two weeks ago. On their upcoming music, Esther teases, “It’ll be a new side of No Na. If you think Work is gasp, the next one will be even more-” Baila shrieks. The point is: new music is about to drop, and No Na is going for something even more fierce and jaw-dropping.

“Definitely new music. New choreo that people can go to the hospital for. Send us the bill!” Baila tells us when asked about what their working towards this year. “Send Sienna (Work’s choreographer) the bill, not us, sorry! We would love to tour and see our Orchids — our international Orchids and Indonesian Orchids.”

No Na is only a year into their career, and they’re only just getting started. Says Esther on the biggest lesson they’ve learned since debuting: “I think we’ve learned to face any challenge that comes our way. That’s the biggest lesson, I think.”