Digital Cover Story 17: Boys World
"Some people like bubblegum pop cherry on the top, while some people like a little more trap. This song I think is fun because you can listen to it in the car, go on a road trip, or something."
If you have yet to discover Boys World, then don’t worry - I’m here to educate you on why they’re the girl group to have on your radar and playlists. With that being said, if you’re fully aware of the young rising stars, then you’ll already know they are destined for big things. And with their new single, ‘Something In The Water’, they’re bound to make a splash!
Elena, Lillian, Queenie, Makhyli, and Olivia, are the five members of Boys World, who have already built a loyal fan base online that continues to grow. But, first things first, don’t let their name confuse you. Boys is an acronym for Best of Your Self while World proves they are ready to dominate globally. “There were other names but Boys World just fell into our lap. We’ve always wanted Boys as the acronym as it’s important to us,” Lillian explains. “It makes sense for us. We want our message and the way we want to come across not to just translate to people in our area but also to the whole world. It honestly just made sense,” Queenie adds.
Boys World debuted onto the music scene in October 2020 with their single ‘Girlfriends’. With already over 4 million streams on Spotify and just under 2 million views on YouTube for the music video, many might wonder how they’ve managed to gather in huge numbers so quickly. Well, TikTok. Before fans were able to hear their material, they made an account on the video-sharing social media platform in January 2020 and organically created content when they moved into their Los Angeles home together. “Our team and us are really collaborative and I just remember them telling us before the pandemic that TikTok is new and on the come-up. First, we were like, hmmm, we don’t wanna do that,” Elana shares, adding, “We did it, and then it just became, woah! It all just kind of blew up and it did become really popular. We’re super thankful, we have a great team.” And just like that, Boys World would start to make a name for themselves. As of this writing, their TikTok page boasts more than 2 million followers and a whopping 56 million likes.
Words by Fabio Magnocavallo
As seen in their YouTube vlogs, Boys World have a great bond and chemistry together and are clearly friends. However, they haven’t actually known each other for too long. In 2019, KYN Entertainment was on the hunt to find singers to be a part of a girl group and individually found each of the members on Instagram. Even though they never had dreams of being in a group, they have no regrets about taking this career path. “I always knew I’d be somewhere in entertainment, whether it would be acting, dancing, music, but never a thought in my head about being in a girl group. But, it’s obviously meant to be,” Elana states. “Yeah, I never expected it at all. But there was a weird back in my brain feeling. I’m a really shy person and that’s something I’ve been working on and I’ve always had a group of friends. It’s never been a best friend and me, it’s always been three or four others. So, I was like, oh that would be kind of cool to be in a girl group because that would be fun,” Lillian explains. “I used to be in bands and stuff when I was little, I used to do theater, so I was like, I will make it any way I can. If I have to be like a janitor scrubbing the streets but also singing, I’m gonna do it. I felt like I was going to make it happen in any situation. I’m happy that it ended up like this, it’s way better for me,” Makhyli says.
Aside from delivering flawless vocals, Boys World are also all about performing killer choreography. Some members already had experience or backgrounds related to dance while others were pushed out of their comfort zone. “Me and Olivia had never danced before so that was a learning curve for us. But I think for me now personally, I feel very confident in myself, especially with dancing. Dancing is one of my favorite parts of this,” Lillian expresses. “I kind of move like a string bean but it’s like my vibe if that makes sense,” Olivia adds while laughing.
After a string of singles, Boys World dropped their debut EP, ‘While You Were Out’, in April 2021, which was met with critical acclaim. Being the fast-paced industry that it is, they are already onto the next thing and say they are kickstarting a new era with their latest single, ‘Something In The Water’, which we all mutually agree on our Zoom video call is one of their poppier tracks. “We wanted to give different flavors of course. Some people like bubblegum pop cherry on the top, while some people like a little more trap. This song I think is fun because you can listen to it in the car, go on a road trip, or something. We’re happy about it,” Makhyli mentions. As for the music video, they tell me to be prepared for their greatest yet. “The styling in this, I’m telling you… it’s something you’ve never seen before, the dancing, we really hyped it up a notch, it’s ridiculous,” Makhyli adds. “It’s so cinematic, the visuals are probably our best,” Elana insists.
A day in the life of Boys World right now is recording and writing in the studio. “We love recording and there’s a lot of new songs in the bank,” Queenie reveals. While staying fairly tight-lipped about their material to come, Makhyli teases that’s what’s to come is on a whole another level. “These songs, let me tell you, there’s stuff you’ve never heard us do before, I’m just gonna say it now. The sounds that we are giving are out of this world,” she says.
So far, Boys World have yet to collaborate with any other artists but are open to doing one for all the right reasons. “I think we’re just seeing what comes our way. I mean, we would love to do a collaboration with someone who would love to do one with us,” Lillian explains. “It has to be 50/50, I want them to want it to do it,” Queenie mentions. “Especially when you’re like newer, you really wanna establish who you are as an artist first. I think we’ve been doing a good at that but if anyone wants to help us with our sound and wants us to help them with theirs, why not!” Makhyli explains. When I ask which one artist would be their dream collab, they all collectively say rapper Doja Cat. “We’ve been listening to her album, ever since it came out we’ve had it on repeat. It’s been our summer album,” Elana states.
“We want our message and the way we want to come across not to just translate to people in our area but also to the whole world.“
- Boys World
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the group hasn’t been able to perform a live show with a real audience. However, being the hardworking and driven women that they are, they decided to put on a virtual concert to celebrate the release of their debut EP for fans to enjoy. “Oh my god, that was so fun!” Makhyli says, adding, “You know what, I feel like for our first show, we did such a good job. Even though it was very very nerve-wracking and it wasn’t the full experience because there was no audience, it was a great way of getting our feet wet and putting ourselves out there. At the end of the day, performing is performing and we still took a lot of rehearsals, chemistry, and preparation. We are really excited to do more, that was a little taste.” Although, when the time is right, Boys World will embark on a tour. “We would love to do that as soon as the world gets better. You know, I think we need to put more work out there before we go on an official tour and hopefully gain more fans and momentum. We’re always thinking about it and figuring out how to do the whole thing,” Olivia explains.
It has been known that there is more pressure for women and girl groups to live up to a certain expectation and that they have to work even harder to be accepted for their talent. When I questioned Boys World on whether they believe there is still a stigma surrounding girl groups, they admit they are fully aware there is one but have yet to experience any discrimination of yet. “I think yeah but not so much yet because we’re so much on the come up so we haven’t experienced all that yet but I think there is definitely a stigma for sure,” Elana expresses.”Even with being women in the industry in general, we always have to be reinventing ourselves, we always have to come up with something new. We can’t just pull up in jeans and a t-shirt. It’s like you have to always bring up something that has never been done before,” Makhyli adds.
Before we hang up our video call, Boys World are quick to compliment my voice, comparing it to the “Headspace guy”, aka Andy Puddicombe. While they continue to tell me how soothing and relaxing I sound, I started to consider a new career in ASMR. On the other hand, when they’re not inspiring drastic life changes in others’ lives, they are fully invested in their career in music and are determined to take their status to the next level. Currently, their main focus is to make their latest single, ‘Something In The Water’, their biggest moment. “Hopefully by promoting the heck out of ‘Something In The Water,’ it will make a change for us and impact us in a really positive way,” Queenie says.
Watch the visuals for ‘Something In The Water’ (out 5pm) below!
YouTube/ Boys World
Stream ‘Something In The Water’ HERE
Follow Boys World on socials:
Instagram: @boysworld
Twitter: @boysworld
Facebook: @boysworld
Tik Tok: @boysworld