- 2.00 PM
- June 25, 2026
Bingkai Karya – Most people know it as the “Asian Squat”.
For some, it’s a stereotype. But for ONE OR EIGHT, it’s the inspiration behind their next single.
The group’s upcoming track, “YANKEE SQUAT” takes a stance long associated with Japan’s yankee youth culture and turns it into the foundation of a song about community, identity and the places people make their own. Alongside the reveal of the single’s artwork, ONE OR EIGHT offers a first look at a release that draws unapologetically from the culture that shaped them.
Built on Latin grooves, hip-hop textures and the group’s signature bad-boy aesthetic, “YANKEE SQUAT” captures the energy of summer nights spent with the people who make ordinary places matter. The title references the squat pose often seen among Japan’s rebellious youth, outside convenience stores, in parking lots and at neighbourhood hangouts. Far from treating it as an embarrassment to outgrow, the group reframes it as a symbol of camaraderie, local pride and the ability to claim space on your own terms.
The decision says a lot about where ONE OR EIGHT are at this point in their journey.
Fresh off their first-ever ONE OR EIGHT 1st LIVE TOUR -GATHER-, which saw them perform across 10 cities throughout North and South America, and shortly after appearing at Billboard’s Global Power Players event in Tokyo to present Avex executives Katsumi Kuroiwa and Brandon Silverstein with the Global Growth Award, the group could easily have introduced their next chapter with something broader or easier to explain. Instead, they chose a song built around one of Japan’s most recognisable subcultural gestures.
That choice is what defines “YANKEE SQUAT”.
As the group continues to grow beyond Japan, they seem less interested in sanding off the specifics of who they are for wider appeal. Instead, they double down on them. The bigger the stage becomes, the more firmly they hold onto the details that made them in the first place.
As the first pre-release single from their upcoming EP “EN-GÏNE”, “YANKEE SQUAT” also introduces one of the project’s central ideas: that identity isn’t something that changes depending on where you are. Whether in Japan or overseas, among old friends or new audiences, the stance remains the same for ONE OR EIGHT.
A newly released teaser for “EN-GÏNE” hints at the world ONE OR EIGHT are building next, connecting the impulse that drives them forward with the people who continue to fuel that journey.
Before the music even arrives, “YANKEE SQUAT” offers a clear statement of intent. Going global doesn’t have to mean leaving home behind.
Hold that squat. “YANKEE SQUAT” drops on 15 July.
About ONE OR EIGHT
ONE OR EIGHT is an eight-member boy group comprising MIZUKI, NEO, REIA, RYOTA, SOUMA, TAKERU, TSUBASA and YUGA, named after the Japanese idiom “ichi ka bachi ka” (“all or nothing”). Guided by their motto “BET ON YOURSELF,” the group has quickly emerged as one of Japan’s most exciting new acts on the global stage.
Since debuting in 2024 with Ryan Tedder and David Stewart-produced single “Don’t Tell Nobody,” ONE OR EIGHT have steadily built international momentum. Their collaboration with Big Sean, “KAWASAKI (with Big Sean),” reached No. 5 on the U.S. iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap chart,
while “TOKYO DRIFT” generated over 200,000 TikTok UGC posts and 300 million views, earning them a record number of appearances on the U.S. Mediabase Top 40 chart for a Japanese boy group.
The group has since been named one of Nikkei Entertainment!’s 100 New Leading Artists, received the Upcoming Dance & Vocal Group award at MTV VMAJ, and became the first Japanese boy group to walk the red carpet at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2026, they wrapped up their first-ever ONE OR EIGHT 1st LIVE TOUR -GATHER-, performing across 10 cities in North and South America as they continue taking their music from Tokyo to the world.
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