One Ballad, One Border-Crosser: Inside LIL LEAGUE’s 6th Single
Two songs, two entirely different answers to the same question. LIL LEAGUE from EXILE TRIBE has built its sixth single around a quiet ballad about losing yourself and a high-energy collaboration that sends the group across a border, and the pairing is the whole point.
The first title track, ‘Boku wo Sagashiteta’, steps away from spectacle. It sits with the uncertainty of losing sight of who you are while trying to keep pace with everyone else, offering encouragement without pretending the process is easy.
The second is ‘LOCA’, a cross-border collaboration with Nex and AA of Thai breakout group BUS because of you i shine. Where the ballad turns inward, this one turns the volume up.
Both tracks headline the double A-side single ‘僕を探してた / LOCA’, out 26 August. It is the group’s sixth single.
‘Boku wo Sagashiteta’ Built on Restraint
The ballad finds its weight by holding back rather than reaching for dramatic highs. Piano, strings and brass carry an arrangement that unfolds gradually, letting each verse gather momentum until the vocals take over as the emotional centre.
The music video turns those themes into a cinematic story led by member Sora Namba. His teenage protagonist is constantly connected through social media and trapped in endless comparisons, until he no longer recognises himself.
Chasing a mysterious version of himself, the boy wanders into an empty town. That is where the story turns.
The other members of LIL LEAGUE appear throughout dressed in white. They act as silent guides, offering comfort during the protagonist’s most uncertain moments.
Namba described the contrast between the solo scenes and the group ones. ‘When filming alone, I focused on that sense of loneliness, so being with the other members naturally brought a feeling of warmth and reassurance,’ he said, adding that time spent together in real life shaped how he wanted those shared moments to read on screen.
He was direct about the song’s message. ‘It’s easy to lose sight of who you are by comparing yourself to others or chasing an ideal,’ Namba said. ‘But you don’t have to become someone else, there are things that make you uniquely you.’
LIL LEAGUE Debuts ‘LOCA’ in Bangkok
The release does not end at home. LIL LEAGUE has confirmed a performance in Thailand as part of Nippon Haku Bangkok 2026.
The group takes the stage on 28 August from 16:00 to 16:45 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. It marks the Thailand debut performance of ‘LOCA’, staged just two days after the single drops.
Nex and AA of BUS because of you i shine join the group on stage. The collaboration moves from the recording to a live audience almost immediately.
That turnaround gives the single a neat shape. One track asks listeners to sit with themselves, and the other takes the group somewhere new.
