This story appears in V135: now available for purchase!

Seated on the couch in the living room of their Los Angeles home, the girls that make up Boys World give off the fun, relaxed vibe of the friend group you’ve always wanted. The natural camaraderie between the quintet—Olivia Ruby, Lillian Kay, Makhyli Simpson, Queenie Mae Villaluz, and Elana Caceres—is evident from the start of our Zoom call. When they’re not finishing each other’s sentences with a kind of telepathic intuition, they’re cracking each other up with inside jokes. At one point, Simpson asks what Coldplay’s “Yellow” sounds like and the other girls launch into the chorus, harmonizing effortlessly. It’s hard to believe that, just three years earlier, the girls were complete strangers.

Scattered around the U.S., forming a girl group was the last thing on their minds. While they all dabbled in singing, posting song covers and original compositions online, their lives were preoccupied with the worries of everyday teens. That all changed when, one by one, the girls got a DM from KYN Entertainment executives. In April 2019, Boys World (AKA “Best Of Your Self” World) was formed. The members relocated to L.A. and started the development process, dropping their debut single, the R&B-infused pop song “Girlfriends,” at the end of 2020. “It felt like the perfect girl anthem to debut with,” Caceres says.

The group followed “Girlfriends” with a string of catchy singles, including the empowering “Wingman.” The track is an anthem for single ladies everywhere, its upbeat lyrics reminding listeners that it’s “[not] a brand new thing / that a queendom doesn’t need a king.” Building a sizeable fanbase thanks to their repeat-worthy tracks, aesthetic personal styles, and creative music videos, Boys World’s efforts culminated in the 2021 debut EP, While You Were Out. Featuring a mix of existing singles and new songs, the EP explores various relationship pitfalls. The rap-infused “Tiptoe” calls out a cheater, while the ethereal “Touched by an Angel” warns an ambivalent SO to appreciate his girlfriend before he loses her.

While You Were Out marked the first project from a major U.S. girl group since Fifth Harmony’s split in 2018. “It can be nerve-racking, a little bit, knowing that the ‘Western girl group’ is kind of just us right now,” Villaluz admits. One way in which they’re setting themselves apart: social media. From comedic TikToks to #squadgoals Instagram photo shoots, Boys World provides a steady stream of behind-the- scenes content for their followers. Even when they’re outside of the studio, living together allows the band to keep their creative juices flowing. “We’ll start talking about Euphoria, and then end up talking about a single that we want to put out. It melds perfectly,” Simpson candidly shares.

Moving forward, the group hopes to continue honing their artistry and, eventually, release a cohesive set of singles that push the limits of their sound. As Kay explains, Boys World “didn’t know what we were” when they first started working together. Now, they’re ready to share the evolution of Boys World with a fanbase that’s come to identify with the girls and their music. “There’s so much to work on, and so much we want to put out there,” Villaluz says. The rest of the group chimes in with agreement: Boys World is in it for the long haul.

This story appears in V135: now available for purchase!