“I want to share HANA as an affirmation of our humanity,” HANA member CHIKA tells Apple Music about the group’s eponymous first album. Formed in 2025, HANA brings together seven members selected through No No Girls, the group audition project launched by BMSG in collaboration with rapper-singer Chanmina. Following their first single “Drop” in January 2025, HANA released a string of new songs throughout the year, each generating major buzz. With seven distinct personalities, the members of HANA clash with and elevate one another so that the group bloom as one despite their differences. “I want people to really feel why the seven of us are together,” NAOKO says. Here, CHIKA and NAOKO walk us through several tracks from the album. “Drop” NAOKO: “This is a simple, cool song that lets us go back to our roots. It was the first song we filmed a music video for—we were constantly reassuring each other. It really made me feel that this was the true beginning of HANA.” “ROSE” CHIKA: “After going through No No Girls and debuting as HANA, I felt this was the only song we could start with. I sing it wanting to show something real and human.” NAOKO: “You can really feel the conviction in Chanmina’s lyrics—that HANA will absolutely bloom, that we’ll be all right. All of us have put in some hard work. It’s become a real source of strength for me.” “Burning Flower” NAOKO: “We worked out the choreography together, with CHIKA taking the lead. The song went through quite a few versions before its release, and each time we adjusted the routine accordingly—we were putting everything into it.” CHIKA: “It was so hard that by the end, we all just burst out laughing. I think that might have been the moment we really became close. And by the way, the scene in the music video where I breathe fire isn’t CGI—I actually did it.” “Blue Jeans” NAOKO: “At first I found the lyrics and melody thrilling, but the more I got to know the song, the more I began to understand how Chanmina must have felt when she wrote them. I could feel how much love she had poured into it.” “NON STOP” CHIKA: “After ‘Blue Jeans’ and ‘My Body’ were released, it felt amazing to just come out swinging with this one. HANA is at its coolest when we really let our strong side show though, and Chanmina’s ideas are always so exciting.” NAOKO: “I was so grateful when I heard my verse: ‘Watch my dreams from down below.’ Those aren’t words that come easily to me; they’re things that I have wanted to say at times but never quite could. I was constantly telling myself to try harder, and this song fires me up again. It makes me think that I can go further and push harder.” “Cold Night” NAOKO: “CHIKA and I have the same lyrics, but the way we sing them is so different. I try to sing like no one is watching, and so I love it when CHIKA just comes in and lets it all out. There are so many obstacles when you are chasing your dreams, and sometimes you have to fight against loneliness—but this song shows you it’s important to keep going. It would make me so happy if this song encouraged others who are chasing their dreams just like us.” “Bloom” NAOKO: “What I really like is how a girl with real backbone delivers a serious message in such a pop way. I sometimes smile when I’m having a conversation about serious stuff myself—I think that that makes both people in the conversation happier.” CHIKA: “We’d always opened festivals with ‘Drop’, but we started saying it might be time to switch things up and try something new, so we decided to make a track that really has some impact and is easy to move to. We were stuck on the hook, and then KOHARU suddenly sang, ‘Bet it all’—and that was it. We just knew that this was the one.” “Tiger - HANA with HONEYs Ver.” CHIKA: “This is the song that I’m most attached to. The recording comes from a performance we gave during our fan meeting tour, and you can hear our fans—the HONEYs—on it. That always makes me emotional.”