Seeing Stars Under the K Bridge: Head in the Clouds NYC

by Eileen Ma, Aleisha Flores, and Sarah "Miya" Peter

OCT 1 2025

Vibrations resonated Under the K Bridge last weekend as 88 Rising’s Head In The Clouds Festival returned to NYC with a loaded lineup of upcoming and established Asian and AAPI artists. Despite a shortened one-day festival compared to last year’s two day event at Forest Hills Stadium, this year’s stacked lineup took Under the K Bridge by storm.

Among the opening sets, we witnessed Vietnamese DJ Adonix, hailing from San Diego, take the Double Happiness Stage with high energy EDM. The intimate set garnered a sizable crowd as the audience vibed out to his mix of upbeat K-pop tracks and Japanese citypop “Flyday Chinatown” (Adonix and Rikki remix). It was his first festival appearance, and a greatly successful one at that; you can catch another one of his sets in San Diego later this month if you’re in town for Niteharts festival. 

photo by casper yen 

Special guest Yuki Chiba from Tokyo appeared at the 88rising Stage opening with “SHINPAI MUYOU”, his collaboration with popular FPS game VALORANT. His set included songs like “Heart Emoji”, “Omote” and slower tracks such as “Moraimo” where the audience turned on their phone lights, creating a tranquil, touching moment during the performance. He then moved on to bring his friends on stage for “Team Tomodachi”, turning the stage into a party and closed out with high energy for the crowd-favorite, “Mamushi” (Megan Thee Stallion ft. Yuki Chiba), which incited the audience to shout the chorus with him: I'M A STAR STAR STAR.

photo by casper yen

Chinese artist KUN, aka Cai Xukun, took the stage by storm with a fire fit channeling rock star energy (embellished leather jacket, black pants, tank top, sunglasses, and sparkly jewelry) as his fans, donning glowstick cat ear headbands, cheered him on. His stage featured intricate cyber futuristic visual backdrops, vibrant lighting and rolling fog, backed with a full live band which he introduced mid-performance.

His set included hits like “Afterglow,” “Hard to Get,” and “Deadman”, as well as an unreleased song “Plastic Angels.” He also performed Jasmine, which he paused in between songs to comment on: “You know what, I f*cking love New York man! This is the city [that] inspires me a lot. I even shot a music video here, you guys see that? Alright, let’s get it!” (MV is “Jasmine”).

photo by chris mae

Canadian producer and DJ JUELZ shook the Double Happiness Stage with high energy bass music. He sported a fuzzy hat (part of his crushcore collaboration), a silver studded belt, and black oversized jeans with crosses. No stranger to the NYC energy as he successfully toured earlier this year for his ADRENACHROME tour, he dropped bangers from his new album ADRENACHROME:ZERO, along with teasing his unreleased collab with Kai Wachi, and closing with “Jeans” by 2hollis.

During his set, he introduced surprise guests Nina and Eric Reprid, who were on Twitch (see the livestream here). Following the end of his performance, he met fans in the crowd to sign memorabilia and take photos. You can catch him at his highly anticipated F2F with Chyl in LA this November. 

photo by esther kim

South Korean singer, rapper, and producer Gemini sported an all black fit as he jumped onto stage, accompanied by DJ POOL. His set included songs like “Bad,” “Love is Banned,” “Miles Away,” and “Body on Me.” South Korean Rapper Blasé, made an appearance for their collaboration song “Industry” and performed his solo song “Peace Out”. Following an outfit change, Gemini reappeared on stage to perform “Naked” and ended with “Rollercoaster.”

South Korean DJ duo GroovyRoom played a house and bass set, during which they brought out GEMINI, DAWN (former member of K-pop group Pentagon), Blasé and Okasian—aka AT AREA signed artists, to perform some of their solo songs. They also mixed in hits like “iffy” and “Yes or No” feat. Crush and Huh Yunjin, a couple NewJeans and Blackpink remixes, a “Fein” remix. IÖN showcased his keytar skills during the set and DAWN, GEMINI and Blasé performed “Attention” live together.

photo by esther kim

Half Filipino, half Indonesian headliner ISOxo, aka Julian Isorena, brought the hype with his signature trap remixes and insane energy. His crowdwork and set included hits such as “kidsgonemad”, “Nightrealm”, “STARsound, and “Energy.”  Fans went into a frenzy when he dropped his iconic line “open that sh*t up,” leading the packed crowd to jump, dance, and mosh under the bridge. He surprised with a wider selection of songs during his set, including a well received mix of “20 min” by Lil Uzi Vert into “Clarity” by Zedd, catering to the diverse music tastes of the HITC attendees.

We're looking forward to seeing what 88rising’s next moves are given the success of this HITC NYC Festival following their incredible LA run earlier this May.

Where will Clo land next?