Draft:Moka (singer)

Moka Sakai (境 萌花; born October 8, 2004), known mononymously as Moka (모카), is a Japanese singer and dancer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Illit under Belift Lab, having finished fifth place in JTBC and Belift's girl group reality survival television show R U Next? in 2023.

2004–2023: Early life and pre-debut activities
Moka Sakai was born on October 8, 2004 in Fukuoka, Japan into a family consisting of her grandparents, parents, and younger sister. In 2020, Sakai became a trainee under Hybe Labels Japan for three years before participating in R U Next?.

2023-2024: R U Next? and debut with Illit
In 2023, Moka participated as a contestant in the South Korean girl group reality survival show R U Next?, a competition to determine the final members of Belift Lab's first girl group. As one of the six successful contestants, she went on to debut as a member of the newly formed girl group Illit.

On February 13, 2024, Belift Lab officially confirmed that Illit will be debuting in March of the year. Weeks later, the label revealed the name of Illit's extended play debut, Super Real Me. The extended play (EP) was released on March 25, 2024, alongside the release of the music video for its lead single "Magnetic". "Magnetic" debuted at 91 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Illit the fastest K-pop female act to enter the chart and the first one to do so with a debut single. Super Real Me managed to sell over 380,000 physical albums worldwide upon its first week of release, and debuted at number 93 on the Billboard Global 200, charting for 6 weeks. By late April, the album had surpassed 500,000 sales.