# Lisa Talks About “SaWaDiKa,” Her Thai Roots, “Press Play,” and Her Journey
Thank you so much for being here. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the show. Congrats. You already have one of the biggest songs of the year. “SaWaDiKa” came out not even two weeks ago, and it was at over 70 million views on YouTube in just 24 hours. It’s the most viewed music video of 2026. The song also debuted at number one on Spotify’s Global Top Songs, and you debuted at number one on the iTunes worldwide chart. Come on, Lisa!
https://youtu.be/ZaZkn7ihS9o?si=pxP37u_CRybOGjYg
When you hear those kinds of numbers and feel that kind of love out there from your fans, what goes on in your head? What are you thinking?
“It’s crazy with the numbers. I have to give thanks to my Lilies and my BLINKs out there.”
The song very much puts your Thai roots out there with “SaWaDiKa.” Tell everyone what “sawadika” means.
“So sawadika means hello in Thai.”
“Sawadika.”
“Sawadika? So you have to say ‘sawadee krap.’”
“Huh?”
“Sawadee krap.”
“Sawadee krap?”
“Yes.”
“Sawadee krap. I say ‘sawadee krap,’ and then what does that mean?”
“It’s ‘Hello.’”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s different.”
“It’s different, yes.”
“Ah! Sawadee krap.”
“Sawadee krap. How are you?”
“I’m great.”
“Like that. Maybe next time when we meet each other, we just say hi in Thai.”
“We’ll say hi in Thai. Hi in Thai.”
“Yeah. And then can you teach me another thing? What would I say after sawadee kra?”
“What should I teach you? Oh, how about thank you in Thai? So it’s khop khun ka.”
“Khop khun ka. Hey, thank you for saying that.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Your pronunciation is super, super good.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“It’s on point.”
“I love it. On point.”
“Okay.”
## “Press Play”
You have more music coming, by the way. You have a new EP, “Press Play.” It comes out next month. How would you describe this EP?
“So this EP is about my journey from my roots to where I am right now, today. Yeah, and there’s a lot of Thai elements in the songs as well in the EP, and every single song, they have their own character, their own vibe. And when we combine it together, it’s like a movie. So you just press play.”
“That’s where you come up with ‘Press Play.’ Like, just go and enjoy.”
“Just enjoy it. Just press play and then sit back and relax.”
This is—if you go to Apple Music and you look for “Press Play,” this is what comes up. There’s “SaWaDiKa” and then mystery, mystery, mystery, mystery, mystery.
“Yes.”
“No one knows the names of the tracks. Is this because you don’t know the names of the tracks or…?”
“Come on!”
“Oh, you know them? You’re just not telling us.”
“Yes. It’s a surprise for my fans.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want a guess?”
“I mean, can you give me a hint on a different track name?”
“Hmm… Which one do you want to know?”
“Give me—”
“Which track?”
“Give me… What’s the next single you think?”
“It’s the track four.”
“Okay. Track four is the next single. And then do you want to give us a hint about what it could be called?”
“What can I—”
“Track four.”
“Oh, so it starts with T. Can you guess?”
“It narrows it down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, yeah. It definitely narrows it down. Yeah. Yeah, it could be.”
“Do you want to give it, like, a guess? T. Starts with T.”
“Maybe it’s called Track Four.”
“Wow. That’s—yeah, that’s good.”
“That’s not bad, right?”
“Yeah, I don’t know.”
“I just said a little hint earlier.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. You guys are like, hmm…”
“All right.”
“I don’t want to ruin it for fans, so I’ll let everyone guess.”
“Okay.”
“You said it earlier in the interview.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll have to go back and rewatch and I’m going to start analyzing. It starts with a T.”
## “Always Lalisa”
I also want to congratulate you on your documentary, by the way. “Always Lalisa.”
“Always Lalisa.”
The movie follows your journey, your solo album, Coachella, you getting cast in “The White Lotus,” which you were great in, by the way! That was phenomenal.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
“You were so great. I know you could sing. I know you can dance. I know you can do all that. But your acting was fantastic.”
“Thank you.”
“It was on point.”
“And in the documentary, by the way, two people that really believed in you was…”
“My mom and my dad.”
“Mom and Dad.”
“My parents, yes.”
They always… That’s really strong in the documentary, and I loved it. It’s charming. What does their support mean to you?
“I mean, I think my dad did a little manifest when I was young. He always called me a superstar. ‘Hi, my superstar!’”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“They’re like the big supporter.”
Was there ever a backup plan for you, or did you just know that you’d get to this point and this is what you wanted to do? That you just wanted to be a singer. Was that always your goal?
“I think so. Or maybe my B plan was… Plan B was a dance teacher, or maybe work as a performer at Disneyland.”
“Yes.”
“You know, wearing the costume.”
“A performer at Disneyland?”
“Yeah. Like a princess costume.”
“Yes.”
“Yeah. I’d love doing it.”
“Wow! All right.”
“Yeah.”
“Next time you come on, we have to do that.”
“Yes.”
## Lisa’s Las Vegas Residency
And then in November, you have a residency in Las Vegas.
“Yes.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Viva La Lisa!”
“Viva La Lisa.”
You’re the first ever K-pop artist ever to have a Vegas residency. And it sold out in, like, five minutes or something crazy. Congratulations.
“Thank you.”
“It’s all happening.”
“Yes.”
“And you deserve all of it.”
“It’s happening.”
“You deserve all of it. Have you started thinking about what the show looks like? Have you started rehearsing yet?”
“Oh, I haven’t started, but I’m going to start soon. And it’s going to be four shows.”
“Okay. Four shows.”
“Yes.”
“Can’t wait. I’m super excited.”
“Congratulations. Sold out.”
“Thank you.”
## Lisa Brings Thai Food to “The Tonight Show”
Since “SaWaDiKa” is a celebration of Thailand, you wanted to bring a little taste of Thailand to “The Tonight Show,” and you brought your favorite Thai recipe.
“Yes.”
“Okay, now I have it here. What is this here?”
“Ooh, it smells so good.”
“It does.”
“It’s som tam. It means a papaya salad. Have you ever tried before?”
“Som tam?”
“Som tam.”
“Som tam.”
“Yes. And it’s… papaya?”
“It’s papaya salad. So you chop, chop the papaya and mix it with like a…”
“I like how you say papaya.”
“Papaya.”
“And this is a dry shrimp.”
“Do you want to try? I’ll try with you.”
“You will? Okay.”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Are those little eyeballs?”
“Don’t look, don’t look.”
“Don’t look. Okay. Here we go. That one I like.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s salty. Real salty. That’s really salty.”
“And how about this?”
“All right.”
“That looks super spicy.”
“Are you good at spice?”
“I’m okay with spice. Should I try? Yeah. What is this? This is just—”
“A Thai chili.”
“A Thai chili.”
“Just a little, tiny bit.”
“Okay. Holy moly! Are they all this spicy?”
“Yeah. It’s not that bad.”
“They’re all spicy.”
“It’s all spicy. Maybe I just got a real spicy one. Holy. I want to…”
“Do you want water?”
“…drink that fish sauce. Yeah, something. Something has to go on. No, I wanted to do—I want to do this.”
## Lisa’s Special Drink Recipe
“Ooh! Because we also brought this to cheers you.”
“Yes.”
“Now, what are we doing here? And what is this called?”
“It’s my special tea recipe.”
“Ohh!”
“Like, you just mix a little Korean soju here.”
“Soju, yeah.”
“And Thai beer together.”
“Okay.”
“And finish with Sprite. Do you want to try?”
“What do you mean, finish with Sprite? By the way—”
“Okay.”
“Whoo!”
“Okay. Okay. So… Okay. Are you ready?”
“Oh, I’m—yes. What are the steps? It’s soju here.”
“One. One shot of soju.”
“And then Thai beer. Oh, a shot of beer.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, this is fun.”
“And then we finish up with Sprite.”
“How did you find out this recipe?”
“Online.”
“How do you find everything out?”
“Why not? But it’s my—yeah, it’s my special one.”
“And then you just…”
“Come on. Are you kidding me? I’m honored. Here’s to you.”
## “Mot Gaew”
“Can I teach you one more thing in Thai?”
“Yes, please.”
“When you cheers, you say mot gaew.”
“Mot…”
“Gaew.”
“Mot gaew.”
“It means bottoms up.”
“Bottoms up!”
“Mot gaew!”
“Mot gaew!”
“Yes! I love it!”
“Yes!”
“Lisa, everybody. ‘SaWaDiKa’ is out now. More ‘Tonight Show’ after the break. Stick around.”
