Fifth Harmony: Pretty Little Fighters

Girl groups were supposed to have been kaput when The X Factor threw together five ambitious teens with hard-knock childhoods. But as Fifth Harmony finally attains the upper reaches of the Hot 100, the tight-knit group finds itself “traumatized” by the strain of prepackaged fame, isolated from family and struggling to stay balanced. Now, they’re eager to assert their opinions on the industry, politics and Kanye West: “We finally have a damn voice.”

- Chris Martins

At 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday in late March, the face of sisterhood is not made up with bold hues, framed by perfect tendrils of teased hair or complemented by faux furs and glittery fabric. Here in the living ­room-like cafe of a boutique hotel on a quiet street in West Hollywood, the women ofFifth Harmony gather in various states of self-styled and still-sleepy. Despite living out of suitcases for much of the past two years, when they're with each other, they seem at home. And as confident as their photo shoots would have you believe.

Dinah Jane Hansen, who is 18 and wears a baseball cap that reads "HOT SAUCE" and a crewneck sporting 2Pac's face, sums up the group's current mood by quoting her hero, UFC champ Ronda Rousey: "I'm not a do-nothing bitch!" It's a message the others are eager to get behind as they enter what may prove to be the most hard-fought phase of their collective career. "We finally have a damn voice," says Hansen. "We feel like actual artists. We were little babies in the ­beginning. Now we're becoming big girls."

That's a handy narrative as Fifth Harmony prepares to release its second album,