Read the cover story by Gabriel Saulog of Billboard Philippines here. I won’t dwell too much about the cover and the article itself because you need to read it on their website or purchase your own physical copy!
“This cover wasn’t just for them. It was for us.”
When I saw ALAMAT and G22 on the cover of Billboard Philippines, I felt something shift.
It wasn’t just a proud moment for the two groups. It felt like something broke through. A silence. A delay. A waiting. For so long, fans have streamed in the background, hyped releases, fought algorithms, and explained over and over again why these artists deserve to be seen.
This time, we didn’t need to explain anything. The photo said it for us.
They’re not just idols. They are flag bearers. And this cover finally framed them that way.
What the Photos Say, Without Saying
The styling was bold, but not loud for loudness’ sake. It was intentional.
There was ALAMAT—rooted, sharp, clean but rich. Their presence wasn’t begging to be noticed. It demanded to be understood. And G22? They walked into that shoot with the kind of energy that doesn’t need to say “we’ve arrived.” You just feel it.
Some say their poses mirrored SB19’s older cover. Maybe. But if that was a mirror, it cracked. Because the image they gave off was uniquely their own. One word: palaban.
Together, the spread looked like a baton pass—not from one group to another, but from one phase of P-Pop to what’s next.
The Path to This Moment Was Not Sudden
This cover was not a surprise for those who’ve been watching closely. Both groups have been building toward it, one risk at a time.
After their RAGASA concert, ALAMAT slowed down public releases but seemed to regroup intentionally. Hiraya dropped. Then Sa’Yo Pa Rin Uuwi. Tracks that don’t try to top charts instantly, but linger. You hear them and feel them settle. There’s always something just around the corner with ALAMAT—like they’re pacing themselves while still leaving us breathless.
G22, on the other hand, took a louder route this year. Their Women’s Day release, Pa-Pa-Pa-Palaban, wasn’t subtle, and it didn’t need to be. It was exactly what it claimed to be: a sharp, rhythmic, femme-forward anthem that owned its timing. It didn’t just drop on Women’s Day. It spoke to it.
They didn’t appear on Billboard by chance. They were marching toward it—just with different tempos.
My First Time With Each Group
I still remember the first songs that introduced me to each of them.
With ALAMAT, it was Maharani. I thought, “Who are these guys?” Then I heard ILY ILY, and the deeper I listened, the more I noticed the multiple Filipino languages woven into their work. That wasn’t surface-level representation. That was intentional composition. That’s when I knew I was Magiliw.
G22 came to me a bit more suddenly. It was BANG. The hook was immediate. The confidence was unshaken. I didn’t need to warm up to them—I was already cheering by the second chorus.
And now? I’m a BLOOM, a Magiliw, a Bullet, and a ZAIA. I never liked choosing anyway.
Why Their Music Stays
Both groups have such different approaches to sound, but both stay with you in similar ways.
G22 has this rare ability to genre-hop while holding onto their voice. It Lies Within and One Sided Love don’t sound alike, yet both make perfect sense coming from the same trio. They sing about heartbreak, confidence, introspection—but always with grit. They never chase trends, but instead build tension and release in the way they arrange and perform.
And ALAMAT? I’ve said it before: theirs is the only discography I’ve ever called walang tapon. They’ve got upbeat bops and slower, ancestral-feeling tracks. Dagundong is more than a song—it’s almost like a thesis. Hala is the perfect song to introduce a new listener. It’s catchy, but full of layers.
The more you listen, the more you hear. It’s like their music is teaching you something quietly.
It’s in the Identity
P-Pop becomes most powerful when it stops trying to follow and starts remembering.
ALAMAT understood this from the beginning. You hear it in their use of regional languages. You see it in their visuals—symbolic, rooted in Filipino traditions, yet styled for the now. Aki Alamid’s presence in the group—his Indigenous pride, his visual strength—brings a type of representation that’s rarely seen in any music genre, not just P-Pop.
G22 may not lean into cultural elements in the same way, but they represent something just as powerful: a contemporary Filipina that’s not afraid to lead, take up space, and reframe what femininity looks like in a pop group.
Both groups say something about us. And they say it without apology.
Billboard Got It Right
It’s not just a cover. It’s a signal.
For a while, only SB19 and BINI seemed to break past the P-Pop ceiling. They still do. They’re at the frontlines, and deservingly so. But this? This moment with ALAMAT and G22 says: the future is not a copy-paste of what came before.
The scene is evolving. There are new leaders coming. Different sounds. Different roots. New reasons to listen.
Jao noting that there is no competition is sobering, especially when he emphasized that this tells them, those who debuted earlier, to work harder. AJ telling us that P-Pop embodies the fighting spirit of the Filipinos could just make your heart flutter.
This cover isn’t a next step. It’s a parallel one.
Looking Back: A Timeline That Tells a Story
ALAMAT debuted in 2021. kbye got their name out there, but Maharani made people turn around. They kept going with ILY ILY, later dropped Dagundong, and then gave us their solo concert, RAGASA. 2024 was quieter. But 2025 woke us up again—with layered tracks, gentle rollouts, and then this cover. The slow burn is intentional. You can feel it.
G22 debuted in 2022 with BANG and followed it up with Babalik, Defy, and Boomerang. But something shifted when One Sided Love dropped. Then came It Lies Within. They moved from being just another girl group to becoming the girl group to watch. Pa-Pa-Pa-Palaban made sure we never forgot.
I love the angle that the writer of the feature leads on, with both groups lamenting about losing some members along the way: ALAMAT starting with nine members and G22 being a former quartet. But the story emphasized how each one was able to find their rhythm, their direction, and that they both have no choice but to rise.
This feature on Billboard is not the peak. It’s part of the ascent.
Fandoms That Never Let Go
I honestly think this feature happened because the fandoms refused to let their support go quiet.
Magiliw. Bullets. These fanbases may not always trend daily, but when it’s time, they show up. I saw it in the polls. I saw it in the consistent voting, the stream guides, the magazine orders.
These weren’t passive listeners. They were co-builders.
The groups climbed. But the fans held the ladder.
Why They Matter So Much
They remind us that you don’t need to erase yourself to make art people care about.
You don’t need to sound like everyone else. Or dance like someone else. Or wait for mainstream validation.
You just need to keep showing up. Rooted. Sure of your voice. Willing to be vulnerable, even if it’s not trending.
ALAMAT and G22 are powerful because they don’t feel like products. They feel like people.
If They Ever Collab
Please. I would lose it in the best way possible.
Imagine ALAMAT and G22 coming together for a single. It would need to be heavy. Filipino. Multilingual. Not a festival song, but a statement track. Something that feels like both groups were given one chance to define who they are and decided to combine flags.
No one else can sing about heritage and heat the way they do. And vocally? Tomas, R-Ji, and Mo on one side. AJ, Alfea, and Jaz on the other. What a lineup.
Honestly, I’d give a kidney. (If only I was healthy.)
What I’d Say to Them
Padayon lang kamo.
Don’t rush. Don’t fold.
Even if the rollout is slow, even if the systems are not as fast as your ideas, even if the world looks away—keep raising our flags.
Because we see you. And we’ll keep watching. Not like fans at a distance, but like community holding space for what’s next.
And Us? We Do Our Part Too.
Not everyone can buy every issue. Not everyone can go to fanmeets or show performances.
But we can stream. We can talk. We can push back when people ask, “Why them?”
Because we’ve seen it. We know why.
We stream not just for numbers, but to understand their work. We recommend not because we want clout, but because we want others to feel what we feel.
And yeah, we’ll buy that Billboard PH issue. It’s not just a magazine. It’s memory. It’s milestone. It’s meaning. (Order yours here.)
So What Now?
I hope more covers like this follow. With more groups. Maybe KAIA will go first. Maybe Press Hit Play next. Maybe VXON. Maybe more soloists. Maybe a full fold-out issue just for P-Pop’s future.
But even if this is the only one for a while, I’m good. Because this one mattered.
And I’ll remember it every time I need to remind myself that being seen takes time—but when it happens, it’s worth it.
Final Words
ALAMAT and G22 did not just make it on a cover.
They stood there like they were born to be seen.
And we saw them—not as copies of another scene, but as leaders of a new one.
And that changes everything.
“P-Pop isn’t waiting to be discovered. It’s already here.”
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