There’s a knock at the door. You’d better answer it.
That is the energy AYO brings, and it is baked right into their name. Derived from the Cebuano word maayo, meaning talented, the name doubles as a call for attention–something you cannot ignore. For a seven-member boy group from Davao making their entrance onto one of music’s most competitive stages, the metaphor could not be more fitting.
Composed of Justin, Renzo, GV, TJ, Enzo, Zack, and Patrick, AYO is the latest P-Pop act to join Sony Music Entertainment’s growing roster. Their pre-debut single “I’m Him” lands like a declaration, with booming hip-hop production, layered textures, commanding vocal arrangements, and a message that dares you to question who you are and own it anyway.
Produced by Paolo Lofranco, the track was, remarkably, written before the group even existed. “It is a song he already made even before AYO was formed,” the group shares.
“Undoubtedly, it captures the core of AYO’s DNA.” That kind of serendipity is hard to manufacture, and it shows. “I’m Him” does not sound like a group trying to find their identity. It sounds like a group that already has one.
That identity is rooted in contrast. The seven members come from varied backgrounds and bring different strengths to the table, and rather than smoothing those differences out, AYO leans into them.
“Instead of letting that highlight our individuality alone, we turn it into a collective advantage,” they explain. The result is music that feels both chaotic and refined, raw and polished, personal and communal all at once.
The music video, directed by ODS Productions, visualizes this duality with striking clarity. Industrial warehouse settings, gritty, unfiltered, kinetic, give way to sleek helipad sequences that feel elevated and cinematic. Two worlds, one group, one identity. It is a visual thesis statement for everything AYO is trying to say.
What makes AYO particularly worth watching is not just the sound. It is where they come from. Davao, the largest city in Mindanao, has long existed on the periphery of the Philippine entertainment industry, which has historically centered itself in Manila. A Sony-backed P-Pop group emerging from that geography feels significant, and AYO seems aware of the weight they carry. Their partnership with ODS Productions, also Davao-based, is not incidental. “We look forward to growing this partnership further and building a stronger, more active creative community in Davao and eventually across Mindanao,” they say. This is a group thinking beyond the debut.
At its core, “I’m Him” is about self-possession. It is the kind that does not need validation, only expression. It reframes difference as strength and imperfection as part of the package, delivered through a sound that is unapologetically big. For a generation of music fans raised on authenticity and tired of manufactured polish, it is a compelling introduction.
AYO is a new argument for what P-Pop can sound like, where it can come from, and who it can speak to.
The door is open. Walk through it.