Meet Jayi, the Fil-Am soloist trading idol dreams to groove to self-produced dance tracks

Photo from @official__jayi/X

There’s a new Bay Area Filipino-American solo artist on the path to debuting and she may just inspire fellow young Filipinas to pursue their dreams on their own terms. Get ready to meet girl group trainee-turned-independent artist Jayi.

Jayi is out to reinvent herself after signing with newly reestablished Lumipad Collective, a network connecting rising Bay Area talents. She has been building her portfolio with acting credits under the name JG Aganan, music production credits as J.G. for fellow young artists like Nikita, and you may also remember her as Pocky of four-member girl group Pvndorv.

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Jayi put her idol aspirations on pause after announcing her departure from Pvndorv on Oct. 2. “It pains me to say that I must part ways with Pvndorv. I haven’t been active lately due to my health and life catching up with me. And I didn’t want to hold the rest of my sisters back,” she wrote in a handwritten letter. “I will still keep in touch with the girls because we are family and we will help each other behind the scenes.”

🍥💜#PVNDORV_JAYI #PVNDORV #PVNDORV_MUSIC pic.twitter.com/qn3v7QnUW6

— PΔNDORΔ OFFICIAL (@PVNDORVOFC) October 1, 2023

Gearing for the release of her first EP, Jayi’s self-produced tracks are said to have hard-hitting beats influenced by her background as a dancer and lyrics in Filipino and English weave stories about her Filipina-American upbringing.

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Jayi’s recent performance for Spectrum’s 10th anniversary showcase teases how she can sing and dance.

@0fficial__jayi Replying to @Dejie SOLO by Jennie SING DANCE Cover by me !! ♦️🃏 #kpop #kpopcover #kpopdance #kpopcoverdance #kpopdancechallenge #kpopdanceteam #kpopinpublic #blackpink #solo #jennie #edit #trainee #yg #ygentertainment #niziproject2 #runext #a2k #iland2 #viral ♬ Killin′ Me Good – JIHYO

Will we be seeing more of her moves for the upcoming release of her EP? Guess we’ll have to wait to find out.