P-Pop’s female alphas G22 welcomes a new era of music with One Sided Love since their debut in 2022—and a new style and concept direction as well
G22’s sound has always been upbeat, energetic, and hip-hop inspired. Their powerful vibe with hard-hitting tracks, choreography, and performances has always shown in the concept, video, outfits, and overall style of the group. All of these choices are thematic and are in line with the music released. For G22’s first single, BANG!, their ensembles had a post-apocalyptic vibe. Loka, which was part of the soundtrack for the film Shake, Rattle & Roll Extreme, was all about punk rock. Since 2022, for this all-female rising star group, it’s vital they still keep their ‘alpha essence’. This strong and forward image is what makes them G22.
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However, the female alphas are nothing if not experimental with their taste and sound—how else are you supposed to grow as artists as a group and individually in this industry? With their most recent release, One Sided Love, G22 explores their musical range—that female alphas can be romantic, hurt, and that no matter how powerful or ‘alpha’ you are, navigating emotions can be tough as well.
“It’s our first dive into soft pop, a mellow genre that is great for easy listening,” G22 explains. “It feels light and refreshing.”
The track is exactly that—a sweet-sounding, pleasant tune with rich vocals from each of the three members AJ, Alfea, and Jaz. Sonically, One Sided Love is smooth and easy on the ears. Complementing it, stylistically, it’s spirited, vibrant, colorful, and animated. This shows in G22’s complete one-eighty with their concept art, teasers, and the music video for the track featuring Can’t Buy Me Love star Joao Constancia which was released Saturday, April 27.
AJ Yape, the group’s leader and main rapper, reveals to MEGA Style that she took the reins for G22’s new era’s art and style direction. “I proposed the gyaru style,” she shares. “Because it’s maximalist and it’s out of the box.”
In the 1990s, the dynamic and colorful look of the gyaru style emerged as a form of self-expression in Japanese fashion, the melting pot of creativity and innovation. They take pleasure in being loud, standing out from the crowd, their sartorial preferences inspired by the Mcbling and Y2K era of fashion—but everything is more. Loud, colorful, and dynamic, the gyaru style signatures include denim, hats, pleated skirts, animal prints, and fuzzy leg warmers. This direction into the maximalist fashion, which is an eclectic mix of patterns, colors, textures, and objects that leans into big and bold decision-making when it comes to color, pattern, texture, shape, and form, matches the song’s vibe and theme. “‘Yon ‘yong binibigay ng kanta,” AJ continues to say. “Maximized din ‘yong nararamdaman mo sa tao, the emotions, pero hindi ‘yon nababalik sa ‘yo, kaya ikaw lang ‘yong full-on blast.”
This is reflected in what the girls are wearing as compared to their ‘love interest’ in the music video Joao Constancia, who doesn’t return the romantic feelings expressed in the song—in turn, he only wears black as his ensemble.
The difference from the previous eras or tracks is evident in how the members went to pinks, golds, and blues and vibrance as opposed to G22’s usual punk rock and street grunge style. But according to the girls, this concept change doesn’t take anything away from their personalities. “It’s a matter of how you combine and form the clothing pieces,” AJ tells MEGA Style. “Even outside of G22, I own a lot of black and I rarely do bright colors, but I’m still me in One Sided Love.” Jaz continues to explain, “Every time we do color-coding, it’s always black or dark colors, so after a year, my whole wardrobe switched to those. But all of a sudden we’re going into color, and it’s a welcome change.” Alfea also shares, “‘Yong mga hindi ko nagagamit na vibrant dati, nagagamit ko na ngayon.”
It’s safe to say that the change does not stand in the way of the fundamental traits that G22 upholds—individualism, authenticity, and their personal touches. “We always have a say and it needs to be cohesive and show that we are a strong force together,” their leader says. “We take colors fit for the song, and comfort and safety to avoid wardrobe malfunctions, and personal opinions into play.”
On a closing note, the female alphas are not immune to unrequited love, lovesickness, and heartbreak. Powerful females are humans too, and expressing these emotions, feelings, and navigating them is important. “The thing with alphas and our whole messaging, it’s breaking stereotypes—no one fits in one box. We’re always evolving,” Jaz says. “So even if you think you’re not capable of being romantic or kilig and cutesy, you are. Everybody’s capable of something until life throws that experience at you and see how you respond.”
One Sided Love is G22’s response, and they have a lot more to offer with this new single. The track is out now on all streaming platforms.
Photos and Featured Image: UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP; G22 OFFICIAL (Via Youtube)
