After the trainee life, YARA charts its own path

ALMOST A DECADE AFTER MEETING DURING K-POP TRAINING, GELOU, ROCHER, AND CHRISTA ARE BUILDING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES IN P-POP.

- By SHAN AVREY MINGLANA

The three-member girl group YARA has a whole lot of history in the P-pop industry. Initially formed as a pre-debut girl group by SB19's previous management company, ShowBT Philippines, members Gelou Villanueva (main dancer and lead vocalist), Rocher Joyce Villa (lead rapper), and Christa Abigael Lei (main rapper and lead dancer) decided to leave the company in 2018 on a mutual agreement. But their musical journey did not stop there.

Not long after, they joined the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines' Pinoy K-Pop Star and placed third in the performance category in 2019. In 2021, they gained new wings to fly higher as they rebranded themselves as YARA, which means "small butterfly" in Arabic, and became the first ever grand winner of TV5's POPinoy. The group eventually gained traction and released their pre-debut single PARA to celebrate the anniversary of their POPinoy win in 2022.

It was apparent from the jump that they have what it takes to etch their name in the rise of P-pop along the likes of BINI and G22. In March 2023, YARA signed with Sony Music Philippines, officially debuting with their single ADDA (Apat Dapat, Dapat Apat).

Almost a decade into their journey as a group, we sat down with Gelou, Rocher, and Christa to talk about pursuing music independently, undergoing K-pop training, and