The word “Raya” has diverse origins and meanings. In Indonesia and Malaysia, the term is associated with greatness or grandness, like in the phrase “Hari Raya,” which means grand celebration or feast. The word is also akin to the Sanskrit “rajan” and the Hindi "rajah,” a title bestowed to kings and princes. In the Philippine south, the latter term has ties to the royal lineages of old.

But these days, the word will represent something else. It will mean sass, verve, and energy. It’ll also mean sugar, spice, and everything nice, as it's now the moniker of a new P-pop group called, you guessed it: Raya.

This vivacious sing-and-dance-pop group includes nine young ladies: Abel, Anna, Ash, Aviona, Jemima, Kash, Priscilla, Rona, and Sofia. In the tradition of Pinoy pop, they are the product of "a curated group of talents who can perform at a high level and individually, each offering their own unique star power," so to speak.

According to Raya’s label Viva Records, the group is still pre-debut. But in the fast-paced world of Pinoy pop, you have to launch-quick or get left behind. So, Raya dropped a quickie single with a cover of a Manila sound-era gem in “Bongga Ka Day!”

While it retains elements of the original, this is not your grandma’s disco-themed Coco Banana (look it up!) pop anthem. Raya’s “Bongga Ka Day!” has been put through the wringer and out comes this candy-coated, synth-pop tinged bop. Raya’s energy on this record is infectious, and their sparkle and fizz propels this forward. They don’t go overboard though and still leave much of the original melodies to appreciate here. And there’s a bit of fascination too when I think of the almost 50-year gap between Raya and Hotdog, the original singers of tune. I doubt that the girls of Raya will ever get to wear a Pitoy Moreno, whose name was mentioned in the song, but they ace the “bongga” part beautifully. I mean who doesn’t like bubblegum pop now and then? Check out their performance video for “Bongga Ka Day” for some visual cotton candy.

And zinging up sparkly gems is the order of the day for Raya. Still not their “official debut” mode, Raya recently dropped a performance video cover of Sarah Geronimo’s “Kilometro” on YouTube. Now R&B inflected dance with a club vibe seems a better fit for Raya. For one, they got the vocal duties down pat, which is saying something, as this is originally a Sarah G track. Second, they can strut their stuff, as they do decked in denim glam outfits whilst performing in an all-white rehearsal space.  If these pre-debut singles are a portent of things to come, then Raya is off to a good pre-start.

If you’re already surfing YouTube, check the music video for Rob Deniel’s single titled “Happy Ending.” I haven’t had the chance to listen to Rob’s latest and “seeing” it with the official music video completes his vision for this particular song for me. Rob is one of the leading proponents of retro pop right now; naturally “Happy Ending” falls under the category. But beyond pop music categories, Rob is just dropping one catchy song after the other. This one included. The MV shows Rob Deniel in day-dreaming mode, wondering what it would be like to end up with a cutie like Hyacinth Collado who’s the eye-candy in this Kelvin Guzman-produced, Jason Max-directed video.