Project WAN is a Filipino P-pop boy group composed of Davey, Lem, Kylex, Marco, Riki, Calix, Harry, and Jacob. The members first became known through the survival program Be The NEXT: 9 Dreamers, where they built early recognition as trainees before coming together as a new group with a performance-driven identity.
The group introduced its pre-debut sound through UY!, a playful and energetic single that reflects their youthful charm, dance-focused appeal, and self-driven beginnings. With the tagline “WE ARE NEXT,” Project WAN positions itself as one of the new P-pop boy groups to watch as it builds its audience through music releases, dance content, campus performances, and fan-centered online activities.
Davey is a member of Project WAN. He is known as one of the group’s older members and brings a strong performer image shaped by his experience in talent programs and pre-debut P-pop activities.
Lem is a member of Project WAN. He is part of the group’s performance lineup and is known by fans from his previous survival-show appearances.
Kylex is a member of Project WAN. He brings a youthful, confident performer image to the group and is part of its core eight-member lineup.
Marco is a member of Project WAN. He is known for his musical background, including singing, songwriting, and playing guitar.
Riki is a member of Project WAN. He is part of the group’s dance and performance line and was previously known as Richard during Be The NEXT: 9 Dreamers.
Calix is a member of Project WAN. He is part of the group’s younger line and contributes to its energetic and creative image.
Harry is a member of Project WAN. He is part of the group’s younger line and is credited in connection with the lyrics of UY!.
Jacob is the youngest member of Project WAN. He brings youthful energy, dance skill, and fresh performance charm to the group.
Project WAN is an eight-member Filipino P-pop boy group composed of Davey, Lem, Kylex, Marco, Riki, Calix, Harry, and Jacob. The group formed from former contestants of the survival program Be The NEXT: 9 Dreamers, bringing together eight individuals who went through the pressure and visibility of a public talent competition and came out the other side with a shared goal: build something on their own terms. Their tagline, “WE ARE NEXT,” is not a passive statement of hope. It is a declaration of intent from a group that has already proven they can handle the process of being evaluated publicly and has chosen to keep going regardless of where that process left them.
What makes Project WAN’s origin story distinct in the current P-pop landscape is the independent, self-produced path they have chosen. Operating without a major label backing them, the group has built their pre-debut presence through music releases, dance content, campus performances, and fan-centered online activity. In a scene where most acts arrive with institutional support already in place, Project WAN is doing it a different way.
Be The NEXT: 9 Dreamers gave the members of Project WAN their first real exposure to the kind of public scrutiny that comes with survival competition in the idol space. That experience, being evaluated week by week, building fan support in real time, and developing performance skills under pressure, is a particular kind of training that no studio program fully replicates. It creates urgency, it builds resilience, and it tests whether the people going through it actually want to be there badly enough to keep showing up when the outcome is uncertain.
The eight members who came together as Project WAN answered that test by regrouping after the competition and choosing to continue as an independent act. That decision speaks to the kind of commitment that is harder to teach than any vocal or dance technique.
The name Project WAN carries multiple readings that all point in the same direction. WAN evokes “one,” framing eight individuals as a single unified force. It also reads as a play on “wan” in the sense of something striving and hungry, a group that has not yet arrived but is absolutely on the way. The “project” framing adds another layer: this is something being built deliberately, a work in progress with a clear destination. “WE ARE NEXT” completes the picture. Project WAN is not asking to be considered. They are stating their place in the sequence.
Project WAN made their first public move as a complete group on March 5, 2026 with the release of “UY!,” their pre-debut single. The title draws on the Filipino exclamation “uy,” a versatile word used to get attention, express surprise, or call someone out playfully, and the track matches that energy throughout. “UY!” is a playful, dance-forward pop song that introduces the group with the kind of accessible, high-energy presentation that works well for a pre-debut release aimed at building new fans quickly.
One of the more meaningful details about “UY!” is the creative involvement of the members in its production. Marco brings a musical background that includes songwriting and guitar, and Harry is credited in connection with the track’s lyrics, making “UY!” a release that carries genuine member authorship rather than simply being assigned to the group from outside. For an independent act without a label’s A&R infrastructure behind them, that internal creative capacity is both a practical necessity and a genuine artistic strength.
A group that can write and produce its own music is not dependent on external creative decisions for its artistic direction. Project WAN’s ability to contribute to the material they release means the music sounds like them because it is actually them, which is a different quality than a well-matched external production can provide.
Project WAN’s decision to operate independently rather than wait for a label deal is one of the more interesting choices any active P-pop group has made in the current period. The P-pop scene has largely developed around label structures, survival shows that funnel trainees into signed acts, and entertainment company systems that handle everything from training to marketing. Project WAN is building outside that framework, which creates real challenges and equally real advantages.
The challenges are obvious: less infrastructure, less promotional budget, less institutional reach. The advantages are less discussed but equally real. An independent group controls its own timeline, its own creative direction, and its own relationship with its audience without the friction that label relationships often introduce. Campus performances and fan-centered online activity are lower-cost, higher-intimacy ways to build a fanbase, and they tend to produce the kind of loyal, invested supporters who follow a group across years rather than just across trending moments.
Whether Project WAN uses this independent period as a bridge to a future label deal or builds a sustainable career outside the traditional structure remains to be seen, but the approach itself is worth watching as one of the clearer examples of what self-driven P-pop looks like in practice.
As of mid-2026, Project WAN remains in their pre-debut period with “UY!” as their only official release. Their fandom name has not yet been verified. What the group has established across that time is a clear identity, a survival show backstory that gives new listeners an immediate entry point into who these eight people are, a pre-debut single with genuine member creative involvement, and a platform presence built through consistent content and campus engagement.
The next milestone will be whatever follows “UY!,” whether another single, an EP, or an official debut, and that release will give the P-pop audience a fuller picture of what Project WAN is building toward. This profile on PPop Beats stays updated with Project WAN’s latest music, fandom name, debut developments, and every milestone as the group moves forward.
