Maymay Entrata opened up about the story behind her hit song "Amakabogera."
In an interview with Billboard Philippines, she shared that the track was offered to her in 2021, during a time when she was thinking of leaving showbiz. "Nung 2021, lahat natutunan ko na except sa singing field, tapos kasi 'yung 2021, talagang muntik na akong bumitaw. Almost gave up. You feel like so stuck. I've tried everything but I felt like I was not happy," she recalled.
At that moment, ABS-CBN offered her a chance to release a song. "Thankfully, ABS-CBN reached out to me and then they told me that they are going to give me a song. Pop song daw. Dahil hindi ko pa po alam 'yung takbo ng musika, as an artist sa musika, bale hinahayaan ko lang po 'yung sarili kong mag-explore ng kahit anong genre hanggang sa mahanap ko ano 'yung para sa akin," she recounted.
Before the song was written, she asked to meet with the team so they could understand what she was going through and reflect that on the song.
"Sabi nila, 'Okay, we're gonna compose a song for you.' Sabi ko, 'Sir before you're going to compose a song for me po, can we have a meeting just so you know what's the status here, mentally and emotionally?' Gusto ko kasi kung gagawa sila ng kanta na talagang konektado sa kung ano 'yung pinagdadaanan ko at that moment po," she shared.
A month after the meeting, she received the demo for "Amakabogera" and was immediately moved by the song’s message.
"Pinakinggan ko grabe talaga, sabi ko, 'Wow sobrang ganda nito.' Naiyak ako kasi 'yung 'Amakabogera,' 'yun talaga 'yung mensahe sa pinagdaan ko po, talagang nag-resonate siya sa akin talaga. Naiyak din ako kasi hindi ko alam kung maabot ko ba siya tapos doon na nagsimula that I am really serious na po," she said.
Determined to give the song justice, Maymay spent the following months preparing for the recording.
"[Sabi ko sa kanila], 'Alam niyo po bibigyan ko ng hustisya ang kanta na 'to. Bigyan niyo po ako few months to talagang seryoso talaga na mag-take ng lessons po ng vocal. Tapos dun na nagsunod-sunod na siya hanggang sa na-realize ko habang nagi-improve habang natutunan ko 'yung singing, napamahal po ako," she said.