thoughts on local songs

I am extremely happy with the way the local music industry is progressing now. I'm not directly involved in it, whatsoever, but being a music lover, it makes me really glad that more and more people have begun to appreciate local music, especially the ones in other Filipino languages besides Tagalog.

Being Bisaya myself, I was ecstatic when I found out about Vispop. Based on my limited knowledge about it, it's an annual music competition for Bisaya songs, mostly from Cebu. I was already based in Manila because of my studies when this event started a few years ago, so it is a bit disappointing to have limited people to share my feelings about it. A lot of Bisaya songs have come out before this competition became a thing, but it was only through Vispop that I believe people of my generation became more interested in local Bisaya songs. Back in high school my favorite Bisaya song was "Ulipon sa Gugmang Giatay" (roughly translated as "Slave of Fucking Love") by The Ambassadors. 


Credits to owner of the video: normancairo

It's unfortunate that I can't find the official song anywhere. I don't even know how old the song is now, I would say more or less 10 years old. 

These days, Bisaya songs are more easily accessible. Vispop songs are everywhere, they're even on Spotify! I'm currently loving Von Saw and Aine Abella's "Imoha Ra Akong Kasing Kasing" (roughly translated as "My Heart is Yours Alone").


Credits to owner of the video: ArtistKo
Aside from accessibility, you can also see how the music evolved. Different sounds have entered into the scene these days, and it's a welcome change. And the change is not limited to that of the Bisaya music scene only, this has become a nationwide thing. A lot of independent artists and bands have conquered the music scene, and it has become very exciting. I especially like B.P. Valenzuela and Brisom, as of now.

All in all, I believe the Philippines is going towards a positive direction with regards to music.I hope more people, especially my countrymen, since Filipinos are quite the "self-judgers" as I'd like to call it, appreciate and support local music more. 

Here's a Spotify playlist I made with the local songs that I like (and that I can find in there, since there are still a lot of great artists out there, like Sam Concepcion haha). Enjoy!

P.S. I know it's quite ironic for me to write a Pinoy music appreciation post using English. It's unfortunate that I am not quite good in writing in Tagalog, let alone Bisaya. At school we weren't trained to write in Bisaya, and the English language was more often encouraged, even compared to Tagalog. I believe that should change soon, though. Learning should first and foremost be done in one's mother tongue, so as to facilitate easier learning, since you're gaining knowledge immediately instead of processing another language first, and also to let one become more culturally-rooted and thus promote love for country.