GARY V AND JULIE ANNE LEAD NEW BATCH OF COLLABS
The latest music releases celebrate the power of collaboration. Joining forces are Julie Anne San Jose and Gary Valenciano in a love ballad, which also marks a partnership to promote Southeast Asian music around the world. Other new singles also spotlight cross-border collabs between local and overseas Filipino artists.
Julie Anne San Jose & Gary Valenciano's
Di Ka Akin The Asia’s Limitless Star and Mr. Pure Energy have teamed up for a love song. Julie Anne San Jose and Gary Valenciano just dropped Di Ka Akin under Universal Records (UR).
Celebrated as two of UR’s most sought-after artists for many years, this collaboration is a welcome treat for their long-time fans. The track features a hypnotic mellow vibe, giving listeners an opportunity to unleash emotions during the times when they feel like they can’t move on from a lost love.
With Julie Anne’s writing and vocals on full display in the ballad, Gary V. couldn’t help but say yes to the collab in a heartbeat. For the OPM icon, artists like Kapuso singeractress don’t come often so he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to work with her. And if you ask Julie Anne who wrote this song last year, the whole experience about this collaboration was a dream come true.
Di Ka Akin is also the first release after Universal Records Philippines announced its official partnership with Singapore-based music label Cross Ratio Entertainment. The partnership aims to strengthen and promote Southeast Asian music around the globe and bridge the gap between artists and audiences in neighboring countries.
Di Ka Akin is now streaming on Spotify.
KaixAaron & Maki's Thinkin 'Bout Your Smile
Tarsier Records’ up-and-coming artists KaixAaron and Maki present the lighthearted feeling of being in love in their first-ever collaboration Thinkin ‘Bout Your Smile, an R&B track with an upbeat tempo and a little retro sound.
The L.A.-based duo of KaixAaron said they initially worked on the song in 2021. “We decided to come up with a feel-good type of song. After a while, with the help of the talented producer named Felipe, we were able to create this wonderful track,” Aaron recalled.
The latest Tarsier Records release, which combines English and Tagalog lyrics, was meant to have a specific vibe. Kai shared, “That beingwith-someone-for-a-while kind of vibe, having the feeling of knowing you went through so much together but at the end of it all, you could say ‘I love you’ to each other with no remorse.”
Meanwhile, for their collaborator and co-writer Maki, Thinkin ‘Bout Your Smile sends a positive message to listeners. “The world is in chaos right now but somehow, being able to have the thought that someone special to you is happy and smiling — it’s everything you ever need to try and be more optimistic,” he said.
Before their latest release, KaixAaron dropped their singles and under Tarsier Records.
Maki, on the other hand, previously released two singles under the same label, Halaga and Para Sa Buwan, both of which he co-wrote.
Thinkin ‘Bout Your Smile is out now on various music platforms.
JRLDM & Chyno With A Why's Fade Away
Warner Music Philippines celebrates OPM by releasing the collaboration of local R&B rising star JRLDM and Beirut, Lebanon-based rapper and producer Chyno With A Why?. The single, simply called Fade Away is a highly infectious ditty that melds modern hip-hop and R&B with a distinctly Pinoy flavor. A song mainly about everyday trials, and the hope of overcoming them and heading into better days, Fade Away is the first collaboration between Warner Music artists from the Philippines and the Middle East.
The Bataanborn JRLDM, whose style blurs the lines between hip-hop and R&B, has earned more than two million streams online and continues to get better with his career under Music Colony Records, a sub-label of Warner Music Philippines. Chyno With A Why?, on the other hand, has been instrumental in spreading the hiphop gospel all the way to Beirut and the rest of the world. He is a rapperproducer, a founding member of the Street Culture and Urban Music Festival (S.C.U.M.) Week Festival, and was formerly part of the Lebanese hip-hop crew Fareeq El Atrash. The artist subsequently released his first full-length album in 2015 and has since consistently released material and collaborations with other notable artists in the region.
Despite initial hesitation over partnering with an international artist, JRLDM said his worries disappeared as soon as he started working on the track. He said of Chyno: “Since he is half-Pinoy, I guess there was a magic there that simply made everything easy… he is SUPER cool.”
The Filipino-Syrian Chyno With A Why?, on the other hand, said of JRLDM: “Working on music with him allowed me to reconnect with my heritage in more ways… and I was able to celebrate the strength of the Filipino people through this track. There are 12 million Filipinos working around the world, and so I hope this song connects to them — this is for them.”
Fade Away is released on digital streaming platforms under the Warner Music Philippines initiative GLOPM (which stands for Global Pinoy Music), a collaborative movement pairing domestic talent with Filipino talents thriving abroad.