Pinoys love K-pop artist Ailee’s rendition of Kahit Isang Saglit
Filipino-American musical director Troy Laureta knew right away that Korean pop star Ailee would be perfect for the remake of the OPM classic Kahit Isang Saglit for his Kaibigan: A Troy Laureta OPM Collective Vol. 1 album.
“I think it was kismet, fate. And Ailee has been wanting to do a Tagalog song, so I guess it was destiny,” he said.
When Ailee heard the Martin Nievera original for the first time, she immediately fell in love with its melody.
“I didn’t know what the song meant at the time, but I knew that the lyrics were going to be great,” said Ailee.
For a time, though, she got worried if she would be able to give justice to the song. She said, “I found out how much of an iconic song it was, and I thought to myself, the pressure!”
Luckily, she has a Filipino friend from high school who helped her with the pronunciations and Troy, who supported her virtually during the recording.
The experience has turned out wonderfully for the multi-awarded artist who popularized Heaven and Goblin’s OST I’ll Go To You Like The First Snow that she is looking forward to doing more Filipino songs in the future.
Netizens are raving over her interpretation of the Filipino classic. So if you have not heard it, I suggest you search it online.
Ailee’s version is powerful and soulful. The Korean-American artist’s music video on YouTube has elicited positive comments and thousands of views.
“I would love to do more Pinoy music and sing more in Tagalog. My fans in the Philippines loved the remake of
Kahit Isang Saglit,” she gushed. Ailee joined other world-class artists Cheesa, Jake Zyrus, Matt Bloyd, Nicole Scherzinger, Pia Toscano, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and Sheléa, for the massive project Kaibigan, which Troy identified as his “proudest moment as a musician.”
He said the OPM collection co-produced with ABS-CBN Music International gave him the chance to gather his friends from different parts of his life to sing Filipino ballads and showcase these songs to music listeners worldwide.
He particularly chose Kahit Isang
Saglit to be part of the album because it is the karaoke anthem of his father, whose favorite singer is Martin Nievera.
“I grew up with Martin’s music and he is my dad’s favorite singer. He is also from Hawaii,” revealed Troy, who grew up in Hawaii before moving to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams. He hopes that the new Kahit Isang
Saglit version he collaborated with Ailee can pay tribute to the legendary song. He said, “Tito Martin will forever be a legend, and I’m hoping I did his song justice.”
Troy, who has previously worked with phenomenal artists including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, shared that he is now officially working on Kaibigan Volume 2 with more surprises for music fans.
Check out Ailee’s Kahit Isang Saglit and the rest of the classic Filipino love songs remake in Kaibigan in various music streaming services.