New rap, electro-pop & love tracks to enjoy last days of summer
As listeners start to say goodbye to summer and welcome the rainy days, they may add new songs from Shanti Dope, No Lore, BINI and Young Cocoa to their daily playlist.
Shanti Dope’s Maya pays tribute to his generation that breaks barriers and conventions. Paumanhin by No Lore, on the other hand, is a song that illustrates how far love and loyalty can go.
BINI, for its part, quashes the hot season with the refreshing single, Pit A Pat, while Young Cocoa incorporates a bossa nova sample as foundation for the rest of Nova’s beat.
Shanti Dope’s Maya Shanti Dope has dropped an astounding new single titled Maya, written with the goal of becoming a strong anthem for the new generation in mind.
Clocking in just a little over three minutes, Maya is an exuberating rap track with a hypnotizing hook that only the young Rap Phenom along with producer Lester Paul “Klumcee” Vaño can deliver.
It is, in fact, Shanti Dope’s tribute to his generation: A new class of Filipinos breaking barAfter riers, conventions, and what it takes to be who they want to be. It is an anthem of defiance, where each “Ey, kamusta?” is met with the assurance that Shanti — and all who share his relentless spirit — can only go bigger, higher, and stronger.
The bravely-executed hiphop masterpiece song was inspired by today’s youth, who’s never shy to hustle and to be much more progressive and liberal in their own little ways. Just like the bird maya, which is, of course, ubiquitous here in the Philippines, the song firmly believes that the youth of today has unrelenting determination to soar higher and value freedom.
The infectious song details how Millennials and Generation Z alike can stand out and prosper in life since they prove to be the more enlightened and free-thinking generations compared to the older ones. Its lyrics are direct to the point and technically brilliant, reminding listeners that we should not doubt the capabilities of the young ones. We should feel hopeful and root for them instead because they have lots of things to prove, especially in the face of adversity.
Shanti Dope and the rest of his crew knew that they wanted the music video to be a no-brainer interpretation of the whole idea of the song. Better watch out for it soon.
It doesn’t hurt that its triumphant horns, memorable hook, and Shanti’s signature flow make Maya a banger of a song that can rock a sold-out stadium.
Listen to Maya on digital streaming platforms.
No Lore’s Paumanhin
No Lore continues to garner streams on Spotify with its first Tagalog single Paumanhin, written and produced by the sibling altpop duo, co-produced by Ean Aguila of Ang Bandang Shirley, and mixed and mastered by RJ Mabilin of Tiny Blue Space. Paumanhin has set the record for No Lore’s most streamed single, garnering 100,000 streams within a month.
debuting on Spotify’s New Music Friday Philippines editorial playlist, Paumanhin has since been added in several top OPM playlists on Spotify including Pinoy Indie Mix, Tatak OPM and OPM Rising. The indie-pop track was also added in Digster PH’s Hot Hits Sa Pinas, Indie Go, Oh! Pinoy Music and Topsify Philippines’ Hot and Rising playlist, gaining more than 50,000 monthly listeners for No Lore on the famous music streaming app Spotify. A big feat for an indie (and pandemic) artist. No Lore took to its socials to thank listeners for the support.
Its goal is to continuously release a new song produced and arranged by Jerald based on a poem and painting that Tita Halaman herself creates, which the duo eventually wants to compile and publish.
Paumanhin is a song that illustrates how far love and loyalty can go, letting listeners feel and understand the emotions of someone who cannot let go and change their perspectives and feelings, regardless of the blaring incompatibilities, wrongs, and hurt. The meaning of the song can further be appreciated in the music video – the contrasting but complementing colors paired with hauntingly beautiful visuals are used as imagery for the chaos and beauty of loyalty.
While No Lore continues to rise on Spotify, the live indie music scene has also been opening its doors for the sibling alt-pop duo this year as it performed live for the first time in saGuijo just last April. No Lore has also been invited to be guests in one of the episodes of the podcast Tsaastrology, and to perform for Letters and Music, iWant ASAP, PhilSTAR, MYX, and several college events, including UP COSMOS: An OPM Festival.
BINI’s Pit A Pat
P-Pop girl group BINI quashes the scorching hot season with its refreshing summer single, Pit A Pat, that is out now on various digital music platforms.
Following its successful debut album Born To Win, which charted in multiple territories on iTunes, BINI members Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna and Sheena continue to make a statement through their music, this time asserting that the heart must beat louder for one’s dreams via Pit A Pat.
The dreamy electro-pop track was originally written by Korean singer-songwriter Sophia Pae with music composition and arrangement by Rohan and Ddank. Pit A Pat was penned in a mix of English and Filipino lyric — with the BINI girls taking part in the songwriting for the Filipino parts — against the backdrop of tropical beats and a symphonic rhythm, complemented by the empowering message of keeping headstrong through life’s obstacles and distractions.
This year, BINI collaborated with its sibling group BGYO for the song Up and also joined forces with SB19 for the new version of Kabataang Pinoy as the theme song of Pinoy Big Brother Kumunity Season 10 teen edition.
The girls of BINI likewise showed off their on-point vocals and dance skills at the first-ever PPOPCON 2022 along with other P-Pop groups in April, where they performed the singles Born To Win, Golden Arrow and Da Coconut Nut.
Recently, BINI Sheena’s dance cover of Zoom also earned a stamp of approval from its original artist South Korean rappersinger Jessi, who even shared the video on her Instagram Story. The viral video has over 45.7M views on TikTok as of this writing.
Get regular updates by following BINI_ph on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribing to the group’s official YouTube channel, BINI Official.
Young Cocoa’s Nova After landing on several highprofile playlists curated by some of the biggest names in K-Pop, Filipino singer-songwriter-producer Young Cocoa returns with Nova, his new single under panregional label, OFFMUTE.
Incorporating a bossa nova sample as foundation for the rest of the beat, the prolific hiphop artist raps about young love with awe-inspiring giddiness, and delivers one of the breeziest crossover tunes to come out in a while.
The smooth bop was produced by Cavill, who captured the energy of the lyrics with undeniable ease. It will be part of his upcoming debut EP to be released in the latter part of 2022.
“We wanted to create a song that was an easy listen, had a lot of bounce, and felt ‘bubbly’ in the same way the lyrics were written,” reveals the rising Asian rapper. “Nova’s creation really just started off of the exploration of a different sound, and progressed into a song that I wrote about having an innocent crush, or puppy love. The title is directly inspired by my favorite snack, Nova and the use of bossa nova elements in the production.”
The song comes with a performative visual that aims to bring to life the single art inspired by Wes Anderson in some capacity. Young Cocoa adds, “The video is set in sunrise, midday, and sunset, where I basically perform as if I’m talking about/to the person I like.”
The Manila chart-topper also tapped filmmaker friend Miko del Rosario to direct the Nova MV with Leo Malli as DOP.
Check out Young Cocoa’s Nova on all digital music platforms via OFFMUTE.