2010s Biggest Trends in the OPM Scene

Mabuhay! Kumusta? It’s been a while since I have created my last blog post. I bet everybody’s enjoying the holidays. 🙂

We’re a few days away to 2020, which meant that this decade is about to end. In the OPM scene, a lot of trends have been set by the industry. Allow me to cite some of these trends.

ARTISTA-SLASH-RECORDING ARTISTS

This trend has been existent in the Philippine film and music industry since the advent of the studio system in the 1950s-1960s. Due to these artistas‘ monumental popularity, TV stations, film production companies, and recording companies have been seeing this still as a lucrative industrial practice. Such practice is not only a good offering to their fans, but also one of the effective marketing tools for every celebrity. Some of the actors who fall in this category are Anne Curtis, Alden Richards, Kim Chiu, James Reid, Nadine Lustre, and Ken Chan.

EX-KONTESERAS

Sarah Geronimo is undeniably one of the biggest superstars who had her roots from winning Star for A Night. While Geronimo has been reaching the “Tala” as a dance-pop singer, more and more singing competition alumni have been making waves in the industry.

Angeline Quinto started the 2010s generation of singing competition alumni when she won Star Power in 2011. Since the start of the decade, Quinto has been consistently commissioned to perform some of the theme songs for ABS-CBN’s drama series and Star Cinema’s movies.

Angeline Quinto’s winning song, “Patuloy Ang Pangarap”

KZ Tandingan broke the biritera mold when she won X-Factor Philippines in 2012. While most of her kontesera contemporaries showed their vocal prowess through stratospheric vocal ranges, Tandingan did another way. She showed her vocal prowess through improvisations, such as scats. Not to mention, she was shown such skill when she joined a Chinese singing competition called “Singer” in 2018.

The singing competition scene in the Philippine music scene looked bigger when a Filipinized franchise of The Voice went on-air. The Voice of the Philippines, as well as its counterpoints for younger singers (The Voice Kids and The Voice Teens), have produced some of the now-bigger names in the Philippine music industry, such as Daryl Ong, Morissette Amon, and Elha Nympha.

With the return of the Idol franchise in the Philippines, it gave names in the industry, such as Zephanie Dimaranan, as well as the iDolls Lucas Garcia, Enzo Almario, and Matty Juniosa.

Zephanie Dimaranan’s winning song, “Pangarap Kong Pangarap Mo,” written by Jonathan Manalo

iDolls Matty Juniosa, Lucas Garcia,and Enzo Almario with their cover of “Dalaga.”

Upon the return of Tawag ng Tanghalan on air in 2016 as one of the major segments of It’s Showtime, this homegrown brand has raked millions of views of its contenders’ performances and brought the TNT Boys (Francis Concepcion, Mackie Empuerto, and Keifer Sanchez) to stardom, here and abroad. It has also launched TNT Records, a subsidiary of Star Music for Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime alumni. Season 1 Runners-up Sam Mangubat and Froilan Canlas have also topped the MOR Dyis Is It charts this year. While it has produced three regular seasons, one kids’ edition, one celebrity edition, and an All-Star Grand Resbak, it is about to launch its fourth season this January 2020.

The TNT Boys’ first original song, “Together We Fly,” written by Chochay Magno.

Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime Season 2 Grand Champion Janine Berdin’s “Nasa Puso,” Kadenang Ginto’s theme song.

Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime Season 1 Grand Champion Noven Belleza’s winning medley of Air Supply’s songs.

Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime Season 3 Grand Champion Elaine Duran’s winning version of Shanti Dope’s “Nadarang.”

SOFT FEMALE VOCALS

Powerful voices have prevailed in the Philippine music industry for such a long time. However, it also paved way to the industry’s softest yet heartfelt vocals. In connection to hugot culture, ex-commercial jingle singer and The Voice of the Philippines alumna Moira dela Torre made her biggest break when she performed “Malaya” as the official soundtrack of 2016 film “Camp Sawi.”

Other singers followed suit, such as Janine Teñoso.

THE BURGEONING RAP SCENE

While the late Francis Magalona and Gloc 9 have been the most celebrated rappers in the Philippine rap scene, a lot of rappers followed suit. One of the biggest solo rap acts of the decade is Shanti Dope, who released the following songs: “Nadarang,” “MAU,” “Shantidope,” “Amatz,” and many more.

ALLMO$T’s “Dalaga” became widely popular when social media influencer Mimiyuuh’s video of her doing a wacky facial expression went viral on social media.

Social media influencer Mimiyuuuh’s humorous interpretation of the Dalagang Filipina.

Ex Battalion became one of the biggest groups in the Filipino music scene in 2017 when they released a heartbreak anthem, “Hayaan Mo Sila.”

Other rap artists that made their name in the 2010s Filipino rap scene were Panty Droppaz League, Ron Henley, Nik Makino, and Arvey.

NEWER SOUNDS

The indie scene is never left behind, as a lot of bands have introduced newer styles in the 2010s. Some of the biggest players from the indie scene that broke into mainstream are Ben&Ben, IV of Spades, and December Avenue.

The juan karlos band led by The Voice Kids alumnus Juan Karlos Labajo also made it big in the Filipino music industry with the monster hit, “Buwan.” It has the art song-like feel and lyricism with rock instrumentations.

These trends have proven that the OPM scene remains alive. In this digital age, the next big thing may be either one of the indie acts that would go viral or one of the singing competition finalists. Basically ANYONE.

OPM: The Year in Review

2018 is the year for Original Pilipino Music.

This year, more bands emerged in the OPM scene, especially with the launch of Coke Studio’s second season (which could have been culminated with a Christmas concert that was later postponed to early 2019). Some of the strongest acts this year were December Avenue (with their songs “Bulong” and the smash hit duet with Moira dela Torre, “Kung Di Rin Lang Ikaw”), IV of Spades, and I Belong to the Zoo (with their songs “Balang Araw” and “Sana”).

Ben&Ben became stronger in 2018 with their songs “Kathang Isip,” Exes Baggage OST “Maybe the Night,” and Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral OST “Susi.”

The Voice Kids alumnus JK Labajo, together with his band, juan karlos, has also made it into the music charts with songs “Sistema” and the chart-topping hit, “Buwan.”

As for the solo acts, The Voice Season 1 alumna Moira dela Torre and Tawag ng Tanghalan’s YouTube Idol Sam Mangubat dominated 2018.

Apart from a duet with December Avenue, dela Torre has released more original songs, such as “Tagpuan” and Glorious OST, “Saglit.” She has also released a cover version of Rey Valera’s “Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko,” which became the official theme song for the film, “The Hows of Us.”

On the other hand, Mangubat released three chart-topping singles, namely “Pagka’t Nariyan Ka,” “Clueless,” and Himig Handog 2018 entry, “Wala Kang Alam.” His concert last September, entitled “I Am Sam,” was also a sold-out event.

For the hiphop category, both Ex Battalion and Shanti Dope released chart-topping singles.

Vocal groups such as BoybandPH and MNL 48 also made it this year. While MNL 48 released Tagalog translations of “Aitakatta,” “Pag-ibig Fortune Cookie,” and “Talulot ng Sakura,” BoybandPH dominated the music charts with their songs “Hanggang Kailan Kaya” and Himig Handog 2018 entry “Para Sa Tabi.”