Pasada Babes turn commuter woes into viral music
The world’s first ever all-female commuter dance crew who penned and sang their own online hit single, “Papa Pasada” says the song came from the frustrations they felt as commuters living under the pandemic. Thru their song and their signature drive, Pasada hopes for government to listen and propose solutions to their daily struggle as commuters.
Christened “Pasada Babes”, the five-member group is being led by MC Shantey, a female dancer cum rapper. Together with her co-dancer, MC Shantey thought of a song that would express their deepest sentiments on the daily plight of commuters and transport workers.
“We are magkakabarkada who are also all performers. We formed Pasada Babes last year as our outlet, our expression of our deepest experiences in life as commuters. Now is the time for the world to know that commuters and transport workers need attention from the government,” says MC Shante “Tey” Bigas, the lead singer of the group.
All of these girls started dancing in the streets, practiced their vocals by competing in singing contests in schools and began rapping as a way of releasing or venting their frustrations about society.
After suffering from the restrictions imposed by the government due to the pandemic, these five friends had a conversation and began writing songs to express their experiences as commuters.
Their first online hit single, “Papa Pasada”, is a song dedicated to transport workers and commuters – the social sectors that suffered the most due to government restrictions on mobility. The song is now being distributed by Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, Tiktok, Facebook, Youtube and 30 other international song channels in the internet.
To further bolster their goal of popularizing commuter issues, Pasada Babes partnered with Pasada CC, a non-governmental organization that seeks to improve the social conditions of commuters and transport workers in the Philippines.
“The 5,000 strong members of Pasada CC join the Pasada Babes in the collective quest for all Filipino commuters and transport workers to join hands and express our experiences with government. Thru our collective voices, we at Pasada CC believe that this will all the more amplify the need for government to create solutions, like building more commuter-friendly infrastructure, solve the colorum problem and improve policy-making by allowing sectoral and private stakeholders a seat in regulatory agencies managing commuter and transport issues. Together, we form the strongest alliance to achieve one goal – change the prevailing social conditions that make life hard for commuters and transport workers,” says Dom Chad Hernandez, the Secretary General of Pasada CC.
Since February 1, Pasada Babes has been touring the country thru the Pasada Signature drive that aims for 150,000 signatures from commuters and transport workers. These signatures, together with a manifesto/statement will be presented to the government on May 1.
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Singer-songwriter Denin Sy, known to many as a legitimate parodist with engagingly viral content, offers some silver lining to a crippled local music scene as live face-to-face shows are not allowed and most artists tend to release heart-breaking ballads amid the situation.
The so-called Parody King’s new song “Pasensya Ka Na God Bless,” with its title being a nod to a hilarious stolen shot viral video, is actually a musically strong cut delivered in first-rate pop rock recording. The melody holds up like a new song bound to become a radio hit, in this case, a social media favorite, while the lyrics were clearly written with a natural touch for catchiness and universality.
The promising piece was released in digital format last January 28. “This song is inspired by the viral video ‘Pasensya Ka Na Ha God Bless.’ I took the title, put some melody to a set of words and turned it into a three-minute upbeat, good-vibe song,” said Denin in a recent interview.
He has been making a name rewording in Filipino select anime themes and performing them in the same signature Asian pop style. “Pasensya Ka Na God Bless” is somehow a delightful parody itself. The viral video with nearly identical title features a person now dubbed ‘Kagawad God Bless’ trying to apologize, albeit in a comical tone, to someone who accuses him of stalking him. That same plot may have also triggered the music video shot for Denin’s latest single, which shows a guy taking his girlfriend for granted.
“In the video,” he said, “the girl suddenly undergoes a makeover and the guy realizes his mistake. He will try to win her back.”
Whether or not he’d be able to do that should make the music video extra worth watching.
The song is Denin’s follow-up to the tuneful slow rock “Sabi Mo Usap Lang” released just last month and which features a performance video featuring ace bass player Rommel Dela Cruz of Barbie and Freestyle fame, as among his bandmates.
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