Ben&Ben, Tala and Catriona hit songs

As the year 2020 ends its first month, I thought it might be nice to check out what sounds are Pinoys listening to these days?  I say a lot of mellow hip-hop, a lot of dance and certainly a lot of Ben&Ben. There are at present several singles in the hit charts by the talented band led by the twins Miguel and Paolo Guico. 

The biggest seller among those is its most recent output, Make It With You. This is a new take on the massive hit song from the early ‘70s by the group Bread, which remains a big favorite hereabouts. It was composed by Bread front man David Gates and is now the theme of a TV series of the same title starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil. 

The success of the song begins a new chapter in the story of Ben&Ben. These guys have now proven that aside from their original compositions, they can also do covers of oldies and sell big. To top it all, the song is being used in a teleserye which gives it massive airplay in various platforms and opens a whole new market for these guys. I say that this is a really clever career move.

The other tunes also selling for Ben&Ben are the single releases Pagtingin, Araw-Araw, Masyado Pang Maaga, Maybe the Night, Leaves and Kathang Isip.

The present No. 1 seller in the country though is Catriona by Matthaios. It is a mellow hip-hop tune that was obviously inspired by the Filipino Miss Universe winner of 2018 Catriona Gray. It goes like this. “I love the way she makes me smile/she makes me smirk/it gives me chill/it makes me blush/it gives me worth/and I can see her winning the Miss Universe/and if heaven does exist, it will most probably look like her.”

Nice beat to groove to but the lyrics are inane and can use more imagination and some grammar assist. But listeners love it and kids are grooving to it. In fact, Catriona is the latest subject of an online dance challenge. You know those videos that users upload showing off their version of dance moves for a hit song. Fans did a lot of these for Tala by Sarah Geronimo and the tune entered the Billboard world chart. Let us wait and see if the Catriona tune will gain global fame just like its namesake.

As for Tala, the song remains a huge hit with more and more streams and downloads coming from fans abroad. Composed by Nika del Rosario and included in Sarah’s The Great Unknown album from four years ago, the song has crossed a lot of borders worldwide and has now emerged as the biggest hit of Sarah’s 15-year career.

And now the chart. As per the Philippine Music Charts, the Top 40 hits of the week just passed are the following: Catriona by Matthaios; Tala, Sarah Geronimo; Memories, Maroon 5; Imahe, Magnus Haven; Yummy, Justin Bieber; ROXANNE, Arizona Zervas; Make It With You, Ben&Ben; Zebbiana, Skusta Clee; 10,000 Hours, Dan+Shay & Justin Bieber; Psycho, Red Velvet.

Dance Monkey by Tones and I; Neneng B, Nik Makino ft. Raf Davis; Binalewala, Michael Dutchi Libranda; Mean It, Lauv & LANY; Ayy Macarena, Tyga; Pagtingin, Ben&Ben; Lose You To Love Me, Selena Gomez; Ikaw at Ako, Moira dela Torre & Jason Marvin; I Want You Back, Matthaios ft. Calvin de Leon; Don’t Start Now, Dua Lipa.

Señorita by Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello; Someone You Loved, Lewis Capaldi; Get You the Moon, Kina ft. Snaw; Circles, Post Malone; Araw-Araw, Ben&Ben; Miracle Nights, ALLMO$T; Hindi Tayo Puede, The Juans; Titig, Ex Battalion MC Einstein ft. Flow G, Yuri Dope & Jekkpot; Huling Sandali, December Avenue; Alab, SB19.

It’s You by Ali Gatie; Falling, Trevor Daniel; Can We Kiss Forever?, Kina ft. Adriana Proenza; Masyado Pang Maaga, Ben&Ben; Vibe With Me, Matthaios ft. Lorenzo; Ivana, Soulstice; Sa Susunod Na Lang, PDL, Skusta Clee & Yuri; Death Bed, Powfu; Answer, ATEEZ; and Adore You, Harry Styles.