JK Labajo is back on top with Ere

I have nothing against Jung Kook or Taylor Swift or any foreign artist but I do rejoice whenever a Filipino talent bests them and makes it to the top of the hit charts. Think Uhaw by Dilaw or Pasilyo by Sunkissed Lola and others. Those are all great recordings that not only sold big but also brought something new to current local music trends.

If you will check on the hit lists of other countries, you will find only one or two foreign songs are in the Top 10 most of the time. All of the hits of a particular country are their local recordings. Not here though. Pinoy artists take a back seat to the foreigners most of the time.  That is why, it is time for rejoicing when the locals put one over the foreigners.

This week, I am in a rejoice mood again and the surprising reason is Ere, the latest release by the rock band that calls itself Juan Karlos. It was, of course, named after front man and lead vocalist Juan Karlos Labajo. This is no one man job. There are real members. Jeriko Aguilar on lead guitar; Louise Bayas, bass; and Gian Hipolito, drums. Juan Karlos sings lead, plays rhythm guitar, writes the songs and is the guy always on the spotlight.

Now, why do I say surprising? This is because for a while I was under the impression that JK was giving priority to his acting jobs. Watch him in the Senior High series. He is a fine actor with impressive looks. He was also in When This is All Over. I thought that maybe he was also feeling a lot disillusioned because, although he continued recording new songs, he had Kalawakan, Biyak, Sistema and others in the band’s first album Diwa, none of them turned out to be as big as Buwan in 2018.

After being shunted from one formulaic project after another as one of the winners of The Voice Kids, the 17-year-old JK broke free and rocked Original Pilipino Music (OPM) as Juan Karlos with the song Buwan. Remember “Sa ilalim ng puting ilaw/ sa dilaw na buwan/ pakinggan mo ang aking sigaw/ sa dilaw na buwan….” That one was huge. What followed were OK tunes but Buwan was proving hard to equal, let alone, top. That is until a few days ago when Ere came along.

Now, how did Ere happen? Well, JK grew up. He is now 22 years old. Then, he fell in love and got broken-hearted. Was this with Maureen Wroblewitz? With memories of Buwan hovering over his head, he was in a revenge mood. So, he decided to let all his feelings out, in a big, big way.

And Ere became the song about just how one left hanging by anyone or anything feels. It is for everybody who was ever, naiwan sa ere. “O ‘di ba? Nakakaputang ina/ tayo’y lumilipad/ at ako’y iniwan mo/o ‘di ba? Pinag mukha mo ‘kong tanga/ tayo’y lumilipad/ at ako’y iniwan mo/  sa ere, ere, ere/ at ako’y iniwan mo.”

I do not know if I have the figures right but Ere has already broken some records. Ere is, as of this writing, the No. 1 song in all music platforms. It is the most streamed Filipino song in one day in Spotify history, 1.3 million streams. It has entered the Spotify Global chart at No. 58. A live rendition by JK has already notched 10 million views on YouTube. Watch out for more records for Ere to break.

Why is this happening to Ere? Maybe because it is a well-written song with a melody one cannot place but which sounds familiar. It has reality-based lyrics, very conversational.  Anybody can relate to what Ere is saying. Including the language? Yes, including the language which should not be an issue because the Eraserheads already did it ages ago with Pare Ko.

Most of all, it is because of JK. His singing comes from the heart, which as anybody in the music business will tell you, is what really matters.

P.S. I so love that bitin ending.