01/30/2020 08:42:57 PM
It's a shame that it took me two months to finish this personal project. I initially had this in mind since late November and worked on the draft by mid-December. Anyway, here it goes...
Ten years ago, I tried to put up a list of my favorite songs of the decade here in this blog. Unfortunately, I ended up shelving it as I got more busy with college studies and post-disaster recovery.
Fast-forward to present, I became a wanderer in the locality's live music scene – a far cry from the early years where I dig more of mainstream and foreign stuff. Though I'm not hating at all, because exciting times took place during the 2010s. K-Pop has ascended to even greater heights, while US & UK stuff still fares well, respectively.
The Philippine music scene, however, saw another band explosion that paved the way to "hugot" and "swabe" music. The bar was raised once again, as quality music reached mainstream consciousness, thanks to the much-improved songwriting process, social media buzz, and some crowd-drawing events.
It was in this decade where I explored more often than relying on the medium. At first, I tried digging a lot of songs over Spotify (and less on the radio) since 2014. Then in 2013, I first attended a bar gig – and two years later, it finally became a habit for me to 'go out and listen' for almost every week.
(This list comprises mostly of songs that went to the airwaves and podiums in 2015-2019. Also, these may not be the best songs that ever made, but I do recommend you to give them a try.)
1. Tropa (Siakol)
It was summer of 2010, and Siakol's then-new original material was a refreshment course of sorts. Good times for a circle of friends; and this song blares on my mind whenever I remember my own group back then.
2. Hitik Sa Bunga (Brownman Revival)
It's always rare to hear an original Brownman Revival song, especially on the radio. Hitik sa Bunga was a serious societal track, but it winds up with the uptempo rhythm. It looked like a chill take on crab mentality.
3. Express Highway (The Bloomfields)
In live events, hearing a band's first song was always a litmus test for me because it helps me decide if I like them or not. I saw The Bloomfields for the first time in March 2018, and Express Highway as their opening salvo.
It clicked to me right from the get-go, and The Bloomfields proved that they can still rock with their originals.
4. Mga Putangina Niyo (Batas)
FlipTop Battle League became the premier platform to promote hip-hop in 2010. With the rise of rap battle league came a bunch of songs. One of them includes Batas's expletive-laden track that defined him as the brash among the bunch with all the straight-fire in-your-face lyrics (well, for most verses). It came at the time where my personal anger reaches an all-time high. So I guess, music was really a fitting venue for me to vent (even if it's just listening).
5. Over and Over Again (Flying Ipis)
Girl rock has been one of the genres that rocked the decade. One of the known bands for such was Flying Ipis. Most of the songs under "Give Ipis A Chance" EP talks about secret romance, long-distance relationships, and flirting. One song, however, turned out to be my favorite of them all -- despite not being the loudest. Over and Over Again have this energy from the long intro, the rap verses, and the scream-ish pop chorus.
Mighty Joe Young's first hurrah on his 2012 run was explosive. It comes with a music video that also served as a tribute to Master Rapper and Dash's father, the late Lito Calzado. Safe to say, that ignited a new leash on life for him.
The strange thing about this song is that it has a very random approach in storytelling. Well, if you know what I mean.
8. Suplado (Shehyee, Juan Tamad, Thyro)
It looks like mainstream rap has upped their notch of quality. Christopher John Ongkiko isn't just a pretty face in the scene. He was also one badass wordsmith who managed to pull upsets through a bunch of body-bag lines during his time with FlipTop. And right before FlipMusic went hotter, Shehyee was already on the verge of being one himself. Of course, you already heard bits of Suplado during that iconic Dos Por Dos clash in 2012 with Smugglaz and their opponents, Loonie and Abra.
Loonie may be already making rounds during Rap Public of the Philippines, but the rap battle league has made him an even hotter commodity. Take him along with Quest – who's also on the rise by that time – and there's an epic collaboration as a result that seems like rap for of “to err is to be human.”
10. Tambay (Sponge Cola)
Sponge Cola was part of the band explosion era of the mid-2000s. It was a good thing that they were consistent in creating solid stuff ever since. And of all the songs that depict the usual romance, Tambay has been the different one among the Sponge Cola bunch – and I liked it.
PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
Author: slickmaster | © 2019, 2020 The SlickMaster's Files
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