Music Capital?

Filipino talents winning international recognition and other talents reaching beyond the shores of the archipelago? I can’t help but wonder of how much the music industry has evolved. Walk around Metro Manila at night, for instance, even in unlikely places, you’ll find yourself wedged in the middle of beautiful sound, be it RnB, pop, electronic or punk from numerous bars scattered around the city.

We have plainly traversed all kinds of music with the alternative rock perhaps leading the pack. Kjwan, a Filipino rock band introduced in 2003, won the first ever Ikon ASEAN in Malaysia, while fellow Filipino musician Vina Morales brought home the bacon for the solo category. Not to mention other Filipinos or musicians of Filipino descent who have persuaded the world through their irresistible flair such as Nicole Scherzinger, apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, Mutya Buena, Lea Salonga, Enrique Iglesias, Jasmine Trias, Camile Velasco, Jocelyn Enriquez, among others.

In the past few months, Manila was visited by several international acts either to stage a major concert or just share their music through TV, mall tours, etc. Fall Out Boy just staged two major concerts last September 21 and 22 at the Araneta Coliseum, and so has Switchfoot last September 10 at the Cuneta Astrodome. And while I was writing this article, American Idol 5’s Elliot Yamin is busy promoting his first album at the Market! Market! mall in the Manila suburb of Taguig. Not too long ago, Christina Aguilera staged her first ever concert in the country. Babyface, and many others I could not remember, has a scheduled major performance at the Big Dome in the next few weeks.

Have we become Asia’s music capital? Our neighbors may argue, but there’s one thing that’s certain, Filipino talents are an inescapable fact of life. A Canadian customer from my call center experience asked before ending the call, “You’re Filipino? You must be a good singer.”