My own - The Philippine music industry. It's time I speak up because I am sick and tired of all the generalizations about the culture I was raised with.
As I was reading over a K-pop blog, they featured the fact that K-pop is getting pretty big here - stuff about Sandara and stuff. I said OK, I may not like it but I can't do anything about the *wannabe* Wondergirls being gigantic here. I don't know how but I found myself reading the comments but after scrolling down for a few seconds, my morning was officially ruined.
There we people talking about how ugly we are, how all we do is copy from foreign artists, never do anything for ourselves, only strip our clothes off well and sing "shit kiddie songs".
I'M ANGRY - FURIOUS.
The Philippine music industry may have some stupid people on top, uncreative artists releasing albums that sell a ton of records and a stupid music channel that shows trash and wrong lyrics but hold on - DOESN'T EVERY COUNTRY HAVE SOME OF THEM? Of all the things I hate, apart from disrespect I hate racist people the most. But that's the same thing, really.
Whatever I may want to be or dream of being, I'm still a Filipino. I may be only half a Filipino by blood but The Philippines is the country that I grew up in - it was the country that raised me. I grew up learning PHILIPPINE history, watching Philippine news, surrounded by Philippine personalities. Our politicians may be corrupt, we may be poor and a puppet of the United States and 60% of the music here may really suck but we're a country, we're people and WE DESERVE RESPECT.
That's all I ask, really. It's all I give and it's all I want in return for the respect I show.
I hate it when people call others ugly - who the effin' crap are they to tell someone that? We all have different definitions of beauty and if you tell someone they're ugly they may think that they're beautiful. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT HURTS TO BE CALLED UGLY OR NEVER BE CALLED BEAUTIFUL? It's unbreably painful. In my whole life I've only been called 'pretty' once and it was by someone I had just met.
I can vouch right now in front of a church or a courtroom if I have to that FILIPINOS ARE EXTREMELY CREATIVE. If you can only see the amount and quality of original music being circulated around the indie market who have no stupid money-centric capitalist morons controlling their music, you'd think twice about saying all we do are covers and 'shit kiddy songs'. All over the world, the only reason why crap, unoriginal and generic music is released is because of the morons running the damn record companies - Korea, The US, The UK and pretty much every single country with a thriving music industry are no different from us.
The reason why I don't like OPM (Original Philippine/Filipino Music) is because it's not my taste - I have my own esthetic and my own concept of what makes a beautiful song. If I strip that away from my brain, there are bands and artists that honestly make technically and artistically outstanding music here.
I'm angry at the fact that just because people think we suck at English, text with annoying sticky caps, have the cheezy-est and corny-est variety shows the world over and just because we truly have one of the most corrupt governments in the world that we have no right to be creative - THAT WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE PEOPLE.
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ReplyDeleteI had a Filipina roommate my freshman year but I've never really thought about or looked at a Filipino perspective of things. I dont think I've ever heard the music or seen the shows.
I really can't say too much about this article because it's heavily based on a strong personal opinion as well as experience but I wanted to show my support.
Stay strong girl.
-Rome
Well, I think filipinos have a reputation for being very sexy and beautiful - at least in Australia. So the whole world doesn't think like that. Just some idiots on a K Pop forum! Don't worry, of all the countries in Asia I want to visit, The Philippines is at the top of the list. It looks stunning and gorgeous. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteAs for music, I don't really know any filipino acts but I don't know any Malaysian or Indonesian acts either and I don't assume that there are no creative people there. Just that the music industry works differently in your country.
Don't worry about all these fuckwits. They are sad, shallow people with nothing positive to contribute to the world. I'd love it if you would showcase a couple of singers from The Philippines just so we can see what kind of music is being produced.
Relax and forget about those idiots!
X
Krome Radio - thanks for the support, means a lot.
ReplyDeleteMike - Really, you wanna come here? I suppose the pictures are attractive but even our 'flagship beach' (Boracay) is getting really dirty and polluted, I've heard.
Music here works pretty much the same (stupid corporate guys running it..) but we don't have official sales charts. I've seen it firsthand (my dad produced one of the major bands here..) and the politics are pretty much the same as the ones in the US and UK.
I never thought of doing that, maybe I will - thanks for the suggestion!
HALLELUJAH!
ReplyDeleteWow - that's the first time I've ever had such negative things about Filipinos!!! I don't know who wrote that article, but they sound like a certified HATER and CANNOT be taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteI'm an American who is multi-racial and multi-ethnic, with 1/4 being Filipino. I truly believe from what I've observed throughout my life that Filipinos are one of the most accepting of other cultures yet still have a strong sense of pride. I love it. To most people I don't look Filipino, but I can walk into a room full of Filipinos and instantly get love and respect still, and if I tell them I'm part Filipino, well I'm automatically family! :-)
From what I can tell, Filipino culture has had strong positive influences on all areas of art, literature, music, dance, food, etc., and has an incredibly strong work ethic and devotion to family. So I said all that to say that -- don't let the haters get you down because they will always be there. Brush 'em off. WE know what we have going on, and whoever wrote that article is just mad 'cuz they're late to the party!