The day that Arthur Nery was supposed to perform his new song in the studio was the same day that they had just finished writing it. He said that he was busy at that time with concerts and had only a little window to finish the song.
All of it was possible though as Arthur attributes the song’s success to his collaborator Sam Benwick. “Magaling naman kasi talaga ‘yung ka-collab ko,” he said during a recent roundtable of Coke Studio Philippines artists with SoundStrip and other media.
Meanwhile, it took eight people to write the new collaboration song of P-Pop girl group BINI. They admitted that it was far from perfect at first as having multiple people writing it was difficult to make it cohesive.
However, they were able to make it work, alongside their new collaborator Ciena Operario.
“Mas madali ‘yung process because it’s a collaborative process,” BINI member Sheena said. She added that their theme, body positivity, for their new song Love Yourself helped as it was a collective experience among the group.
“We wanted to change that mindset,” Sheena said regarding their aim to address the issues of body shaming.
KZ Tandingan had a different goal in her song—to use her Visayan roots and to encourage other artists to use their dialect in making new songs.
“Whenever I have the chance, I always try to encourage other artists to speak in other languages in the Philippines, to write songs in their own languages,” she said.
Recognizing the shortcomings of mainstream Filipino music as lacking vernacular dialects, the singer said, “There are a lot of beautiful stories that we miss.”
“This is also my way of connecting to my supporters na nandoon sa mas malalayong banda sa Pilipinas na ang kwento ay hindi pa natin naririnig,” she said, explaining the motive behind using Visaya in her new collaboration song Sabi-Sabi with Pau Dimaranan.
On a personal note, KZ added that Sabi-Sabi is also her way of revolting against discouragements from other people. “This song is about taking that power back, na gagawin ko ‘yung gusto kong gawin kasi ito ‘yung bagay na sobrang passionate ako. It may not work, but it is my loss. But when I am victorious, it is also my win.”
Speaking of wins, Shanti Dope’s collaboration with Aeron Alcoran or “Rookie” in their new song Day Onez is attributed to a time of his career when he is yet recognized for his music.
The Filipino rapper is excited for the song to be released as it is about his “hard times” before his dreams came true in the music industry.
But hardships precede success—and this is the case for Adie as he admitted that making the new collaboration song was a challenge. Fortunately, the process got easier throughout; thus, he made Tinatangi featuring his new collaborator Chrstn.
Filipino pop rock band The Juans took a different turn with their fan-collaborated song as they drew inspiration from a common Filipino trait—matiyaga (diligent).
“We believe that one of the admirable traits of our fellow Filipinos ay madiskarte tayo sa buhay… so we feel like we’re really championing that value na ang Pinoy ay madiskarte,” band member Carl said.
The other lead artists in this season had their fan collaborators auditioned, but The Juans asked fans what their “diskarte moments” are which was also considered in choosing their collaborator.
The Juans added that they got inspired by how the Filipinos are gradually rising above the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We feel like we wanna give a message that encourages our fellow Juans to keep fighting and to keep working hard dahil balang araw, tayong lahat ay makakabangon din,” Carl said.
The final product that emerged from The Juans’ touching inspiration: Diskarte, lyrics co-written by Claire Brent Enriquez.
The lead artists’ creative processes might have been different from each other, but there is one thing that is identical with each: their boundaries as artists were pushed and in that challenge, they were able to produce music that the Filipinos are ready to listen to.
This has always been the plan of Coke Studio Philippines for their sixth season.
Frontline marketing director Cesar Gangoso said, “One of the biggest things that are gonna happen this year—one of the new things—is to really push the boundaries of creativity by getting our very talented music artists to actually collaborate with some of the most talented music fans out there.”
In this sixth season, lead artists Shanti Dope, Arthur Nery, BINI, Adie, The Juans, and KZ Tandingan collaborated with their fans in making new music. This is the first ever Fan Collaborated Coke Studio EP.
“We’re celebrating the musical talent of Filipino fans by continuing to support the local music industry,” Gangoso said.
“It’s really a celebration of Filipino music talent. We want to celebrate that and we can see that music fans no longer want to just listen to music, they also want to co-create music,” he added. “We want to involve music fans even more and make the process of creation even more accessible.”
Coke Studio episodes are available on Youtube and Spotify starting on July 30 and are released weekly until August 30.