“[OPM] is booming, it’s thriving, it’s innovating,” Elijah Canlas told Rolling Stone Philippines. “And people who say that it’s not, can go fuck themselves.”
Filipino music — or Original Pilipino Music (OPM), as it’s often called — has long been recognized as a genre characterized by a distinct sound. For those within the local music industry, this has never been the case: OPM has always encompassed a wide spectrum of styles, from pop, to soul, to hip-hop, to indie, to R&B. Now, after decades of evolution, OPM is finally being recognized beyond the industry as a genre that reflects the global potential of Filipino musicality.
On October 21, at the inaugural Filipino Music Awards (FMA), Rolling Stone Philippines spoke to some of the actors who attended the event to gather their opinions on the state of OPM today.
“I feel really, really good about [OPM],” Jericho Rosales told Rolling Stone Philippines. “I’m so happy with its progress: there are all these new artists coming out, out of nowhere, and now our music’s even stronger, younger, and more confident than ever before. And it’s just fun now. Parang bumalik noong 90s and 2000s na OPM, when everyone was just expressing themselves through music.”
The future of OPM looks equally bright, with guests predicting that it will continue to grow as a genre. “As a fan, it’s exciting to watch the youth bring OPM to the forefront,” Janine Gutierrez told Rolling Stone Philippines.
“The future of OPM is definitely a more global type of vibe,” said Canlas, who is also a musician himself. Canlas starred in Cup of Joe’s music video for “Multo,” which won the FMA’s Song of the Year Award. “There’ll be more opportunities for our OPM artists to perform in other countries, and even collaborate with international artists from other places. And I feel like this year, a number of artists will take a political stance, especially given the state of the country.”
“It’s just going to keep getting bigger,” said Rosales, “bigger and stronger as an identity. OPM is really pushing forward.”
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