Original Pilipino Music

(OPM)
Original Pilipino Music.
The Original Pilipino Music
pertains
significantly to the pop
music that initially
materialized in the
Philippines.
Original Pilipino Music is
also conventionally known
as Original Pinoy Music,
Original Philippine Music,
or OPM for short. It
primarily referred to
Philippine
pop songs that were
popular in the Philippines,
specifically ballads, during
the
late 70s and up to the
present. OPM is a general
term used for popular
music
written and performed by
Filipino singers and
musicians.
Original Pilipino Music (OPM)

Original Pilipino Music. The Original Pilipino Music pertains significantly to the pop music that
initially materialized in the Philippines. Original Pilipino Music is also conventionally known as
Original Pinoy Music, Original Philippine Music, or OPM for short. It primarily referred to
Philippine pop songs that were popular in the Philippines, specifically ballads, during the late 70s and up
to the present. OPM is a general term used for popular music written and performed by Filipino singers
and musicians.
One of the most dominant
Filipino disco groups is the
VST & Company.
It is considered to be
one of the pioneers of
what is known to be the
Manila
Sound. Manila Sound is
considered to be the
precursor of OPM.
One of the most dominant Filipino disco groups is the VST & Company. It is considered to be one of
the pioneers of what is known to be the Manila Sound. Manila Sound is considered to be the
precursor of OPM.

It is true and undeniable that music is part of our culture. Filipinos have been recognized already
in the world stage because of our great songwriters, singers, singing groups, and a lot more. But
in spite of all that, our music industry is still dominated by foreign music. In fact, sometime in
2010, an executive order has been issued requiring radio stations to play a minimum of four
original Pilipino songs every hour but the airwaves still favored foreign music.

Original Pilipino Music

Hitmakers. In the
Philippines, these are the
OPM hitmakers who
crooned the Filipinos with
their wonderful hits. They
are
Hajji Alejandro, Rico J. Puno,
Marco Sison, Basil Valdez,
and Rey Valera.
Original Pilipino Music Hitmakers.

In the Philippines, these are the OPM hitmakers who crooned the Filipinos with their wonderful
hits. They are Hajji Alejandro, Rico J. Puno, Marco Sison, Basil Valdez, and Rey Valera.

Hajji Alejandro. Born as “Angelito Alejandro Toledo,” Hajji is both a singer and an actor. He was
a major pop star in the 70s and 80s. He is the first singer to win the Metro Manila Popular
Music Festival with the song entitled “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika”, written by the well-
respected composer and musician, Ryan Cayabyab. Hajji is named as the “kilabot ng mga
kolehiyala” (college girls’ heartthrob) of the Philippine music scene. Rico J. Puno was born “Enrico de
Jesus Puno.” He was a music icon in the Philippine entertainment. He was singer, a TV host, an
actor, a comedian, and a politician. He began the trend of incorporating Tagalog lyrics in American
songs. One of his notable hits is “Lupa,” was the third prize winner in the 1979 Metro Manila
Popular Music Festival. The song was written by Charo Unite and Ernie dela Pena. He also
interpreted the song in the 1979 Tokyo Music Festival. Rico had a unique singing style through
which his passion was conveyed, combined with his wit and humor. Marco Sison. Born “Raul Marco
Sison,” Marco has his good looks and subtle demeanor which make Filipino women swoon over
him. He is considered to be one of the ultimate balladeers in the Philippine music scene. He has
a crooning voice that when he sings, he sounds like Matt Monroe. His wonderful hits include
“My Love Will See You Through” and “Si Aida, O Si Lorna, O Si Fe.” Marco has competed and was
one of the finalists in the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival in 1981. Basil Valdez. Basil began his
solo singing career as a folk artist. Just like Hajji Alejandro, Basil was a former member of the
Circus Band. On a side note, most of the members of the Circus Band were from the Ateneo
University while another band during their time, The New Minstrels, was entirely formed in San
Beda College as an all-male singing group. Basil Valdez met Ryan Cayabyab while he was still in
the Circus Band. The two artists have collaborated for the longest time especially so with Ryan
Cayabyab being the musical director of Basil Valdez for 27 years.
Rey Valera. Born “Reynaldo Valera Guardiano,” Rey is not just a singer; he is also one of the most
respected songwriters in the Philippines. He has written and produced a lot of songs for some of
the notable Filipino singers. He has written “Mr. DJ,” one of the best OPM songs in the
Philippines, which was popularized by Sharon Cuneta. Rey is also a music director, film scorer, and
a TV host.

Philippine Music.

Philippine music is performance arts and has various styles and genres. It has traditional music,
harana and kundiman, tinikling, cariñosa, rondalla, and modern Filipino music. For the traditional
music, the kulintang and the gong are the notable musical instruments which the Maguindanaons
and the Maranaws seem to stand out when they play them. “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan” is one of the
popular folk songs composed by Lucio San Pedro and written by Levi Celerio, both national artists
of the Philippines. The song is about the loving touch of a mother to her child.

Harana and kundiman are

lyrical songs
which date back to the
Spanish era.
Harana is a traditional
courtship song
based off on the
habanera rhythm of
Mexican-Spanish
tradition. The
Kundiman has a pre-
Spanish colonial
origin of the Tagalog
region. Harana
and Kundiman were the
mainstream
musical styles in the 1920s.
The Tinikling is a Philippine
dance that involves
two performers who
utilize bamboo poles for
hitting, tapping, beating,
and
sliding on the ground and
against each other while
performing with other
dancers who step over
and in between poles.
The Cariñosa is a
Philippine
dance too from the Maria
Clara suite of Philippine
folk dances. The dance
Harana and kundiman are lyrical songs which date back to the Spanish era. Harana is a traditional
courtship song based off on the habanera rhythm of Mexican-Spanish tradition. The Kundiman
has a pre-Spanish colonial origin of the Tagalog region. Harana and Kundiman were the
mainstream musical styles in the 1920s. The Tinikling is a Philippine dance that involves two
performers who utilize bamboo poles for hitting, tapping, beating, and sliding on the ground and
against each other while performing with other dancers who step over and in between poles.
The Cariñosa is a Philippine dance too from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances. The
dance involves utilizing a fan and a handkerchief that are key instruments for performers who
portray a romantic scenario. The Rondalla is a Philippine musical ensemble that consists of
mandolin instruments with varying sizes which are called banduria. The modern Filipino music is all
about original Pilipino music or OPM. It has different genres as well but only a few popular genres will
be mentioned in this lesson.

The Filipino hip-hop scene is performed by musicians of Filipino descent, national and
international, but mostly by Filipino Americans. Hip hop started out in the Philippines in the
1980s mainly due to the Philippine’s historical connection with the United States where hip hop
originated. Rap music is one in particular with notable and influential rappers like “Andrew E” and
the late “Francis M.” When rap music was released in the Philippines, it appeared in Cebuano,
Chavacano, English, Ilocano, and Tagalog languages. The Filipino rock and blues music scene has two
popular genres: Pinoy rock and Pinoy folk rock. The Americans introduced the blues, folk music,
R&B, rock and roll to the Philippines. The first local band in the Philippines who wrote songs in
local languages was the Juan Dela Cruz Band. Another band, Hotdog, mixed Tagalog and English
for their popular song “Ang Miss Universe Ng Buhay Ko.” The mixing of the two languages,
Tagalog and English, is known as Taglish. It is a common language in the Philippines but when
used in music, it is a powerful tool capable of breaking down barriers in the society. Sharon Cuneta’s
Mr. DJ is such a popular example. Rock musician Freddie Aguilar wrote and sung Anak (Child), one
of the most popular folk songs in the country. It has been translated into different languages by
singers around the world. Folk rock was the Philippine protest music of the 80s. Freddie Aguilar’s
Bayan Ko (My Country) became the anthem in the EDSA Revolution. Punk rock also emerged that
served as a counterculture for music which is politically focused. New Wave also appeared about
the same time as punk rock. Eraserheads emerged in the 1990s, which is considered to be the
number one recording group in the Philippines. Other popular rock bands also emerged Yano,
Siakol, Parokya ni Edgar, and Rivermaya. Hard rock, heavy metal, and alternative rock also
developed with bands like Bloodshedd, Greyhoundz, Razorback, Slapshock, and Wolfgang as well as
Eternal Now, Fuseboxx, and Paradigm. Neo-traditional genre became popular as well with the
likes of such musicians like Bayang Barrios, Cocojam, Grace Nono, Joey Ayala, and Pinikpikan. Pinoy
Pop Music. The Philippine pop music is one of the most popular genres of Filipino music. Original
Pilipino Music or OPM originally referred to Filipino pop music especially the ballads. The 70s scene
was dominated by artists and musicians like Pilita Corrales, Victor Wood, Joey Albert, Claire dela
Fuente, Rico Puno, Ryan Cayabyab, Basil Valdez, Celeste Legaspi, Hajji Alejandro, Rey Valera,
Freddie Aguilar, Imelda Papin, and a lot more. In the 80s and 90s, OPM was dominated by musicians
such as Regine Velasquez, Sharon Cuneta, the Apo Hiking Society, Jose Mari Chan, Dingdong
Avanzado, Rodel Naval, Janno Gibbs, Ogie Alcasid, Joey Albert, Lilet, Martin Nievera, Manilyn
Reynes, Pops Fernandez, Lea Salonga, Vina Morales, Raymond Lauchengco, Francis Magalona, and
Gary Valenciano and a lot more. To this day, Regine Velasquez remains to be the biggest voice in
the Philippine music scene.

The 1990s OPM scene gave us the prominent musicians and bands like Smokey Mountain, Ella
May Saison, Donna Cruz, Ariel Rivera, South Border, Andrew E., Jaya, Afterimage, Rivermaya,
Eraserheads, and a lot more. There were groups who popularized the OPM songs like Side A,
Introvoys, Neocolours, Yano, True Faith, Passage, Freestyle, and The Teeth. Perhaps the greatest
development of OPM music is the inclusion of other ethnolinguistic groups such as the Bisaya,
Bikol, and Kapampangan. A subgenre of Philippine Rock has been actually emerged called
“Bisrock”, making the largest collection of modern music in the Bisaya language from Visayan
bands like Phylum and Missing Filemon. Another band, Groupies’ Panciteria, emerged from
Tacloban and launched its album in 2009 on Soundclick.com with 13 Tagalog songs and one
Cebuano song. The Kapampangans followed thereafter with the band Mernuts with its debut
music entitled “Oras” (Time), which MTV Pilipinas played. It became the first
Kapampangan music video to join the mainstream Filipino music videos. Inspired by the
emergence of Kapampangan music, Ronnie Liang from Angeles City, Pampanga translated some of
his popular songs into Kapampangan.

Metro Manila Popular Music Festival.

The Metro Manila Popular Music Festival is also known as Metropop. The festival was launched
in 1977 by the Popular Music Foundation of the Philippines. It has been every year from
1978 to 1985. It was the Philippines’ first songwriting competition. It was launched to promote
the advancement and development of Filipino music. This festival had produced a lot of singers
and songwriters in the Philippine music industry. This also gave Pinoy music many songs that are
memorable and have become classics. This songwriting festival was originally open for all
musicians and songwriters. However, from the fourth festival and onwards, the festival was
changed to both professional and amateur categories. This gave the chance to budding songwriters or
composers to compete without being overshadowed and outdone by professional songwriter or
composers. In 1985, the festival was discontinued because of the public’s decreased interest in
the song entries. The festival was revived in 1996 through the GMA Network and was renamed
“Metropop Song Festival”. It ran until 2003. OPM songs have become even more diverse and
popular in certain ways that cater to both past and present generations. Add to that are the
unique rhythm and character of such songs that appeal even to the ones who are not of Filipino
descent. Below are some of the many songs that Filipinos have been listening to and have been
giving their own renditions even.

SONG ARTIST SONG ARTIST

Anak - Freddie Aguilar

Next In Line - Afterimage

Ang Huling El Bimbo – Eraserheads

Panalo - Ez Mil

Christmas In Our Hearts - Jose Mari Chan

Pinoy Ako - Orange and Lemons

Da Coconut Nut - Smokey Mountain

Rainbow - South Border

Forevermore - Side A

Sa Ugoy Ng Duyan - Lucio San Pedro / Levi Celerio

Habang May Buhay - Wency Cornejo

Sana Maulit Muli - Gary Valenciano

Hinahanap Hanap Kita - Rivermaya

Sino Ang Baliw - Mon del Rosario

How Did You Know - Gary Valenciano

Till I Met You - Kuh Ledesma

Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw - Ogie Alcasid

You - Roselle Nava

Mr. DJ - Sharon Cuneta

You Are My Song - Martin Nievera