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Why "kbye" is a pop game-changer 

By: Asia Acafan

Many things should strike us about Alamat's "kbye." Sure, it's a cute homage to Filipino material culture: a halo-halo of heritage. But there's something about the semiotics of the banderitas, the jeepney, the coconut shells of the maglalatik, and the Buwan ng Wika backdrop that suggest a radical direction that isn't usually elevated in our pop music industry. The instagram-aesthetics of pop music does not usually embrace folk symbolism. The banderitas suggest the festive trappings of the common tao. The jeepney is currently being phased out, associated with the ramshackle affair that is Philippine commute. Maglalatik looks ridiculous to the culturally uninformed. And our favorite Buwan ng Wika mantra, "Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika..." (which, by the way, is a quote mistakenly attributed to Rizal) is only something you hear in our elementary school programs. Even the neon palette that the video is going for is associated with jejemon aesthetics which, again, is dismissed as low-brow, "walang pinag-aralan." 

In our colonial imagination, these images are too folksy, too low-brow, too unrefined, too "local" and they do not belong in the expensive universe of pop group music videos. No wonder "kbye" and the entire aesthetics of Alamat get the kind of negative reaction from cultural snobs who have only been exposed to a world of pop music suffused with chaebol glamour. 

And yet, what is long dismissed as too folksy is now celebrated in Alamat's music video for "kbye." Perhaps the MV should teach us a lesson: no cultural form is too low-brow to be celebrated or reimagined.  

It's not just the music video that Alamat displays its irreverence towards the glamorous expectations of pop group existence. One need only watch episodes from Balay Alamat (the Alamat boys' vlogs documenting their everyday lives and routines), and approve of the boys' appreciation of street food, ukay-ukay, DIY photoshoots, and of course, their acknowledgment of where they came from, whether it's in R-Ji's first-time-in-an-airplane story, Gami reuniting with his grandmother in Bohol, or Tomas' Bicolano cooking. It's a probinsyano quality that makes them lovable and genuine. While pop groups usually aim for a more globally accepted brand, Alamat strikes first at the very local, at the level of hometowns and barangays, and as we Filipinos know too well, that is where the heart is.

But perhaps the truly radical thing about Alamat's "kbye" is that it reflects the linguistic realities of the majority of Filipinos. Outside the national capital, we are at least trilingual: we can speak one global language, one national language, and one regional language. It is correct to call Alamat covers of other artists' songs the "archipelago version." Alamat doesn't only just cover and translate the song, because in the process of translation there is also transformation. One cannot listen to The Juans' "Hindi Tayo Puwede" the same way again after hearing voices in Bicolano, Bisaya, Waray-Waray, Ilokano, Kapampangan, and Hiligaynon express those lines. The song transforms into an experience that belongs to the archipelago. Multilingual, multifarious, and all of a sudden the experience of heartbreak is universal and specific at the same time. 

It's surprising to see the effect that multiple languages will have on one pop song: it adds emotional layers, and while "kbye" talks about the experience of being ghosted, the conflicting feelings that come with it are reflected in the various languages. You hear the heartbreak in Waray-Waray ("Kayano ka binaya kasing-kasing ko imo gin tigda"). You hear the nostalgia in Ilokano ("Idi ket naragsak ka ta unay"). You hear the contempt in Kapampangan ("E ran a ka patawaran dyang pang nanung sabian mu"). You hear the desperation in Bicolano ("Sana kadto pa lang sinabi mo na tulos"). The advantage of multilingual songs is their ability to process a single experience in different ways, and this is what makes any new single from Alamat extra exciting. After all, a language reflects a specific way of thinking and seeing the world. A different flavor, if you will. I don't think a lot of people realize how "kbye" is one of the most radical things to happen in recent OPM. Hearing my own regional language given voice on mainstream pop is empowering. When your language is given value, your voice suddenly matters. You are included. You are heard. This sort of linguistic justice is long overdue. The more we have songs like "kbye," the more we can truly reflect an archipelago that is rich in language and culture.

WATCH: kbye Music Video

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[NEW CHALLENGE ALERT]

"Ito ang beat sabay-sabay. Ito ang beat bawal sablay!" 

Remember this iconic Coca-Cola commercial? 

Now is your chance to join the ALAMAT Coke Beat Challenge in time for ALAMAT's stint in the Coke Studio PH. 

Here's how to join: 

Step 1: Dapat may dala kayong Coke sa video; 

Step 2: Bring a partner (pwede ring solo) at sauluhin ang Coke Ko To Beat  (Refer to the tutorial here:  Original - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmfhE9S4k3U o Modified - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC5JrB86bhg); 

Step 3: Gawan ito ng twist at i-translate sa LOCAL LANGUAGE ninyo (kung maaari);

Step 4: Huwag kalimutang bigkasin ang "ALAMAT, HANDA 'RAP" bago simulan ang challenge; 

Step 5: Pwede niyo itong i-upload sa Facebook (Barangay Magiliw Group), Twitter o di kaya'y sa TikTok; 

Step 6: Huwag kalimutang ilagay sa caption ang official hashtags (refer below) at i-tag ang official accounts ng ALAMAT, Coca-Cola Philippines at, @MagiliwCr8tives (para sa Twitter upload); @BrgyMagiliw (para sa TikTok upload)

LIMANG (5) ENTRIES ang may tsansang manalo ng ANITU comic book series 1 and 2 bundle! Kaya sali na sa saya! Good luck! #ALAMATCokeBeatChallenge #TibayYanByALAMATxINIGO #CokeStudioItodoMoBeatMo