Manly Ocampo, the vocalist of Eat Bulaga’s resident pop band Music Hero, describes the group’s newest single that is currently dominating the massively popular music streaming platform.
The band’s debut single “Walang Papalit,” which was recently launched in the country’s longest-running noontime variety program, topped Spotify PH’s Viral playlist.
This viral chart is put together by a metric that takes into account a songs' virality, it measures the number of times a song is shared. Most often, the singles that land on top of this chart are the ones considered a major hit, a new sound, and “a moment in time” (or those singles that gained massive support and promotion from entertainment outfits).
At press time, “Walang Papalit, which is available on iTunes, Apple Music and other digital platforms, also earned spots on the music-streaming site’s local Top 200 Pop and All Genre tracts. The song also ranked second by the end of June in World Music Awards’ Top 10 Digital Tracks in the country.
"This is a relatable song because, one way or another, we all experienced love and heartbreak. Through this song, we want the listeners to feel that there’s always a second chance at love,” said Ocampo who leads the nine-piece band that originated from the program's music competition with the same title.
He said "Walang Papalit" is a full collaboration between him and bandmates Radlee Laquian (acoustic guitar), Fender Dimalanta (electric guitar), Joaquin Rodrigo (drums), Jim Tan and RD Benavides (keyboards), JayR Corre (bass), Brian Feliciano (saxophone) and Dominique Casacop (violin), who all featured in the competition's instrument edition which kicked-off in August 2016 and hailed Ocampo as the ultimate vocal hero after participating in a rigorous nine-month vocal battle.
Speaking about their first single, Ocampo said it took them about a month to record the song.
"Because we came from different places and we have different backgrounds, we had to go back and forth on what kind of music we want to produce and offer the audience," he said.
Dubbed by the program as an "elite revolutionary band" because of the variety of musical instruments each member plays, Music Hero wants to follow the success of 90’s Filipino pop and R&B group South Border. In fact, during their recent live guest appearance in The Roadshow on Wish FM 107.5, the group performed “Ikaw Nga,” one of South Border’s popular songs.
To follow up the single’s success, Music Hero is now working on its second single, which will carry a different vibe compared to the group’s debut song.
"We will make the most of this experience. We know it's not going to be an easy journey but we're sure it's going to be an unforgettable and fulfilling one,” Ocampo said feeling excited on times ahead.