R&B artist Jason Dhakal on why ‘growing up’ scares him

CEBU, Philippines — When Jason Dhakal started making music, he didn’t expect he would end up being an R&B artist even though his influences include Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Erykah Badu, and Amy Winehouse.

“I have always loved R&B. I just never knew that’s the genre that I wanted to be in since I started making music, but it has always been there,” he told The FREEMAN when he was in Cebu for a gig earlier this year.

Dhakal’s perspective on love comes from his experiences as a queer man, which resonates with the younger generation as they are more open to expressing their sexuality than before.

That journey didn’t come easy for the Fil-Nepali who grew up in Muscat, Oman. He was a queer teen living in a Middle Eastern country where LGBTQ+ rights are almost non-existent.

“There were things to learn from and I am grateful that I am here now,” he said.

His love for R&B is best shown in his second studio album “BEING”, released in September 2023 by Warner Music Philippines. It took the 24-year-old three years to create the album.

“We made the album just before the pandemic was about to start. I didn’t know what it was going to be about. I just knew I wanted to make a collection of songs,” he said. “As I recorded more, I started to see a project in my head.”

When listeners check his album on streaming platforms, they see the cover art which features Dhakal lying in bed. He is faceless, but his bare body is on full display.

“I wanted it to be like an art piece from the Renaissance era where people would be naked and they are not sexualized. The bed is where I do most of the thinking. At the end of the day, I start thinking of everything,” he explained.

“I wanted the album art to be in my most raw form. I wanted the visuals to connect with the music I was making. This is really me, and these songs are my thoughts.”

He found it hardest to write the closing track “growing up” – an emotional tune he hadn’t performed yet when we interviewed him.

“Even recording that, I was crying. It was about growing up and you can’t stop it,” he said.

It’s not the inevitability of him getting on in years that fills him with sadness. It’s the thought of his family members in old age that makes him melancholic.

“I don’t mind growing up, but I see the people I love are getting older and that scares me…my mom, my siblings. We are never going to be this young again,” said Dhakal.

Emotional as it was, he thought it was a perfect song to cap his 11-track album. It’s also a good way to tease what’s to come in his next work.

“It’s the end of a chapter,” he said, “but also the start of a new project that I wanted to make.”

As part of Warner Music Philippines’ 30th anniversary offering, Dhakal also released his version of Sitti’s “Para sa Akin” – one of his early song covers when he kicked off his music career. Initially nervous about the singer’s reaction, he said she gave her seal of approval when they chanced upon one another.

“She has been more than welcoming [about the cover]. She’s so nice that when I finally met her for the first time, the nervousness went away,” he shared.

Just like Sitti, listeners also seem to approve of his cover. As of writing, his take on the Sitti classic has close to 44 million streams on Spotify. — (FREEMAN)