Keneniah is OC Records’ bet for 2023

OC Records performed wonderfully in the year just passed. The five-year-old company, a subsidiary of the Viva Music Group, grew by the proverbial leaps and bounds and is now one of the hottest labels around.

This is mainly thanks to Adie, the singer-composer who lost in an on-line talent contest conducted by OC Records. But then OC top man Kean Cipriano refused to let the potential he saw go to waste. He signed the loser to OC, and Adie resurfaced and is now a big star.

Adie had huge success with songs like Paraluman, Tahanan, Kabado and the huge-selling duet with Janine Berdin, Mahika. The enchanting collab literally created magic last year. It remains a big-seller and is now in the over 50 million cumulative views bracket. If you will check the hit charts and current playlists you will find out that it is also one of the few Filipino releases giving the foreigners strong competition.

So, what does OC Records have for its fandom this new year? Well, it is another newcomer, another singer/songwriter with the talent and the looks to become another Adie. His name is Kenaniah. Just plain Kenaniah.

Now Cipriano has already proven himself a keen talent spotter these past few years. Remember he also found Arthur Nery and mrld. So whoever Kenaniah, his latest discovery is, I am sure that he has the makings of becoming as big a star as Adie.

Kenaniah is only 17 years old and comes to the fray armed with talent and good looks. He has the full-lipped well-chiseled features of a young Ricky Martin. He is adept with both keyboards and the guitar. He is also a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer all rolled up in a gorgeous package that the girls absolutely adore.

Still from OC Records: Mrld, the husky-voiced singer and songwriter from Cebu with the strange name. Note that mrld, which is pronounced as the letters, comes from Meriel. It became mrld when she removed the vowels from Meriel to get her showbiz name.

Kenaniah has already released four singles. He previously put out Hindi Ikaw and Better Now, both of which easily crossed the million mark. These were followed by the slick rocker Bahala Na, a look into the Pinoy’s penchant for leaving decisions to fate. Now cruising towards 10 million views, it is his biggest hit so far.

Kenaniah’s latest is a sweet pop-rock tune, Sana Walang Magbago, which came out, only three weeks ago. The lovelorn song about secret feelings was performed, composed, arranged and produced by Kenanaiah himself. It is well-written and well-produced. Kenaniah still looks like a kid but he certainly already knows the workings in a recording studio. Maybe Kenaniah is indeed OC’s bright hope for the year.

Now still from OC Records. This one is about mrld, the husky-voiced singer and songwriter from Cebu with the strange name. Note that mrld which is pronounced as the letters comes from Meriel. It became mrld when she removed the vowels from Meriel to get her showbiz name.

Strange, but strange name and all, it looks like she did the right thing. That name and her image have made it to the massive, Times Square poster in New York, New York, US of A. That feat was made possible by her over 80 million cumulative streams on Spotify. That is mostly thanks to her biggest sellers, the romantic ballads Ligaya and Ikaw Pa Rin.

That is not all. Mrld’s first big hit, the one with the kilometric title, An Art Gallery Could Never Be as Unique as You, has entered the hit charts of Indonesia and is climbing its way to the top.

Oh, I guess this means that mrld will now have followers from Indonesia joining her Real Wrld, which is how she refers to her fandom. You know like, mrld, remove the vowel from world and you get wrld. Now, given her voice and songwriting talent, she could be adding more members from her wrld from other parts of the world soon.