Pinoy hip-hop is taking over the charts

Who is Hev Abi and why is he getting millions and millions of streams and downloads nowadays?

He has a name just as he has parents, family and friends but it looks like he has chosen to reveal only his name.  That is the middle-eastern sounding Hev Abi, which comes across as unreal and only a kind of screen name. That is all that is known. Everything else about him is secret. 

I have been keeping tabs on Hev Abi ever since his recording of Welcome 2DTQ started hitting millions and millions of streams last year. But after asking around and getting nothing and after a few months of watching him make one hit after another and eventually reach the top, I still know nothing about him.

Except perhaps, that he looks young, maybe late teens or early 20s and that he comes from Tomas Morato street in Quezon City. 

Maybe Hev Abi’s being secretive about his personal life was intentional. He probably wanted to shield his family from the merciless scrutiny of the public. But whether intentional or if it just accidentally happened, I would say that it turned out to be a clever marketing gimmick. 

Given that he is the No. 1 artist in the hit charts these days, he has made more people curious about who he really is.

Aside from being on top and having five tunes in the Top 25 Spotify listing, Hev Abi is also the leader of an ongoing takeover by hip-hop music of the local charts. 

Check out the other sounds in the list from names like DEMI, Madman Stan, Flow G, Nik Makina, O Side Mafia and others. You will also notice that the pop names like Cup of Joe, Rob Deniel and others have gotten fewer.

Today’s hip-hop is a softer, lovelorn version of the rap that we usually get from Pinoy artists. Some of them actually sound like those songs by the harana boys, but rapped softly, not sung. That must be the reason why these tracks have also won acceptance among pop music fans. So, I say to all pop artists out there: Time to polish your act. Cook up new exciting sounds or else, you will get lost behind these talented rappers.

Here now is Spotify’s Top 50 streamers as of this week:

Makasarili, Malambing by Kristina Dawn and Hev Abi; Get Low by O Side Mafia BR GR; Alam Mo Ba Girl, again by Hev Abi; 711 by TONEEJAY; Sa Susunod Na Habang Buhay by Ben&Ben; Take All the Love by Arthur Nery; My Love Mine All Mine by Mitski; Tingin by Cup of Joe and Janine Tenoso; One of the Girls by The Weeknd with Jennie and Lily Rose Depp; homebody by DEMI and Madman Star; Yellow by Coldplay; We Made It by Nik Makino ft. Flow G; Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift.

Miss Miss by Rob Deniel; Rom Com, also by Rob Deniel; Faded (Raw) by Illest Morena; Heaven Knows (The Angel has Flown) by Orange and Lemons; Babaero by Gins Melodies and Hev Abi again; Lil Kasalanan by Shortie and Hev Abi once more; Walang Alam also by Hev Abi; Para Sa Akin by Jason Dakal; YK by Cean Jr., ERE by Juan Karlos; Parehas Tayo by Nateman; and Tadhana by Up Dharma Down.

By the way, for kids listening to Hev Abi out there do give a listen too to two classic tunes. Tadhana by Up Dharma Down which is over 10 years old and Heaven Knows, This Angel Has Flown by Orange and Lemons which is over five.  These are the kind of Pinoy pop tunes that can stand the test of time. Makes me wonder if the rap of Hev Abi and company will.