MANILA, Philippines – It was in 2023 when REIKO’s title entered public consciousness.
He was then a contestant on THE FIRST, the Japanese survival present the place SKY-HI and leisure firm BMSG would, collectively, debut their first-ever boy group, BE:FIRST.
REIKO entered the audition bright-eyed as ever. The Japanese-Filipino artist got here into the present with no formal dancing or singing expertise, merely trusting in his lifelong love for music to get himself by way of it.
Whereas he didn’t make it to the ultimate lineup, he was proper to belief in his pure inclination towards music, as a result of, in the identical yr, he was capable of make his debut as a solo artist.
“I at all times say that it’s as a result of I’m Filipino, and my love for music simply wins over any impediment that comes with being knowledgeable artist. I don’t must be the most effective within the room. My love for music wins over my insecurities, my worry, and all of that. That’s what received me going once I signed with BMSG, and that’s what makes me get by way of every thing, even when I’ve onerous days,” he informed Rappler.
Two years since beginning his profession, REIKO’s got down to additional make his mark in Japan and the Philippines with a rising catalogue of R&B tracks.
Recent off the discharge of his newest single, “LOVE DEEPER,” the 22-year-old artist sat down with Rappler to speak about his musical beginnings, what it was like navigating his craft in between two cultures, and the way he molded the music he now places out.
Discovering his groove
REIKO got here to Japan on the age of two, studying converse Japanese when he was in Kindergarten. It was clear early on in REIKO’s life that he must juggle his Filipino identification along with his Japanese one, and rising up, it was something however simple.
“I wouldn’t absolutely perceive what my classmates had been speaking about or doing. Particularly after they had been speaking in regards to the TV program that they simply noticed the night time earlier than. I couldn’t get it as a result of sa bahay (at house), we had been watching Disney Channel in English, and TFC,” he shared.
He struggled to discover a frequent thread as simply as he thought he may amongst his Japanese friends in elementary faculty. It was lonely, REIKO admitted. However that was when music got here into the image.
“Making pals was form of onerous, however once I began to sing in music class, that’s the place folks observed me and actually really noticed me. That was my first ‘Oh, wait, possibly I like music’ second,” he defined.
That’s the place I began to really feel recognized and really feel like I exist as an individual. That’s one among my core reminiscences as a Japanese-Filipino child.
From there, REIKO would go on to hitch the children’ choir and discover every kind of music genres, from J-pop to Ok-pop, till he lastly discovered himself again within the sonic world of R&B, which now colours his work as a recording artist.
Regardless of pursuing his music profession in Japan, REIKO’s Filipino roots are nonetheless very a lot current in his identification as an artist. Other than crediting his Filipino blood to fueling the invention of his personal singing talents, it reveals in his music, too.
In his 2024 Debut album, tucked between a number of music titles in Japanese and English was a single in Filipino, “Hanggang Kailan Pa.”
Past the lyrics — which he actually labored onerous to do justice to as a result of he wished to verify he “didn’t say something bizarre” — REIKO knew each side of it needed to be Filipino.
To place the ballad collectively, REIKO labored with Matt Cab and Saraj — Filipino producers and composers who grew up in the identical circumstances he did. Matt Cab was raised in Los Angeles, and Saraj was raised in Japan. Proper off the bat, there was a standard thread between the three musicians that made the music additional particular.
REIKO, Matt Cab, and Saraj deliberately produced the music to have or not it’s harking back to basic Filipino ballads that had been at all times profitable in amping up the feelings of those that listened to and sang them in videoke classes. Assume sluggish tempo, vocals that begin out tender and ultimately construct as much as extraordinarily highly effective excessive notes, and naturally, a melodramatic piano instrumental that lingers by way of all of it.
“We did that on goal,” stated REIKO, smiling once I pointed these qualities out. “We wished to sneak one thing in.”
‘I’ll embrace your tears with love’
Now, REIKO is again with “LOVE DEEPER,” the final installment of his R&B trilogy, which is already made up of songs “Take it Again” and “Kimi no Sei.”
REIKO wrote the primary a part of the trilogy, “Take it Again,” for his sister.
“If you happen to translate the lyrics, the message is to dwell your life the best way you need to dwell it. As a result of my sister, she’s such a folks pleaser. It actually stresses her out. So, I wished to empower her,” he informed Rappler.
For “Kimi no Sei,” REIKO wished to return to the 2000s R&B sound he grew up listening to round his dad and mom — taking these sonic influences to create a bittersweet love music that zeroes in on an individual’s harm.
With “LOVE DEEPER,” REIKO wished to cap off his trilogy on a extra optimistic notice — an apt ending to a sequence of releases that explored the depths of ache and navigate it.
“I purposely made [“LOVE DEEPER”] actually candy, flirtatious, and funky,” REIKO defined, virtually as if he was making an attempt to indicate that this upbeat really feel was the end result of lengthy intervals of tolerating all of the harm.
However all that is only the start for REIKO. As extra folks start to search out solace in his music the identical manner it did for him in his youth, we will you’ll want to anticipate even larger tasks from the Japanese-FIlipino singer sooner or later.
For now, although, REIKO is protecting himself busy with having fun with his craft. – Rappler.com
