He raps, writes from the heart

Like many of Gloc-9’s previous creative efforts, his latest studio album, “Liham at Lihim” (Universal Records), is a collection not merely of songs, but of stories—tales inspired by

GLOC-9 enjoyed new collaborations. Jayson Llavore

personal experiences, of “termites that slowly chew away at the fabric of society,” and of people whom others readily judge and turn a blind eye to.

The 36-year-old rapper believes there’s a compelling reason behind every wrong decision that one makes, and that each person, despite his seemingly questionable life, has a story that deserves to be heard. For instance, he said, his new single “Magda” is about a woman who sleeps during the day, and works at night in a dimly-lit room filled with tables and hollering drunks.

The song, Gloc-9 related, was a product of his musings about what kind of adversities it would take to force a woman to resort to the filthy and unforgiving world of prostitution.

“I have 9-year-old twins—a boy and a girl. My wife would always tell me that I seem much closer to my daughter. I can’t fathom how a girl who has a loving father and family ends up in such a job and getting trapped there,” he told the Inquirer when asked what fueled “Magda.”

The subject isn’t new; the controversial folk singer and music icon Freddie Aguilar most famously sang about it in “Magdalena”—a song that Gloc-9 enjoyed listening to growing up. He related, “I was a fan of Ka Freddie’s song; it was really ahead of its time. I heard it on the radio recently while driving, and I was suddenly reminded of my childhood. I wanted my own version.”

Since the song wasn’t about someone he actually knew, Gloc-9 said, the best he could do was put himself in the position of Magda.

He said he didn’t write the song to romanticize the life and travails of a prostitute. “[I usually] write about what I see. How the listeners interpret the song is entirely up to them. A single song can affect every one of us differently.”

Point of view

Told from the point of view of Magda’s lover, Ernesto, the atmospheric rap-ballad opens, ironically enough, with what sounds like a baroque harpsichord passage from a church piece. This is sporadically played as Gloc-9 narrates the story through a barrage of powerful mid-tempo rap verses.

Rico Blanco, a first-time collaborator, sings the chant-like chorus: “Magdalena, ano’ng problema? Bakit ’di ka makawala sa kadena? At sa gabi-gabi ika’y nasa selda na hanapbuhay mo ngayon?”

A tall order

While the song has the makings of a hit, Gloc-9 acknowledged that surpassing “Sirena”—which became a battle cry of sorts for the LGBT community—would be a tall order. “Pressure never did me good. I try to block out the success of my past works when I’m doing a new album,” Gloc-9 said. “As long as you write from the heart, the words will come pouring in. The rest is up to the listeners.”

Stellar lineup

Having worked on “Liham at Lihim” for seven months, the 12-track album took the longest to finish out of Gloc-9’s seven. He worked with longtime arranger Jonathan Ong, and once again, collaborated with a stellar lineup of artists—apart from Blanco, there’s Marc Abaya in “Tsinelas sa Putikan”; Kamikazee, Biboy Garcia of Queso and Manuel Legarda of Wolfgang in “Kunwari”; and Regine Velasquez in “Takip Silim.”

“It was my first time to work with Rico and I almost fell off my chair! Rico is a great guy and very supportive. I’m looking forward to working with him again,” the rapper said.

His collaboration with Velasquez he described as “makatunaw-ng-brief garter” moment. “Aside from singing the chorus, she also offered to do the backup vocals. Imagine that. I was so nervous!”

Video stars

The music video of “Magda” is helmed by J. Pacena II, and stars Jennylyn Mercado in the title role, with Alex Medina as Ernesto.

“Jen grows prettier the more you look at her. And there’s a certain pain in her eyes,” Gloc-9 related.

He appears to have a stranglehold on mainstream rap, and not a few pundits are proclaiming him as the successor of his idol, Francis Magalona. He is just grateful, he said, that people appreciate his work.

“I’m lucky that I can strike a balance between self-expression and commercial appeal,” he said. “If I take the compliments seriously, it would affect my writing.” He couldn’t ever think too highly of himself because, he said, that would be his pitfall. “At the end of the day I’m just a music fan… and that, I always will be.”

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