Boyfriends

OPM (Original Pilipino Music) is the umbrella term for Filipino popular music, encompassing mainstream pop, soft rock, ballads, and band music primarily sung in Filipino languages (especially Tagalog) as well as English. The tag crystallized in the 1970s alongside the Manila Sound movement and the formation of a modern local recording industry that foregrounded Filipino songwriting and artists. Stylistically, OPM blends Western pop/rock and soul with indigenous and Hispanic-influenced Filipino song traditions such as kundiman and harana. Melodies tend to be singable and emotive, harmony is diatonic with occasional modulations, and lyrics often revolve around love, nostalgia, family, and national identity. Across decades, OPM has continually evolved—from disco-tinged 70s pop and 80s power ballads to 90s alternative band culture and today’s polished pop and R&B—while remaining distinctively Filipino in sensibility and storytelling.

Pinoy rock is the Filipino take on rock music, distinguished by its use of Tagalog and other Philippine languages, melodic songcraft, and a strong sense of place and social commentary. Rooted in classic rock and roll, blues rock, and psychedelic rock of the 1960s–70s, it crystallized in the early 1970s when artists began writing original rock songs in Tagalog. Over time it absorbed punk, new wave, alternative rock, and metal, creating a broad spectrum that runs from anthemic, guitar-driven classics to edgy, socially charged punk and radio-friendly pop-rock. Beyond sound, Pinoy rock is a cultural movement: it chronicles everyday life, humor, love, and political realities in the Philippines, often with catchy hooks, sing-along choruses, and conversational, Taglish (Tagalog-English) lyrics.

Manila sound is a light, catchy, and urbane Filipino pop style that crystallized in Metro Manila in the mid-1970s. It blends Western pop, soft rock, disco, funk, and soul with Filipino melodic sensibilities, witty Tagalog/Taglish lyrics, and radio-friendly hooks. The sound is characterized by singable melodies, slick vocal harmonies, and danceable 4/4 grooves, often arranged with clean rhythm guitars, electric piano, string pads or synths, horns, and hand percussion. Its themes center on city life, romance, and humor, reflecting the everyday experiences of Manila’s youth culture. Manila sound is widely regarded as a foundation of modern Original Pilipino Music (OPM), bridging 1960s/early-1970s pop ballad traditions and the later disco, synth-pop, and adult-contemporary currents of the 1980s.