Article by Miyuki Ishikawa Graphics by Gibrianne Derequito
January 7, 2022
For a long time, I have been a fan of pop music. But as I matured, I grew more attached to music and so I explored many genres. This year in particular, I dived a bit more into hip-hop music. OPM hip-hop, to be specific. This genre has been on the rise with the help of increased social media usage by practically everyone during the pandemic. As an avid TikTok lurker myself, I’m familiar with a number of OPM hip-hop songs, and I have found myself adding some of them to my personal monthly playlists. But one artist that stuck out to me is Kiyo, an artist classified under lo-fi chill hip-hop. He released his debut album in November 2021. As a newbie in the genre, I decided to dive deep headfirst into the album and see whether it would entice me to dig further and if it is a good place to start listening to hip-hop for fellow newbies like myself.
Haranasa: Sa’yo at sa Akin, or simply Haranasa, was released on November 26, 2021 with a matching online concert to perfectly celebrate the album. Kiyo, real name Yukihiro Rubio, directed the online concert himself. This is a common theme through most of his video productions. The music videos for the songs in the album were also directed by himself; an interesting and admirable feat. He admits that he once dreamed of directing as a job, and his dedication to the craft definitely shows through his work. The online concert is such a perfect way to experience the album because it showcases Kiyo’s versatility in both video and music production. My personal favorite among his music videos is the one for “Harana sa Sarili'', the last single from the album and one of the artist’s personal favorite songs from it. The music video encapsulates his directing style. It has that homemade quality and feel and not fairly high production, but that is exactly what makes it so charming.
In his debut album, the artist explains in an interview with HipHopDX Asia that the songs revolve around the different forms of love. The 15 songs within the album all show his versatility as an artist. The song “Shineboi”, one of my personal favorites, talks about some of his personal reflections regarding the changes in his life. “Hanggang Kailan”, another personal favorite, is written as a letter to his inner self or demons – asking them until when they will follow him around. But the artist writes that he will use even the smallest inconveniences in life to further himself by saying “Gagamitin bilang aral maski ang pagka puwing” (I will use even the dust caught in my eye as a lesson). “Pantalan, Pt. 2”, a song that grew a lot on me the past few days of listening to the album on repeat, is the perfect wrap up to the album. With simple guitar progressions and the sound of waves as part of the instrumental, it puts you in quite a reflective state. The lyrics are that of deep thoughts one would have near the ocean, like the title suggests.
These kinds of emotional and thoughtful lyrics is what makes Kiyo stand out. He is a good representation of artists who are truly creative in nature and put thought into every aspect of their work. With every song, there is a lyric that sticks to me and makes me think deeply. It is a sight to behold and is something I wholeheartedly want to share to all. The album, being that of a more lo-fi and chill approach to hip-hop, is definitely a good place to start for the curious ones like me. And I conclude that yes, this album in its entirety has made me want to explore this genre of music and OPM hip-hop in general. I am pleased to find that this area in OPM is well and alive with artists like Kiyo. I’m excited to find more artists in the same vein. Will this be the last of me in this area of music? Definitely not.
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