An iconic Visayan hit song follows up a festival remix and is even getting a wider audience.
The song, remixed by XYNTHESIZE, "Ipanumpa Ko" by Oh! Caraga is widely recognized, locally and globally, marking more than four million streams on Spotify, and having it previously featured on the band's live radio performance at Wish 107.5 and chosen as one of the finalists of the International Songwriting Competition in the World Category in 2020.
During the pre-release of the festival mix, Cebu's contemporary hit radio, Y101 FM, premiered it and was later featured on Spotify's editorial playlist, New Music Friday Philippines. Vispop, spearheaded by Jude Gitamondoc, commissioned the remix – as an anthem/soundtrack for their first Vispop Music Festival, headlined by known local artists like Kurt Fick, TJ Monterde, and Ferdinand Aragon, on January 11 at The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu.
When the remix went out during the recent Sinulog Festival Week, it gained more audience. It went high on the city charts on Spotify's Local Pulse, peaking at #2 in Cebu, #3 in Cagayan de Oro, and #4 in Davao.
The original song, written by Kenneth Corvera, Adam Corvera, and Sherwin Fugoso, talks about a higher kind of love - a person that transcends boundaries, changes and upheaves societies, and tests one's dedication. It may also refer to a friendship, family, group of people, or something spiritual. As the song was everywhere, XYNTHESIZE, born Xavier Yates Dedeles, noticed it would be a great song to give a new sound, so he started working on the remix project last August 2022.
While working on it, XYNTHESIZE posted a video of his progress on social media. In less than a day, the band noticed his video and received a positive response from them and those who watched it, which motivated him to finish the demo. Following that, he emailed the band and Kadasig's label manager, also Jude, as a submission for consideration of an official release. A few days later, they accepted the demo and provided the multi-tracks to finish the project.
L'Ray and Kelvin, who are close friends of XYNTHESIZE, helped him with the project by adding and layering instruments and sounds. Working further to finish, Larry of Big Foot Studios and Network Rome mastered the remix and later submitted it to Jude for review. Once everything settled, they proceeded to the contract signing and scheduled the release last January 10.
