Aside from being extremely catchy and featuring BINI’s Maloi in the music video, Maki’s Dilaw also hits because its origins come from a place of self-love.
Related: Ben&Ben On ‘Comets’, Uplifting Each Other, And The Fleetingness Of It All
While Maki hoped that his new single, Dilaw, would do well, he probably didn’t expect it to be the juggernaut that it is now. It currently holds the number 1 spot on the Spotify Philippines Top 50 songs chart, topped the Billboard Philippines songs chart, regularly breaks one million streams daily, and made history as just the third OPM song in history to enter Spotify’s Global 200 songs chart. Dilaw is taking it. But the smash hit goes beyond being just another love song with how it resonates with a deeper meaning in Maki’s desire to love himself more.
IT WAS ALL YELLOW DILAW
This focus on self-love begins with how Maki is taking in the success of Dilaw. “Para akong nananaginip ng ilang mga weeks na because I couldn’t believe it,” he tells NYLON Manila. He admits that Impostor Syndrome got the best of him initially as he didn’t believe that he deserved the success of Dilaw. But over time, as he’s shared, all his blessings are the fruits of his and his team’s labor. “I realized why do I keep on trying to punish myself for the things na pinaghirapan ko.” Maki adds, “This moment is very golden, or yellow.”
A yellow moment indeed, which is helped by the fact that Dilaw’s music video co-stars Maki and BINI’s Maloi, ⅛ of the hottest girl group in the country. “Si Maloi talaga yung initial idea for the music video for Dilaw,” he shares. Maki, who co-directed the music video with Jaydee Alberto, reveals that the concept for the MV changed quite a bit before it became the video we all know and love. And those changes include turning Maloi’s role from a side character to a lead star.
INSTAGRAM/CLFRNIA_MAKI
“Ininsit ko kay direk [Jaydee Alberto] na si Maloi ang main character since malaki ma-embody ang character ni Maloi sa music video.” It also doesn’t hurt that yellow is the color Maloi embodies in BINI, a fact Maki only knew when Maloi told him on their way to Pampanga to shoot the video. “Yung mga tao, minsan when we meet them, they have this certain aura. Kahit hindi siya kita sa naked eye, you just see it. And para sa akin si Maloi yon,” he gushes on his co-star. “The way she talks, the way she brings life to people in the room, yun yung talagang nagsolidify ang pagkuha namin ni Maloi for the music video.”
This chemistry and energy were evident in the music video, which centers on two young people falling in love. Notably, a core theme and storytelling element of the video is the use of art, as both Maki and Maloi’s characters are artists. For the young artist, that wasn’t a coincidence. “Art plays a vital role in my life. And I wanted this music video to also incorporate that,” he voices.
INSTAGRAM/CLFRNIA_MAKI
In the MV, the two characters express their feelings for each other through their art, with the video emphasizing the hard work they put into it. “We share the same interest in art so magegets [ni Maloi] ang concept kasi alam niya ang feeling. Art is history so kumbaga si Maloi and Maki dito sa music video, yung memories nila, nandoon yung art.”
But aside from using art as a storytelling tool, Maki, who himself is an artist, also wanted to use the moment to give his flowers to the local art scene that often doesn’t get the attention and respect they deserve. “Maraming local artists are being discriminated against in their career path and advocacy ko na to since college na bakit natin pinaliliitan ang mga young and aspiring artists natin here in the Philippines.” There’s a lot to take away from the Dilaw music video, but at the very least, its strong emphasis on art in the lives of the youth is a reminder of its power in shaping young people in their journey of self-expression.
IN THE SAME OF SELF-LOVE
On the outside looking in, Dilaw sounds like a love song about someone else. And while it is a love song, the origins of the track don’t come from Maki wanting to charm someone. Instead, as Maki tells, Dilaw traces its origins to a conversation he had with his ex who told him that the type of love he gave. was not a calm love. It frustrated Maki, which caused him to look inward. “Ano ba yung love ang nabibigay ko sa sarili ko kasi magreresonate and magraradiate yan sa tao na minamahal natin. So kung ano ang nasa heart mo yun ang mabibigay mo sa tao.”
INSTAGRAM/CLFRNIA_MAKI/PHOTO BY SHAIRA LUNA
Hence, he did just that, love himself more, which planted the seeds for what would eventually become Dilaw. Moving away from the depictions of love as the color red or intense emotion, Dilaw turns love into a calm, joyful, and warm emotion, like the color yellow. “Love should not be felt as if you’re always doing something wrong. Dapat it’s pure and very wholesome.”
It’s clear that healthily processing your emotions has been a core part of who Maki is. And even if he gains more fans and rises the ranks as the next big star in OPM, his craft and artistry are only going to get better from here. As part of the new generation that isn’t afraid to let their emotions out and say what they want to say, Maki is here to stay as an artist who just gets it when it comes to creating from your heart.
INSTAGRAM/CLFRNIA_MAKI
More importantly, Maki is hopeful that his work can be a foundational brick in the youth of his young fans. “Nagiging part na ako ng childhood ng marami,” he expresses, recalling a moment when a mom told him that her child listens to his music. In the same way Maki had his musical idols who helped him through the good and bad times, so too does he want to be the same for his fans.
“[G]usto ko iyon na ma-impart na when they grow up and they listen to Maki, maalala nila ang good memories, naalala nila ang memories of the past na ‘I used to listen to Maki and this is yung childhood ko.’ I ought to the people who are listening to me now na mabigay din yung same impact na nangyari sa akin.”
BE KIND TO YOURSELF
By the time 2024 comes to an end, it’s a safe bet that Dilaw will probably land on many best-of-year-end lists. But if there’s one thing to take away from the song’s record-breaking success and dominating the charts like nobody’s business, it’s that loving yourself can be the ultimate starting point for so many great things in your life.
INSTAGRAM/CLFRNIA_MAKI/PHOTO BY SHAIRA LUNA
As Maki puts it, “You need to learn how to love yourself like yellow love.” There are a few things as fulfilling to do in your youth as being kind to yourself, acknowledging your worth, and practicing self-love, so don’t be afraid to go for it. “We cannot love other people na kung paano gusto natin mahalin if we cannot love ourselves like that.”
Fittingly enough, if Maki, an admitted movie fan, were to turn Dilaw into the theme song for any movie, he’d give it to his favorite animated movie of all time, a 2000s gem that is the spot-on representation of self-worth and self-love. “I wrote [Dilaw] for myself, and siguro Dilaw is a perfect song that embodies the characters of Meet The Robinsons.”
Continue Reading: The Present is You: justin and Self-Love in the Social Media Era
