SONGS THAT WILL MAKE YOU KILIG
BY BRENESSA ROACH | FEBRUARY 11 2023
Now that it is February, that can only mean one thing…Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Whether you are single or taken, these are 8 songs that will make you kilig.
Kilig is a Tagalog (Filipino) word associated with romance and the excitement of love. From what I learned when learning Tagalog, is that the term doesn’t really have a direct English translation but, if I were to try and translate it, the best way to describe kilig is having butterflies in your stomach. Kilig is one of my favourite Tagalog words because I think it’s absolutely beautiful, it’s so romantic and it’s exactly the way I feel when I listen to certain music.
In this blog, I will share my eight favourite love songs by Filipino artists that will make you feel butterflies (hopefully).
Let’s get started…
“u & i” is a beautiful song by James Reid, a Filipino-Australian singer and actor. CARELESS is an independent record label in the Philippines founded by James Reid and Bret Jackson. In 2021, James Reid also signed to Transparent Arts which is an independent label founded by Far East Movement. James debuted officially as a solo artist in 2022 with the release of “u & i”. This song is the lead single from his latest album lovescene:.
Listen to “u & i” by James Reid on Spotify:
Check out James Reid and CARELESS on Instagram: @james and @carelessph
Timmy Albert is an indie-pop Filipino artist signed to Mustard Music. His music is really unique because he writes and produces all of his music. This song “roses & sunflowers”, I stumbled upon randomly and fell in love with it because of the guitar, mixed with Timmy’s vocals. This song was released in May 2019 and is about expressing how he feels towards the person he loves. One of the lines I absolutely love is “I feel Roses and Sunflowers spread out on a pretty field when you say that I’m your guy” (Source: Genius). Overall, the lyrics are literally so sweet it makes me tear up.
Listen to “roses & sunflowers” by Timmy Albert on Spotify:
Check out Timmy Albert on Instagram: @timmyalbum
grentperez is a Filipino-Australian artist signed to Fast Friends. I started listening to grentperez ast year because of his musical style which is a mix of folk, indie-rock, Bossa Nova, and R&B. “My Heart It Beats For You” is a song expressing how his heart beats for the person he loves, no matter where he is. It’s a beautiful, cheerful love song that definitely needs to be on your playlists.
Listen to “My Heart It Beats For You” by grentperez on Spotify:
Check out grentperez on Instagram: @grentperez
KZ Tandingan is a famous Filipino singer signed to Star Music. This song “Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako” is the first Filipino song I ever listened to back in high school when my Filipino friends were teaching me Tagalog. Ever since then, it is one of my favourite Filipino songs. “Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako” translates to “The one I love Or The one who loves me”, which is basically what the song is about. KZ’s vocals are amazing and this song really shows her emotions and vocal range.
Listen to “Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako” by KZ Tandingan on Spotify:
Check out KZ Tandingan on Instagram: @kztandingan
I discovered this song in July 2022 and it is my second favourite Filipino song. I actually came across this song through a cover on TikTok and I had to look up the song. I believe this song was the OST for a TV series with the same name Forevermore. It’s a song that has been covered many times by different artists but the original one by Side A came out in 1995. Unfortunately, as I was writing this article the song got removed from Spotify, so I had to link a lyrics video on YouTube.
Listen to “Forevermore” by Side A on YouTube:
Check out Side A on Instagram: @sideabandofficial
MC Einstein is a Filipino pop/R&B singer who debuted in 2016 with the song “Make You Fall (feat. Jason Haft)”. “Kilig” is a song that was released in September 2022 and grew really fast. The song currently sits at 1.6 million streams. The lyrics to this song is in Tagalog but, even if you don’t understand, you can still feel the overall emotions of this song.
Listen to “Kilig” by MC Einstein on Spotify:
Check out MC Einstein on Instagram: @mceinstein30
“Tulad Mo” translates to “Like You” and TJ Monterde is singing about a girl and how she’s a princess to him and he could treat her well if she doesn’t have a boyfriend. It’s a really sweet song that I started listening to late last year. However, it was actually released in 2015 so it has a very nostalgic feel/melody to the song. TJ Monterde is a famous Filipino singer who is actually married to KZ Tandingan who I mentioned at song 4.
Listen to “Tulad Mo” by TJ Monterde on Spotify:
Check out TJ Monterde on Instagram: @tjmusicmonterde
Zack Tabudlo is a pop artist I recently discovered. He was one of the artists signed to the newly Republic Records Philippines label that launched in 2022. He was also on The Voice Kids in Philippines. This song “Habang Buhay” translates to “Forever” and it’s a song where he talks about his love and how he will be theirs forever.
Listen to “Habang Buhay” by Zack Tabudlo on Spotify:
Check out Zack Tabudlo on Instagram: @zack.tabudlo
You can find the songs mentioned in this article on our Spotify playlist below:
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