“FLY Ohayo, ako ay isang dayo, making history kahit na ako’y malayo…”
As Thirdy Ravena braces for the Japan B. League, his good friends decided to bid him farewell with a brand new jam before he leaves in a few weeks.
On Monday, Ivan Jose and Julian Santiago released a single entitled "DAYO," a tribute song to the young prodigy who's making history as the first Asian import of the foreign league.
As Ravena’s close friends, the artists were very familiar of his love of hip hop and rap music, as well as his aspirations to bring Filipino talent overseas.
“We thought of making a song for him to listen to when he misses home, and to remind him that he’s representing something bigger than himself,” Jose told SPIN LIFE.
He added: “The term ‘dayo’ is a well-known Filipino basketball term which means someone who isn’t from around your neighborhood, and I think it’s very fitting for his situation.”
The self-produced Taglish hit, according to the artists, has earned kudos from people who have listened to it upon its release.
On Instagram, the subject of the song itself, Thirdy Ravena, posted a video of himself vibing to the tune.
"“Feels weird singing a song about me but who cares!” said the player.
The intro goes:
Land of the rising sun, here I come.
Takin’ off from the 6-3 to the 8-1.
Only here for business but that don’t mean I can’t have fun.
I know life isn’t a game, but it feels like I just won.
It took artist-producers one whole month to produce the song. They also revealed that they didn’t even have the pro-grade audio equipment, and only worked on it through their mobile phones and a few applications.
“We’re fans [of music], but we have no experience making it," Jose said. "We only did this for the sheer fun of it. Over quarantine, Julian would play around Garage Band on his phone, imitating beats from other songs and I would write lyrics to the beats that he made and record, then we’d send it to our friends including Thirdy.”
Jose added: “I started writing 'DAYO' last July 4. We probably had 5 to 6 edits before the final song. We only worked on it during our free time.”
Even if the song is dedicated to the 23-year-old former Blue Eagle, its themes are more universal not to mention familiar to a country of OFWs who are bringing glory to the country beyond borders. In fact, one of the artists’ parents are also overseas Filipino workers.
“This song is for anyone who’s representing something bigger than themselves: their family, friends, school, and even the country. There’s a lot of world-class talent here in the Philippines and we just need to support each other to be able to showcase it on the international level. Sabi nga ng Titan, 'From Manila to the world,'" said Jose.
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