PPOP wasn’t a familiar word to me when I first encountered FELIP. I’ve always been a sucker for singers with lower voice range but I was oblivious of this bass vocal beast from the local music scene.
One day when my usual playlist ended, my media randomly suggested “Bulan” MV. I was intrigued with the intro as it resembled tribal music. I didn’t remember having listened to any similar song so I decided to pay attention to the MV. The first thing that caught my attention was the cinematography. It was breathtaking to say the least. And when the first line came, my jaw dropped. “Who is this? Is he singing in Filipino?”, I thought to myself. I finished the whole MV, read all the credits and then decided to re-watch it a couple times more. I was so impressed.
I went straight to his channel to check out his other songs and stumbled upon “Palayo” MV. I played it with the anticipation that I’ll have another hip-hop rock banger, and boy was I wrong! The song is RnB, and he sang beautifully. It dawned on me that he’s not just a rapper, but an incredibly skilled vocalist as well. The whole MV has a sophisticated aesthetic, matched with a gender bending sensual wardrobe. It’s the radical opposite of the other music video that I just watched.
Realizing he only had two songs released, I looked for his media interviews. That’s when I discovered that FELIP is Ken from SB19, the local boy band who sang “Go Up”. Yes, that was the only thing I knew about the group that time.
So what did I do? I searched for SB19 too. The timing was perfect because they were actively promoting their WYAT tour. FELIP or Ken still had his glorious red hair, and this time I watched him as the group’s main dancer and bass vocalist. After I dived into the group’s discography and background story I became a fan. I went straight to the rabbit hole of watching their funny vlogs and fan edits. It was a whole new world to me.
It was the last day of 2022 when Ken was spotted sporting an intriguing hairstyle. Unknown to fans, it was the kickstart of his comeback as a soloist.
FELIP released a whole EP in January 2023 entitled COM.PLEX and the songs sounded fresh with mixed genres. Each song offered a mood different from the rest. As a new fan, I felt extremely proud of how this rather new solo artist created this experimental EP almost entirely on his own from composing, producing and even directing the MVs while on tour and right after they came back home.
Two of the songs in the EP, “Rocksta” and “Straydogs” each had their own MV. Both are unique to the local music scene and without a doubt, of international caliber and appeal.
The COM.PLEX era was my turning point from being a casual fan into a dedicated FELIP fan. He became a source of happiness and comfort for me. His positive influence on me inspired me to put more effort in supporting him. I revived my old social media accounts to help promote FELIP and SB19 and the rest is history. That’s how I became FELIP’s very own mocha cake.
Felip’s mocha cake: An Epilogue
You might wonder why my pen name is mocha cake.
Before becoming a dedicated fan, I discovered that growing up, Ken didn’t always have cakes for his birthdays, and so it became symbolic for me.
He might not have had cakes or a lot of people to support his dreams before. But now I’m here, and I wish to be part of the people who support him to achieve even more in life as an artist. I specifically chose mocha cake of all cakes, so I can always be reminded of that moment when Ken had a livestream and was so happy to be eating mocha cake. That’s all I wish for him— happiness in all the things he does.