What Really Makes A Hit In The Philippines: A Conversation With 2025’s Highest Charting Artists

In a country where tricycles and jeepneys blast breakup anthems at 8 AM and karaoke machines take over households on the weekend regardless of the occasion, the Philippines knows a hit when it hears one. A new single doesn’t just drop here; it spreads, mutates, and finds its way into every morning commute, heartbreak spiral, and Facebook Story within 24 hours.

In short, it’s not hard to know what the Philippines is listening to. When Filipinos love a song, they love a song — and they’ll love it no matter how many years have passed. There are tracks from a decade ago that still dominate videoke playlists, songs that outlive trends, heartbreaks, and even entire phases of your life. We are a nation that holds on tight, especially to melodies that make us feel something.

But, what exactly makes a hit in the Philippines?

As we look back on another tremendous year in Filipino music, Billboard Philippines sits down with some of this year’s most chart-topping artists to find out what it actually takes to reach the top. We caught up with Cup of Joe, Shanti Dope, December Avenue, HELLMERRY, Arthur Nery, and Earl Agustin to dissect what it truly takes to capture the hearts of listeners nationwide.

Success Without Chasing Charts

A song can be engineered to perfection, tested on TikTok, optimized for playlists, packaged with a dance challenge, and still sink quietly into the void. Meanwhile, another track — written on a whim, recorded at 2 AM, or released without expectations — can suddenly bulldoze its way atop the charts. Because the truth is chart success isn’t just about strategy. Sometimes it’s timing and luck, but most of the time, it’s about the conviction that the music you’re putting out is worth standing behind, worth believing in, and most especially, worth releasing — even if no one else hears it yet.

For many Filipino artists, a “hit” isn’t a finish line. The work becomes meaningful not because it’s built for virality, but because it’s built with intention and honesty.

Take Cup of Joe, who started out as high school kids jamming in Baguio but are now the country’s No. 1 artist for 2025. From reigning over the Philippines Hot 100 and the Top Philippine Songs charts for over 20 consecutive weeks to selling out back-to-back arena shows in the country, their meteoric rise was something they never planned.

“Ang daming nagtatanong din na, ‘Anong sikreto? Bakit naabot sa ganito ‘yung banda?’ Wala naman talagang secret, eh — hard work and dedication talaga. Tapos tinuloy-tuloy lang namin ‘yung kung anong gusto naming gawin,” Cup Of Joe vocalist Rapha Ridao tells Billboard Philippines.

[“A lot of people ask us ‘What’s your secret? How did the band reach this?’ There’s no secret, it’s just hard work and dedication. And then, we just continued doing what we wanted to do.”]

Even with massive hits like “Tingin” redefining how far their sound can go, they never hinged their work on expectations. “Every song na na-release namin, we’re very grateful kung ano ‘yung marating ng song na ‘yun. We release our songs to just share our art, so then to be able to attract ‘yung gano’ng klaseng listeners sa specific songs namin, that’s beyond the recognition na hinihiling namin,” adds Cup Of Joe vocalist Gian Bernardino.

[“With every song we release, we’re just grateful for whatever that song achieves. We release our songs to just share our art, so then to be able to attract different listeners, that’s beyond the recognition we can ask for.”]

Even for HELLMERRY, who has become one of Filipino hip-hop’s biggest viral sensations, the idea of a “hit” isn’t something he chases — or even thinks about much.

“Sa totoo lang po, mga nare-release ko na kanta is hobby ko lang siya pero ‘yung anong mangyayari after ilabas, hindi na sakin mahalaga ‘yun. Kumbaga hindi ko na siya control eh, kung maghi-hit ba siya or hindi. Hit or miss siya, ilalabas ko parin siya,” HELLMERRY tells Billboard Philippines.

“Tinitignan ko [music ko] as [a] painting na pag nilabas ko siya, ikaw na bahala mag-decipher kung anong meaning sa iyo niyan. Basta ako, eto ako. Ilalabas ko lang siya, hahayaan ko lang siya diyan. Ginawa ko siya — hindi siya idea lang; nailabas ko siya as art ko,” he continues, explaining that as long as the work exists outside of his head and into the world, it’s already served its purpose.

[“To be honest, releasing music is just a hobby, whatever happens after I release it, is not important to me. It’s out of my control if it becomes a hit or not. If it’s a hit or a miss, I would have still released it. I look at my music like a painting, where when I release, it’s up to them to decipher the meaning of it. For me, that’s me. I’ll just release and let it be. As long as I did it, it’s not just an idea, I got to release my art.”]

The biggest hits in the Philippines rarely come from artists trying to crack a formula; they come from musicians who stay true to their craft and let the rest unfold.

Creating From The Heart

For a lot of today’s chart-topping acts, he act of making music isn’t about chasing charts or pleasing fans, it’s about simply staying true to themselves.

Shanti Dope, who remains one of the most prolific Filipino hip-hop makers of this generation, recalls the pressure after his first hit, “Nadarang,” even struggling with writer’s block.

“Ngayon, parang basta gustong gusto ko ‘yung music na nagawa ko, na nasulat ko, hindi na ako nagaalala kung magugustuhan ng fans ko or ano kasi alam ko pag gusto ko, magugustuhan din nila. Gusto ko lang maghain ng good music talaga, na gusto ko rin,” he shares, adding that his goal is ultimately creating music that excites him, rather than chasing expectations.

[“Now, as long as I like the music that I make, that I wrote, I don’t worry about whether my fans will like it because I know that I like it, so they would like it to. I just want to serve good music, the music that I like.”]

Earl Agustin shares a similar approach: “The songs that I released before, those are the songs that I wrote for myself… yes, may konting pressure [there’s pressure] but I’m really trying to tell myself to relax about it, not to think about whether people are gonna like it and more on focusing if I’m really enjoying it and being real about the things that I write and the music that I’m composing.”

Arthur Nery sums it up plainly: “Up until now, ‘di ko din alam kung ano ba dapat i-feel. Kailangan ko ba ma-pressure? Kailangan ko ba ma-overwhelm? Kailang ko ba ma-ganito, ma-ganyan, seryosohin lahat? Pero na fa-fall lang din siya sa conclusion na I just want to be happy and enjoy the process. Dun ‘yung hugot na kung bakit genuine lang ako, I’m just being myself.”

[“Up until now, I don’t how I’m supposed to feel. Do I need to feel pressured? Do I need to feel overwhelmed? Do I need feel like this, like that, like I need to take everything seriously? But I just always fall into the conclusion that I just want to be happy and enjoy the process. That’s why I’m just being myself.”]

For these artists, the most enduring hits in the Philippines aren’t born from strategy or pressure but rather come from honesty, heart, and the freedom to just make music they believe in.

Focusing On Connection

For these artists, the measure of success isn’t in awards or streams, but in the moments their music reaches people’s lives.

“‘Di ba mga mainstream, maririnig mo kahit saan, eh. So, kami nun, as a band, hindi ko na-expect na maririnig kami sa mga ganyan, eh. ‘Yung ‘Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig,’ hindi namin mapigilan ‘yung boom niya, so narinig ko siya sa palengke, narinig ko siya sa mga kapitbahay,” December Avenue’s Jet Danao recalls.

“Nung taon na [sumikat yung “Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig,”], magpapasko — literal ‘to ah, real talk ‘to, ah — ginising ako ng ‘Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig,’ kasi pinatugtog siya nang malakas ng kapitbahay namin. Bagong lipat lang siya so hindi niya ko kilala, ibig sabihin umabot na siya sa ganon. Tapos taga-probinsya kasi ako so sabi nga nila kung ang music mo nakarating sa malayong probinsiya, kilala ka na. Tapos ‘yun, sumunod na, nagiging nationwide ka na. Napapansin ka na ng TV, napapansin ka na ng radio, ng kahit na sino.“

“When you’re mainstream, you can hear your music anywhere, right? So, before, as a band, I didn’t expect to hear it in certain places. With ‘Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig,’ we couldn’t stop its boom, so I heard it in the wet market, I heard it from my neighbors. That year, it was almost Christmas — and this is true — I got woken up by ‘Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig’ because my neighbor was playing it so loud. They just moved in so they didn’t know who I was, but that meant it reached that level. I’m from the province, and they say that if your music reaches the province, you’re famous. From there, it just happened, we went nationwide and got the attention of people from TV, from radio. from everywhere.”]

It’s about to connecting to people wherever — literally or figuratively — they may be in life.

“Of course, recognition is good, but the real, or the true recognition that we aim for is ‘yung connection ng music namin to the actual listener — ‘yung mga taong nakakarinig ng songs namin, na kumakanta ng songs mo, ‘yung mga tao na sumasabi sa ‘yo na ‘December Avenue changed my life,’” adds the band’s frontman and vocalist Zel Bautista.

[“Of course, recognition is good, but the real, or the true recognition that we aim for is the connection we have to the actual listener — the people that listen to our songs, the people that sing our songs, the people that tell us that ‘December Avenue changed my life.'”]

For them, success isn’t measured in chart positions but in the personal stories, the shared moments, and the way a song resonates when it comes straight from the heart.

“I think lahat, magma-make sense if from the heart siya. Whatever you do, if from the heart siya, wala naman mangyayaring masama talaga,” says Arthur Nery.

[I think everything makes sense if it comes from the heart. Whatever you do, if it’s from the heart, nothing bad can really happen.”]

At the end of the day, the story of Filipino hits isn’t written in streams or awards, but in the quiet, electric moments of someone’s life. It’s in the honesty, the heart, and the connection that these artists pour into their craft, a reminder that in the Philippines, a song truly becomes a hit when it resonates, moves, and stays with the people it touches.

_{Photographed by Ver Sacol. Creative Direction by Bret Jackson. Art Direction by Kenn Dimaano. MUA Team by Nix Institute of Beauty (Cup of Joe, Shanti Dope, Hellmerry, December Avenue). Hair Stylist Radzin Villegas (Shanti Dope). Hair Stylist Carlo Encomedia (Hellmerry). HMUA Sharms De Castro (Arthur Nery). Styled by Bettina Banez (Arthur Nery). Styled by Kai Chavez (Earl Agustin). Photography assisted by Stephanie Maureen Anlacan.}