Waiian is back!
The Filipino hip hop artist makes his surprise return with new single, “UP,” produced by long-time collaborator RuiijiKun.
Released today at midnight (June 7), the LIAB label CEO shared the news on his Facebook page, much to fans’ delight.
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“UP” is Waiian’s first official release since his solo debut full-length album, Good Problems, came out in 2020. He joined his fellow members from Kartell’em at their “homecoming” show earlier this year without new music both in his solo project and as a unit.
The accompanying music video was released on the same day. Of the track, Waiian noted, “2020 was so 2020. So much pain and losses it only hurts more when you count it. After ‘going through it’ this song titled ‘UP’ was one of the first songs I’ve finished through the midst of those dark times. I realized that when you lose in life, sometimes there’s not really much to do. You just be sad and lay around. Well I got tired of that and got up and did something with my time.”
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In other news, Waiian is headed to Okinawa, Japan in August—his first overseas appearance—for the “Our New Songlines 2023” project alongside fellow Filipino artist Alisson Shore, Japanese rappers Rude-α and ¥uk-B, and Indonesian singer-songwriter Tanayu.
The music project is presented by Okinawa City and Music Town Oto Ichiba in partnership with Music Lane Okinawa,The Rest Is Noise PH, and SRM Bookings and Services.
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Stream “UP” on Spotify below:
Revisit our episode on Waiian’s “Solo Mission” below:
