opm

OPM, or Original Pilipino Music, is not a single style but a tapestry of Filipino pop music written and performed by Filipino artists for Filipino listeners and beyond. Born in the late 1970s and flowering through the 1980s, it grew from Manila’s music scene during a time of cultural assertion when Filipino-language songs gained radio and television footing. Its precursors were Manila sound—bright, danceable pop that fused disco, funk, rock and ballad with Filipino sensibilities. Bands like Hotdog and VST & Company led that era, while ballad-focused writers such as Rey Valera and the Apo Hiking Society shaped the movement’s emotional core.

OPM broadened in the 1980s to include rock anthems, intimate singer-songwriter pieces, and lush ballads. Freddie Aguilar’s “Anak” became a watershed hit, signaling that local storytelling could speak with universal emotion. Francis Magalona’s pioneering Pinoy rap further expanded the palette and set the stage for later cross-genre experiments.

Among its enduring ambassadors, several names stand out. Regine Velasquez redefined contemporary pop balladry in the 1990s with sweeping melodies; Gary Valenciano became a perennial live-show favorite, blending pop, R&B, and danceable energy. Sharon Cuneta, the Megastar, carried many OPM classics into households across the country with heartfelt performances. In the new millennium, Ben&Ben and Moira Dela Torre revived OPM’s emotional core with modern production, while artists like Inigo Pascual and Erik Santos continued the tradition of melodic storytelling.

OPM’s strongest resonance remains in the Philippines, where songs are often sung in Filipino languages—Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano and others—and in Taglish, the Filipino-English hybrid that mirrors everyday speech. The genre also has a substantial global footprint, thriving in Filipino communities abroad—especially in the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Singapore, Australia and Europe—where OPM soundtracks homecomings, milestones, and daily life.

Today, OPM remains a dynamic umbrella for pop, rock, ballad, hip-hop, and indie influences, balancing the warmth of its Filipino roots with the adventurous curiosity of contemporary music. It’s a living expression of a people’s music: intimate, diverse, and proudly original.