Musician Troy Laureta honors Filipino roots with a new album
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Filipino-American Musical Director Troy Laureta is using the success he's found in mainstream music to put Filipino music in the spotlight - a genre known as O.P.M., which stands for Original Pilipino Music.
"O.P.M. stands for Original Pilipino Music. It is music that's written in the Philippines," said Laureta. "Any type of love song, any type of rock song, anything that's written by Filipinos."
Laureta has worked with a number of big names like David Foster and Ariana Grande. Now that he's built a name for himself, he's honoring his Filipino roots with a new album. It features a diverse group of artists, including fellow Filipino-American, Nicole Scherzinger.
"To be able to do this album, not just on a musical standpoint, but to create more opportunities and representation and to show the world that it's more than just what we see here in the U.S., there's other great music all around the world, and that's coming from an American," said Laureta.
His sister Cheesa is also on the album. Filipino music has been a huge part of their lives since they were kids growing up in Hawaii.
"Just to get the yes from all these amazing, great talent that alone was just like wow people really love you, people love the culture, people want to get to know it and, it was very surreal," said Cheesa.
From Pia Toscano to Shelea to Matt Bloyd... most artists weren't familiar with the music - or the language!
"He was very good at breaking every single thing down so I understood it, I knew what it meant, and I knew how to pronounce it properly," said Toscano.
"To be able to see him bring that story to life with our perspectives, you know me, just a little black girl in church bringing my soulfulness to these songs. What's funny is, I get mistaken for Filipino a lot too," laughed Shelea.
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