The star of the Web musical series, Lyric and Beat, shared some ‘interesting’ details about her feel-good, motivational single, It’s Okay Not to be Okay.
Already one of the local recording scene’s fastest-rising artists, Angela Ken, is seemingly unstoppable, as she surges forward to making her mark as a composer and a singer. She first dove into showbiz in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Ken has undoubtedly accomplished so much already. She has written and recorded no less than 5 songs, with some even made as original soundtracks for ABS-CBN shows.
Ken rose to prominence via her viral Tiktok video, where she sang a portion of her original song ‘Ako Naman Muna’. The clip caught the attention of Star Music and had her sign a recording contract, right away. Her songs mainly talked about young people’s struggles and families, which is probably one of the biggest reasons why she resonates so much with today’s youth.
Aside from Ako Muna, which she recorded into a full song, Ken also sang Sila Pa Rin, one of the theme songs of the primetime series, Marry Me, Marry You. The single talked about family and how they remain everybody’s last refuge when everyone else fails you. Two years into the industry, a couple of milestones have already happened in her career. Earlier this year, she became one of few Filipino artists whose face flashed on one of the giant e-billboards in Times Square, New York.
During her guesting in Magandang Buhay in February, Ken talked about one of her new songs, It’s Okay Not to be Okay, which, like the songs she previously wrote, talked about how the youth deals with problems. She noted that the song was co-written by the seasoned songwriter, Jonathan Manalo.
“It was a song na pinagawa ko (It was a song someone asked me to write),” she revealed on the show.
That, someone, turned out to be the King of Talk, Boy Abunda, who, if you can recall, went viral last year, for the same phrase, “it’s okay, not to be okay”.
“Galing po kasi siya sa question niya sa Miss Philippines. ‘Yun po ‘yung nag-trending niyang tanong sa candidate. Tapos naisipan niya po na gawan ng kanta. At thankful po ako na sa baguhan na tulad ko niya gustong ipagkatiwa.
“(It came from that question he asked during the Miss Philippines coronation night. He thought of writing a song based upon it, and I’m just thankful that he chose me to write it for him),” she revealed.
“May part po na binase ko siya sa buhay ko, kung paano ba ang pakiramdam ko kung okay lang na hindi maging okay, at kung kelan lang ba dapat na hindi maging okay.
“(There was a part which I based on my own life, on my own feelings, if it is okay not to be okay sometimes, and when is the time to feel not okay),” she added.
Angela Ken turned 20 in May, this year. She is currently starring in Dreamscape Entertainment’s youth-oriented musical web series, Lyric and Beat.
