Jay R reinvents popular Pinoy love songs in new album.

Surely, anyone who is given the moniker ‘Platinum Prince of Soul’ is bound to be pressured in trying to live up to it.

But Jay R, he's playing it smart.

Fine tuning his act from the bravura of hip-hop and R&B to what he now describes as a more soulful approach, he eases into a parallel genre that allows him to showcase the proverbial ‘artistic maturity.’ But in his case, it’s a transition that’s easy to buy because it does work.
During the media gathering to mark the launch of his fifth album, “Jay R Sings OPM Love Classics,” the singer did not mince words when Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online asked him to talk about his place now in the music scene.

“Actually nung una akong lumabas, naka tsamba ako,” Jay R begins, speaking mostly in Tagalog in a valiant effort to master the second language he still speaks with, he sheepishly admits, “a little bulol factor.”

“Walang male singer na katulad ko [in genre] dati kaya it was easy to come out and sell a Platinum record. After nun, ‘yun ang mahirap,” he admits. “Mahirap i-sustain ‘yung success kasi maraming mga bago na pumapasok, at maraming magagaling. So kailangan, A Game talaga ‘yung ginagawa ko eh.”

Despite having paid his dues to earn his rightful spot in Pinoy pop music’s recent history, Jay R’s lucky streak of Platinum releases like “Soul In Love” and “Gameface” is not something the artist takes lightly.
 
His new album, “Jay R Sings OPM Love Classics”—a self-explanatory compilation that comprises 13 tracks—is his own answer to just about every other cover album released by most solo singers these days. But Jay R is not one to hide behind made up artistic reasons, and his candor about the project makes him a much more honest artist.
 
“Well I’m very confident when [my label] makes concept albums, kasi bumebenta lahat nang ginagawa nila,” Jay R explains. “Kaya maganda rin sa akin kasi, gawin ko ‘to, [tapos] bumenta…I get another Platinum album. Parang maganda ‘yun sa resume ko…maganda rin [para] sa self-esteem ko.”
 
And this approach proves its merits. Already, the album’s carrier single, “Himala”—his take on a Rivermaya hit written by Rico Blanco—has been enjoying extensive radio airplay.
 
Jay R lauds the efforts not only of his label, but also the people behind the new album, including producer Ito Rapadas, for the fresh take on the material he’s picked.
 
“We’ve been working for years na, alam na nila ‘yung gusto ko,” he says of his team. “From the beginning, ‘pag nagbigay sila sa akin ng music, sasabihin ko na ibahin, ganito ‘yung gawin. So na pick-up na nila ‘yung style ko, kung anong gusto ko. So this time around, sa album, walang problema sa areglo eh, lahat nagusuhan ko.”
 
Thus, the love songs popularized by singers such as Zsa Zsa Padilla (“Ikaw Lamang”), Ogie Alcasid (“Sa Kanya”), Agot Isido (“Sa Isip Ko”), Rachel Alejandro (“Paalam Na”), Martin Nievera (“Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin”) and even Sharon Cuenta (“Hagkan”) have been given the Jay R treatment and, in fact, a different and much-updated sound.
 
South Border’s “Kahit Kailan” is perhaps the song closest to Jay R’s own genre, but his version—soul with an acoustic guitar highlight during the build-up—is definitely a proper homage to the original. And his version of “Muli” sung with Diamond Soul Siren, Nina, is also a good throwback to the original, propelled by its impressive arrangement and instrumentation.
 
Jay R, who admits to still having a hard time speaking certain Tagalog words, or even understanding some that appear in the songs he’s covered, says he’s always wanted to do an all-OPM album. While he has had to give up singing some songs he likes—one of them being Gary V’s “Take Me Out of the Dark”—because it didn’t work with the all-Tagalog concept, Jay R seems pretty happy with the turn out. As are most of his fans, who have given the singer a very warm response during a mall show in San Fernando the weekend before the album launch.  
 
And while Jay R has been dragged into the rumor mill, thanks to his relationship with current Binibining Pilipinas-International, Krissa Mae Arrieta—who has been said to have moved in with the singer, according to showbiz scribes—he’s taking it all in stride.
 
“Actually ngayon ko lang narinig yang tsismis na 'yan eh,” he smiles as he refutes the reports. And these rumors don’t hinder him from seriously focusing on his craft.  “It comes with the territory,” he shrugs. “Sa show business, laging may ganun na factor, so sanay na kami.”
 
See more of Jay R—who has upgraded his own look to suit the times, indeed trading his hip-hop get-up for skinny jeans and tight shirt—as he makes the rounds of promos for his latest album.