Reiko finds his voice
Reiko can seamlessly switch between English, Tagalog, and Japanese, and as an emerging Filipino J-pop artist straddling the Philippine and Japanese music scenes, his multilingualism is an undeniable asset. “Nothing really stops me from expressing myself,” he says.
But that wasn’t always the case.
Born in the Philippines, he moved to Aichi, Japan with his Filipino parents when he was two years old. Tagalog was spoken at home and was his first language growing up. English, he picked up naturally from watching Western media like the Disney Channel. But it wasn’t until he started school, however, that he began to learn Japanese.
It was difficult, especially at first, he says, because it was so different from the languages he already knew. “You wanted to make friends and you wanted to connect with people, but it was very hard because you didn’t know what to do. You didn’t understand what they were saying and you couldn’t say anything back,” he tells Lifestyle Inquirer.
Search for self-expression
Over the years, he eventually mastered the language of his adopted home while maintaining his command of English and Tagalog. He can communicate with anyone in Tokyo, Manila, or most parts of the world.
But what is he really trying to say? As it turns out, fluency isn’t the same as finding a voice.
Perhaps it’s only fitting, then, that his new EP is titled “Voice.” “This record is about that journey,” Reiko says. Across five tracks—sultry jams and soulful ballads that hark back to late ‘90s and early 2000s R&B—he showcases the full breadth of his vocal ability and his search for self-expression.
“It’s about having leadership over your life. Owning it. Trying to imagine your life or create your future, and believing in yourself—the potentials you have,” he says.
However, growing up in a big family—the eldest of seven—the idea of “owning your life” seemed something “so far from reality.” “I felt like my life was supposed to be for somebody and serve somebody,” he says. Before he knew it, he was shutting himself away from possibilities and losing his self-belief. “It led me to losing my voice, in a way.”
Hard-won self-assurance
But if there’s one recurring theme in Reiko’s life, it’s that music has always shown him the way—just like the way it did in second grade, when he sang in a music class for the first time and finally felt seen. “What changed was, I guess, music really saved me,” says the 23-year-old singer-songwriter. “When you write… it’s interesting because it comes from you, but you still discover things about yourself.”
And in the process of writing “Voice,” he realized that serving others doesn’t necessarily mean shrinking one’s ambition or being “sacrificial.” “It also means knowing what you can do for people, for the community, and honing the talent and power you have to make a difference and make the world a better place,” he says.
You can see this hard-won sense of purpose and self-assurance in the way he talks about his talent and craft. As a vocalist, for instance, Reiko prides himself not only on his technical proficiency as a vocalist, but on his instinct for storytelling. In the moving, personal “letter” that is the ballad “Lullaby,” he sings as if he’s in front of someone, confessing his feelings.
“That’s what’s important in music—making it feel personal for that person,” he says.
And whenever he’s in need of a little boost, he listens to the smooth, come-hither grooves and coos of his EP’s focus track, “Check.” “It’s about owning the stage, hyping yourself up. I’m the performer. I can do this,” he says. “It brings my confidence up when I need to.”
Homecoming
On his latest visit to Manila, he spent time filming TikTok content around the city and trying local food like beef salpicao. While this was already his third work trip to the Philippines, it still felt like a homecoming.
“The warmth of the people, the culture, the music—I always feel welcomed here, and I’m grateful that I can continue building this connection with Filipino fans,” Reiko says.
And what better way to nurture that bond than by writing more original Tagalog material, like his 2024 release “Hanggang Kailan Pa.” His first impulse is to think and write in Japanese—understandably so since he lives there—but there are some things, like the “kabayan spirit,” that he feels are better expressed in Tagalog.
“I think the way I express myself, how passionate I am, comes from being Filipino. And then the precision—the things I say and the words I choose in my songs—comes from Japanese culture,” says Reiko, who recalls Up Dharma Down’s “Tadhana” as one of his first encounters with OPM. “My tita loved that and used to sing it a lot.”
That said, Reiko has also expressed interest in covering Filipino songs and collaborating with local acts. There are plans, he says, but still he’s not at liberty to reveal them. One thing he is sure of, however, is his desire to write songs for P-pop groups, which makes perfect sense given that he once came close to joining a boyband himself.
Building bridges
Before his solo career under BMSG and BE-U, Reiko first entered Japan’s music scene through Sky-Hi’s 2021 survival audition program “The First,” where he placed among the top 10 finalists. While he didn’t make the final lineup for the J-pop boy band Be:First, he signed with BMSG as a trainee before finally debuting in 2023 with the single “Butterfly.”
“I think my J-pop background will really shine in writing for P-pop. I love the groups here, and I want to contribute and synergize with them,” says Reiko, who has been “obsessed lately” with BGYO.
“They’re really charismatic, and I’m excited about what they can bring to the world,” he says. “Hopefully, we can write a song together, or I can feature in one of their songs.”
But for now, he focus is on what he sees as a responsibility to build bridges between cultures and show that we’re all capable of becoming what we dream of. “I want to spread love and understanding through my art, and create work that is also educational,” Reiko says.
