Sitti doesn’t mind you playing her songs at the wedding buffet
While the name Sitti is now synonymous with bossa nova music, the genre wasn’t initially in the cards. The original plan was for her to be part of a local version of the British pop group S Club 7, together with fellow winners of MTV Philippines’ 2004 contest “MTV Supahstar.”
By all means, she was set on the path of bubblegum pop. Little did she know, however, that her then-manager Gary Trinidad had submitted a demo of her singing pop songs—the bossa nova way—to Warner Music.
In 2006, her debut album “Café Bossa” was born.
Shoot for the moon
At that time, bands ruled the charts—Kamikazee, Hale, Sponge Cola. Would anyone listen to a style still quite unfamiliar to pop and mainstream audiences? She was doubtful. “Sinong makikinig niyan?” she tells Lifestyle Inquirer. “Suntok sa buwan!”
But she also knew she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by. “The album liners were so long. I thanked everyone I thought I could thank because I really thought it would be the only album I would ever record,” she says. “Feeling ko walang bibili.”
To her complete surprise, people did buy her album—thousands of them, in fact. “Café Bossa” went double platinum, and its biggest hit, “Para sa Akin,” would go on to become her career-defining song. The genre became so popular that many other singers followed suit and hopped on the trend she unwittingly started.
Who would have thought that, amid the din and frenzy of rock, listeners had space for the intimate and syncopated rhythms of bossa nova—at the opposite end of the spectrum? She didn’t, that’s for sure—much less that she would still be in the industry 20 years later.
On May 17 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Sitti will hold a concert called “Sittiscape: The City of Bossa”—her way of paying tribute to the record that started it all. “It will showcase my journey—how Café Bossa changed my life and how it took me to many unexpected alleyways of the city that’s my music career.”
What do you remember about the recording session?
That it happened in a men’s room!
The whole album was recorded—all 18 tracks—in one day. We did it at Stone House Bar in Quezon City. My recording booth was the men’s bathroom that they padded up. So I was isolated while the rest of them stayed in a function room.
But all alone, just me and the songs, my hearing sharpened and my senses heightened, so I was able to connect to them deeper.
What was that like?
Back then, I didn’t realize that it was an unusual recording setup. In fairness, ‘di naman mabaho, so hindi ako na-distract!
You started a trend—many singers followed suit.
Kapag merong bossa nova cover, people think automatically na ako ‘yong gumawa, pero actually maraming iba. There are versions of the songs “Grow Old With You” and “On This Day” credited to me, even if I didn’t record them! And the awkward thing was, I had clients who booked me because of those covers.
I want to look for the actual singers and tell them, “Mars, ang dami kong nakuhang raket dahil sa ‘yo!”
But was bossa nova the plan from the start?
I was a lounge singer for five years before the album came out. But on my third year, my manager suggested that I try to focus on bossa nova to set myself apart from other singers.
Listening to songs by Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim, I realized all this time my voice was looking for a home, and I didn’t know it. Sobrang saya ko sa bossa nova. So when the opportunity to do an album came, I grabbed it. At least I didn’t have to sing things I wasn’t comfortable with.
How does it feel finding that sense of home?
A home is a place where you can just be yourself. You can just lie around, wear old clothes, walk around barefoot. It doesn’t ask anything from you. That’s what bossa nova makes me feel.
But you also experimented with different styles, like electronic music. You even tried acting.
‘Di naman sa naumay ako, but you also want to see what else you can do. I also did acting and theater. I believe it should be every human being’s thrust to push themselves. If it doesn’t work, it’s okay because you did it for yourself, for your growth. Besides, I know that I can always come back home to bossa nova.
These days, “Para sa Akin” has become associated with weddings, and people joke that the song has become a cue that the buffet has opened. How do you feel about that?
Okay lang, naaaliw nga ako! It’s amazing how things can take on entirely new lives.
Maybe you also need to find the couple who first used the song in their wedding.
Malaki pasasalamat ko sa lahat ng events audio suppliers sa buong Pilipinas!
How has “Para sa Akin” and “Café Bossa” changed your life?
I went to UP Diliman and finished business economics, but I didn’t see myself in that field. Singing is all I have ever known, and it has given me so much. Ang dami kong napuntahang lugar, ang dami kong nakilala at naging kaibigan. What a gift it is to be able to make music and live a happy life through it.
The song and the album really took you for a ride.
Oh yes—sinabay lang nila ako at sumabay lang ako sa kanila. The music became part of people’s stories. Na-equate sa kasal, sa buffet, sa cordon bleu! Kasama nila sa road trips, sa romantic milestones, sa mga chemotherapy sessions.
This is all beyond me and bigger than me, so I want to celebrate that. I’m thankful “Para sa Akin” and “Café Bossa” happened and took me for the ride of my life.
