MANILA, Philippines – Ever since Zack Tabudlo came onto the scene with his debut single, “Nangangamba” in 2020, he has become known for writing the kind of music they call “hugot songs.” 

As a genre of sorts, “hugot songs” are not just love songs, they’re love songs that drive the knife deeper into an already broken heart. They’re the kind of songs you play and sing out loud to when you want to feel all your feelings – something Filipino listeners seem to seek out.

With tracks like “Nangangamba,” his runaway hit “Binibini” and “Pano,” Zack presents his listeners with his deeply personal, sentimental musings on love, neatly wrapped up in his R&B-laced alt-pop sound.

He playfully ventures into disco and funk  – decidedly non-hugot by nature – in his sophomore album Zack: For All, released in February. But he returns to form soon enough with his latest single, “Diba.”

“Diba” is classic Zack, an R&B slow jam with lyrics best described as “mapanakit.” Take the pre-chorus for instance: “Ba’t di pa ba kuntento? Pagtapos ko ilaban lahat para sa iyo.”

“This was mainly me digging into past relationships that I’ve had before,” he told Rappler in an interview.

Getting vulnerable

As a songwriter, Zack is unapologetically personal. He doesn’t assume a persona, doesn’t borrow other people’s perspectives. Rather, he draws from his own experiences – never mind if it makes him feel vulnerable.

“I am very open with a lot of things…Because I become very vulnerable with how I write my songs, and having vulnerability and being personal with these songs, that comes out as a lot of people can relate to. So if I write something that’s very different or very out of my zone, I feel like the vulnerable part of it will get lost. So I’d rather write personal and stuff,” he explained.

Being so transparent in his music sometimes means that his own feelings can get misconstrued or interpreted differently. 

“It’s kind of like this nervewracking feeling whether they accept what I felt during these songs,” he said. 

He gave the example of his song “Pano.”

“The Filipino fans were like, ‘oh, this is such a sadboi song, this is such a toxic sadboi song’ but at the backend, it was me being vulnerable and it was just me being true to myself and being honest about it, not thinking about that perspective,” he shared.

“And so I do have this feeling in my head sometimes when I write songs – being vulnerable to it, being scared as well if people would accept it the way I accepted it,” he said.

Ultimately though, all that matters is if he is satisfied with his own work. 

“In the end, it doesn’t really matter to me, as long as I enjoyed it, and as long as I saw just one or ten people enjoy the music that I create, I’m very happy with it already,” he said.

Writing sad songs

As someone who clearly doesn’t shy away from heartbreak, Zack shared that he “definitely” writes better when he’s sad. 

“I feel like I can speak on behalf of a lot of artists. It’s really different when you write sad songs, cause like ideas and hurtful words, and really deep pain can come out of sad songs compared to happy songs,” he said.

“Mainly, when you’re happy, you don’t really think about being happy. You’re at that moment, you’re in your high, and you enjoy that overwhelming experience of being happy. Rather than being sad. Being sad is deep, you overthink and you kind of go through these zones or whatever you go through when you’re sad. That’s why it’s way easier to write sad songs,” he added.

For Zack, that only means his discography is filled with songs that feel like a punch to the gut in the best way possible. As an artist, he is not shying away from the “hugot” label. In fact, he even seems to embrace it.

“It’s really cool because I have friends from my end who sort of started the ‘hugot’ thing,” he said, referencing “hugot” queen Moira dela Torre. 

“These kinds of, I guess, names that they call it, how they kind of name it on social media, being the ‘hugot’ person, like someone who does ‘hugot’ songs as well, it’s a humbling thing for me,” he said. 

“Because I mainly just enjoyed writing my songs personally, ’cause these are personal experiences. Having them kind of picture that for me and call that with my music is a really cool thing,” he said.

Of course, Zack isn’t just a “hugot” artist. He’s a musician’s musician who isn’t afraid to experiment sonically or thematically. As a songwriter, he said there isn’t anything he wouldn’t write about.

That being said, the love songs that his fans love are here to stay.

Zack admitted that writing about romance and relationships “is kind of tiring” sometimes. But as an artist, it’s also where he feels at home. 

“That is kind of like my comfort zone when it comes to writing. So kind of going back to romance, and heartbreak, and love in general, it’s kind of like my comfort, it feels like home for me, writing songs about love,” he said.

As prolific as he is – he’s released two albums in two years plus many more singles and collaborations – it goes without saying that there’s more of his music on the way soon.

His fans already seem to be keyed into this. “A lot of people and a lot of fans are saying, if there’s new hair, then there’s a new album, new era, new songs,” Zack laughed. 

“It’s really a coincidence honestly, but I do have my hair shaved at the moment, I did dye it blonde and stuff. And so we’ll see,” he said. “It’s definitely another era, but it’s a lot of songs. I know a lot of people will like the new songs, and I’m really just pumped up to let them hear it.” – Rappler.com