Apl.de.Ap

"I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin'
Selfishness got us followin' our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found..."

This is the part of that Black Eyed Peas song sung by Apl.de.Ap , a very proud Filipino. You see, I've never spoken of any hiphop band before, simply because I'm not into that genre of music. Yet this song, "Where is the Love", is very different from the rest. While other songs speak of cheesy lovemakin or feelings of rage and hate, this song talks about peace. It's the modern "We are the World"- a song that addresses the main issue of our era. Whenever I hear this song, it gets me inspired to write in this blog you're reading right now. It's been a long time since I last heard of a song with a heart.

And the more inspired I became when I got the news a couple of months back that one of the members who sang "Where is the love" is actually Filipino. I realized this part of the song he co-wrote must have come from his own life- that these are words coming from a Filipino who got frustrated on what's going on in this "world that we're livin' in." Here's a man who came from a simple town in Angeles City, a poor family shattered by poverty, and made it big in a foreign land. If he's some other guy, he might have forgotten his roots instead and enjoyed life and fame in the land of milk and honey. Yet Apl returned to his homeland, proud as a Filipino, despite knowing the disappointing events happening here (not to mention threats to foreigners due to terrorism).

I bought five "Elephunk" albums that month- and gave em to my friends as gifts. There are very few people like the members of Black Eyed Peas. I think we ought to give em support and enjoy their music as well.