The emergence of rap and hip-hop as a dominant moving force in local mainstream music has been undeniably noticeable. One only has to look at the mainstays of the streaming charts and viral hits in the past couple of years to find this to be true.
And while we look at acts like hitmaker rap artist BECAUSE, and superstar artist and musician James Reid, as separate entities, the thread that makes up their music comes from the same sonic architects.
And that would be the likes of Nexxfriday and Naki—the co-founders of WAYBETTR. With Nexxfriday having produced the chart-topping hits of so many hip-hop, rap, and pop acts such as “Pakinabang” by Ex Battalion and “Sandali” by Because to name a few, you have probably heard traces of the ever-evolving sound that is slowly making its way into the mainstream, which is the essence of WAYBETTR’s auditory direction.
WAYBETTR also aims to revolutionize the way the music production industry operates in the Philippines. In the past couple of years, the community of Music Production in the Philippines has increased tenfold. From making beats to mixing and mastering, what was once a niche-driven community has slowly entered the mainstream. With the co-founders being producers themselves, WAYBETTR is housing their own growing roster of producers and engineers to further push the community forward.
And Naki, coming from a background in Digital and Performance Marketing, aims to change the way artists and creatives in the Philippines reach their audiences.
He states, “The world is increasingly turning into a digital society, kaya isa sa mga direction that we want dito sa WAYBETTR is to be a digital-first label. This means majority of our operational and marketing efforts will leverage our understanding of data and technology, digital communities, and digital marketing.”
“At the end of the day, lahat ng output natin as creatives, they’re digital products. Whether you’re an artist or a music producer, ang end-goal natin is to find the people that like our digital products and develop a two-way relationship that allows us to build communities and constantly grow our audiences," Naki adds.
The VIVA Music Group recently announced their joint venture partnership with the founders of WAYBETTR, Emmanuel Salen, a.k.a Nexxfriday, and Wilde Quimson, a.k.a Naki—via a Zoom press conference early this month. The partnership aims to cultivate the new generation of Hip-Hop, music production and give new up-and-coming creatives the centerstage.
With the genre of hip-hop going strong in the Philippines, Naki says that this is the perfect time to launch a collective like WAYBETTR to make the community even bigger, far-reaching, and stronger.
Their partners at VIVA Music Group believe that Nexxfriday and Naki are the future of Hip-hop and the music industry in the Philippines. And Viva is optimistic that the synergy of these youthful, progressive creatives will bring forth the future with the official launch of Nexxfriday and Naki’s WAYBETTR record label and production house. Not only will the duo lead in the production of music with their usual named collaborators, but they will also be managing and nurturing new up-and-coming acts.
One of them would be female R&B artist DENȲ. A singer-songwriter and dance artist whose music leans toward contemporary R&B and pop, DENȲ got her start in the Filipino music scene when she became a session musician for BECAUSE’s band in 2019. The latter pushed her to go deeper with her music and produced the first two tracks that eventually became DENȲ’s first singles.
DENȲ will now have the distinction of being the first official artist of WAYBETTR. She will be the first to test the waters of the local scene under the newly minted label heads’ production, creative direction, and management. DENȲ’s first single, called “Gusto With Ya”, was released on March 12 on all digital streaming platforms.
To date, WAYBETTR already has a burgeoning, dynamic roster of artists under their label which includes DENȲ, FTD, Jae K, and the Tus Brothers, with some of their tracks already underway. With its own band of producers from all over the country, the music production house of Nexxfriday and Naki, along with their artists are excited at the prospect of working with like-minded creatives in the Philippines and especially Filipinos all over the world as well.
