Filipinos from across the country and the globe recognize multi-talented artist Julie Anne San Jose for her expertise in singing and songwriting. Throughout her successful career, Julie Anne had the opportunity to work with several local artists in various genres.
Her recent project, however, is one for her books. Through her composition “Di Ka Akin,” Julie Anne had the opportunity to work with Mr. Pure Energy himself, Gary Valenciano. Together, they performed Julie’s original song as a duet.
“I wrote this song last year. It was originally a solo. Si Tito Gary, he’s always been one of the people talaga na I’ve always wanted to collaborate [with]. It’s always been a dream,” Julie Anne said during an online media conference.
As if the universe heard her request, Julie Anne got a call from Universal Records asking if she wanted to collaborate with Gary. Her initial reaction was disbelief. She kept asking the record label’s executives if it was a joke. Lucky for her, it was the real deal.
“Excited din ako kasi I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s going to be my first time to do this with Tito Gary kasi, even before sa mga events, we would only see each other. Ngayon sobrang surreal na it’s going to finally happen,” Asia’s Limitless Star said.
The new opportunity presented on a silver platter encouraged Julie Anne to reconsider “Di Ka Akin” as a solo. Eventually, it became the duet that showcased her and Gary’s musical abilities.
Although Gary mirrors Julie Anne’s excitement, he also feels nervous because it’s a new song and collaboration, something he hasn’t done in a while. However, he feels the partnership is a nudge in the right direction.
“When I first heard about it (the collaboration), I didn’t hear the song yet, but the first word that came into my mind was ‘game,’” Gary said. It also helped that Mr. Pure Energy has nothing but praise for Julie Anne.
During the recording period, Julie Anne also felt nervous working with Gary but was excited at the same time as it was a realization of her childhood dream. After spending time together, Julie Anne found Gary inspiring, among other things.
As they went through the recording and production, Julie Anne said she witnessed how her song came to life after he added his vocals.
Julie Anne initially recorded the song at home. Since they both had tight schedules that kept them from meeting halfway, the two singers recorded the song separately. Gary, on the other hand, had a welcome surprise.
He admitted to waiting for the material at home and whether or not his partner’s vocals would be a challenge for him. When he heard Julie Anne’s vocals, however, he realized that it was just suitable for the song. For him, it aptly represented today’s music.
Their collaboration hit two birds with one stone, giving Julie Anne her dream project and allowing Gary to return to his element.
“Di Ka Akin” is available on YouTube Music and Spotify.