The Light (BGYO album)

The Light is the debut studio album of Filipino boy band BGYO. It was released by Star Music on 7 October 2021. The album contains twelve tracks, with "When I'm With You" as its key single, four new tracks "Kundiman," "Fly Away," "Sabay," and "Rocketman", which BGYO co-written, four versions of the band's debut single in Bahasa, Japanese, Spanish and Thai, along with the group's signature hits The Light, He's Into Her and The Baddest. The album's lyrical content transcends the spirit of resilience, empathy, and love.[1]

The Light
Studio album by
Released7 October 2021
Recorded2021
Genre
Length40:25
Language
LabelStar Music
BGYO chronology
The Light
(2021)
BE:US
(2022)
Singles from The Light
  1. "The Light"
    Released: January 29, 2021
  2. "He's Into Her"
    Released: April 23, 2021
  3. "The Baddest"
    Released: August 20, 2021
  4. "When I'm with You"
    Released: October 7, 2021
  5. "Kundiman"
    Released: November 26, 2021

The album debuts and peaks at number 1 on iTunes Albums Chart in 5 countries—Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It also charted in Canada, Thailand, Qatar, Australia, Norway, Malaysia and Mexico;[2] and has achieved the coveted feat of being the longest consecutive charting album by a Filipino act to stay at number one on iTunes Philippines of all time.[3]

The album surpassed 5 million Spotify streams, 2 weeks since its release.[4]

Background and release edit

On 11 June 2021, ABS-CBN Entertainment head Laurenti Dyogi made a statement during the official debut of BGYO's sister group Bini on the upcoming projects of the sibling groups—full-length albums, merch and the "One Dream: The BINI x BGYO Concert".[5] On 28 September 2021, the group's official social media account announced the schedules and the release of the debut album.[6] Tracklist of the album was revealed on 29 September 2021[7] and audio sampler on 6 October 2021.[8]

Composition edit

We hope they'll [listeners] be inspired listening to the songs. We hope they'll [listeners] be able to feel their journey and not just hear or see their journey.

— Lian Kyla, one of the songwriters of "Rocketman", Bandwagon Asia [9]

The Light embodies [BGYO's] journey, and it’s powerful, moving, and anthemic. The Bahasa, Thai, Japanese, and Spanish versions of the group’s debut single (also called "The Light"), feels like it needs to impart a good lesson [that] can be very well used as a campaign song for change. "Fly Away", [is] an extremely relatable track [with] compelling encouragement [to deal with struggles in life]. "Sabay" seemingly echoes that sentiment [too] but uses more danceable beats. On the other hand, "Rocketman" is a proud anthem for Filipinos, our resilience, and our undying spirit to move forward. Radiating around matters of romance are "Kundiman", "He's Into Her", "The Baddest", and "When I’m With You".

— JE CC, Lionheartv.net[10]

The Light is a reflection of the group’s past, present, and possible future. Naming the 12-track album after their debut single "The Light", is a way to symbolize the album’s message [and] it's clear that for their first album, the group wanted to give the feeling of resilience, love, and inspiration.

— Rafael Bautista, Nylon Manila[11]

Singles edit

The Light yielded four singles. The debut single, "The Light", was released in January 2021. The music video of "The Light" has received more than a million YouTube views, 6 days after its release, and its the fastest debut music video by a P-pop group to reach 1 Million views in YouTube. It also broke the record for being the "Most Liked Music Video in a Debut Song" by a P-pop group of all time.[12] The album's second single "He's Into Her" was released in April 2021 and became the official soundtrack of the original iWantTFC series He's Into Her.[13] "The Baddest" was released in August 2021 as the group's sophomore single and released as the album's fifth single.[14] American hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez posted a dance cover of the track in social media and went viral in October 2021.[15] "When I'm with You" was released in October 2021 as the album's third single and key track.[16]

"The Baddest", [is] the song that arguably helped put BGYO on the map internationally.

— Rafael Bautista, Nylon Manila[11]

Track listing edit

All song credits are adapted from the album sampler released by BGYO's label Star Music in YouTube, unless otherwise noted.[8]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Light"
  • Rogan
  • Ddank
3:12
2."He's Into Her"
  • Jonathan Manalo
  • Gabriel Tagadtad
Jonathan Manalo4:01
3."When I'm with You"
  • Kidwolf
Jonathan Manalo3:52
4."Fly Away"Akira "Aki" MorishitaJonathan Manalo3:31
5."The Baddest"
  • Tha Aristocratz
  • Tiyon "TC" Mack
    (Tagalog rap lyrics by Angelo "Gelo" Troy Rivera and Akira "Aki" Morishita)
MU Doctor (뮤닥터)3:16
6."Rocketman"
  • Lian Kyla
  • Athena Antiporda[9]
    (additional lyrics by Jonathan Manalo and rap lyrics by Nathaniel "Nate" Porcalla)
Jonathan Manalo3:25
7."Sabay"Michael "Mikki" Claver Jr.Jonathan Manalo2:50
8."Kundiman"Akira "Aki" Morishita
(additional lyrics by Jerwin Nicomedez)
Jonathan Manalo3:27
9."The Light - Bahasa Indonesia Version"
  • Rogan
  • Ddank
    (translated by Irwan Simanjuntak)
Jonathan Manalo3:11
10."The Light - Japanese Version"
  • Rogan
  • Ddank
    (translated by Ai Eco Ina)
Jonathan Manalo3:12
11."The Light - Spanish Version"
  • Rogan
  • Ddank
    (translated by Eric Garcia)
Jonathan Manalo3:11
12."The Light - Thai Version"
  • Rogan
  • Ddank
    (translated by Tan Onwimon)
Jonathan Manalo3:11
Total length:40:25

Awards and nominations edit

Award ceremony Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Asian Academy Creative Awards 2021 Best Theme Song or Title Theme (Philippines) He's Into Her Won [17]
Best Theme Song or Title Theme (Asia) Finalist
RAWR Awards Song of the Year The Light Nominated [18]
7th Wish Music Awards Wishclusive Pop Performance of the Year The Light Nominated [19]

Release history edit

Country Date Format Label
Various October 7, 2021 Airplay, Digital download, streaming, video streaming Star Music

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ For citations about "The Light" album as BGYO's debut album.
    • "BGYO Reveals Album Tracklist & Next Key Track Snippet". onemusic.ph. 2021-09-29. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
    • Miguel Dumaual (2021-10-07). "The full BGYO debut album is here, plus the music video for "When I'm With You"". news.abs-cbn.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
    • "BGYO inspires people from all over the world with its first album "The Light"". ent.abs-cbn.com. 2021-10-07. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  2. ^ For citations of The Light as No. 1 album in iTunes.
  3. ^ RAFAEL BAUTISTA (2022-01-29). "BGYO TURNS ONE: A LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THEIR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS". Pop Culture. Archived from the original on 2022-09-17. Retrieved 2022-09-17 – via Nylon Manila.
  4. ^ Nino Llanera (2021-10-31). "BGYO Celebrates 5 Million Spotify Streams on Debut Album Plus Global Reactions to When I'm With You MV". myx.global. Archived from the original on 2021-10-31. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  5. ^ "BINI, BGYO to team up for concert this year". news.abs-cbn.com. 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  6. ^ Daniel Peters (2021-09-30). "P-pop groups BINI and BGYO announce upcoming debut albums". nme.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  7. ^ "BGYO releases tracklist for debut album". rappler.com. 2021-09-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  8. ^ a b Nino Llanera (2021-10-06). "BGYO Drops "The Light" Album Sampler and New Single Teaser". myx.global. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  9. ^ a b Kara Bodegon (2021-11-10). "Lian Kyla on writing music for BGYO, BINI and herself: "It's like watching this song you made grow up and become part of something bigger"". bandwagon.asia. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  10. ^ JE CC (2021-10-07). "BGYO's Debut Album, 'The Light': Powerful, Inspiring, Anthemic". lionheartv.net. Archived from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  11. ^ a b Rafael Bautista (2021-10-13). "LOVE AND INSPIRATION TAKE CENTER STAGE IN BGYO'S DEBUT ALBUM, THE LIGHT". nylonmanila.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-13. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
  12. ^ For citations about the accolades received by the official music video of "The Light."
  13. ^ For citations about He's Into Her as the official soundtrack of the series He's Into Her,
  14. ^ For citations about "The Baddest" being the sophomore single of BGYO.
  15. ^ For citations that Jabbawockeez got viral after the dance cover of "The Baddest".
  16. ^ JE CC (2021-10-12). "REVIEW: BGYO's Third Official Single, "When I'm with You" is a perfect road trip song". lionheartv.net. Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  17. ^ For citations of He's Into Her accolade in Asian Academy Creative Awards,
  18. ^ "RAWR Awards is all set for Another Bigger, Broader Scope of Awards this 2021". LionhearTV. October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  19. ^ "Here's how you can vote for your favorite artists at the 34th Awit Awards". wish1075.com. 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-11-15.