As the K-pop genre becomes more accessible to neighboring countries, such as the Philippines, there is a growing number of idols of Filipino blood debuting in South Korea.
Among them is Jay Chang, who is currently a member of ONE PACT and the project group Boys Define Universe (BDU). The 23-year-old rookie’s nationality is American, but it’s no secret that his mother is part Filipino.
Another idol from the Philippines is Kriesha Chu. Both of his parents are Filipinos of Chinese descent. They initially lived in Manila before moving to the United States where she grew up.
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On January 7, the Philippine K-pop community went into a frenzy after the two surprisingly appeared together in a collaboration video.
Most notably, Jay and Kriesha released a live version of Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga’s “Die With A Smile,” uploaded to Jay Chang’s official YouTube account.
“We have prepared a little gift together for you guys. We hope that your 2025 is filled with only happy moments, we hope that you always stay healthy and that you listen to our music a lot”, introduced the two stars.
In the video, they flaunted their excellent live singing skills and displayed a wide vocal range as they sang without any difficulty.
Both channeled the so-called “Filipino throat chakra,” a fan-coined phrase that is used to describe the strong vocal abilities of singers of Filipino blood. This comes from Hindu culture where the throat chakra (Vishudda) refers to the energy center responsible for communication and personal expression, as described by Healthline.
On the cover, Jay and Kriesha received rave reviews on YouTube with the video garnering approximately 30,000 videos 10 hours after uploading.
“Jay finally found a woman to duet with on this cover and they absolutely devoured her,” one commenter said.
“Jay Chang and Kriesha’s voices are truly a national treasure,” another user added.
“Filipino throat chakra is crazy,” one fan also wrote.
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