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JK Labajo looks back on his Bisdak roots and lola’s guiding love

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Liezel dela Cruz

Juan Karlos &#x27;JK&#x27; Labajo’s music is like a love letter—raw, unapologetic, and deeply personal. Each melody and lyric sounds like an intimate confession that resonates with anyone who&#x27;s ever loved and been hurt. Known for his unique approach to songwriting, he combines soulful vulnerability with sharp wit, letting his emotions guide his process of crafting songs that capture the raw highs and lows of life.And there’s an undeniable charm in how he blends his Bisaya roots into everything he does. JK’s Bisdak identity isn’t just a background detail; it’s a crucial part of his music and who he is. “I grew up as a Bisaya with my lola and uncle. So, every time, like on a daily basis, dahil galing tayong probinsya at dumating tayo dito sa Maynila, at may nakakausap ako na Bisaya, parang… you feel at home,” JK says, with that laid-back smile. Growing up in Cebu, he moved from one rented place to another, under the care of his grandma and uncle, his father figure. For him, family has always been everything, thus, giving back to them, especially to his lola, became his drive. You&#x27;ll feel proud of how he was able to finally achieve his goal of giving his lola a permanent home.<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="703" referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dOAMxJp1bM4" title="JK Labajo on discovering his passion for acting | Kuan On One Highlights" width="1250"></iframe></div>His family life was shaped by both presence and absence. JK only had one picture of his father, and the only memory he has of him is from a childhood visit to his father’s deathbed, a moment that left him with more acceptance than bitterness. Growing up, he would often hear his mom say that a child shouldn&#x27;t have to beg for a father’s love, and if that love can’t be given, then so be it. JK accepted early on that he wouldn’t have a biological father in his life, but, unconsciously, he filled that void with an unusual kinship with older people, choosing friends who doubled as mentors or father figures.His lola, though, would share scattered memories about his dad, a German his mother met in Boracay in the summer of 2000. As the story goes, his mom tagged along with her best friend to meet a pen pal, who happened to bring a friend of his own—JK’s father, who was instantly smitten by his mom’s beauty. JK laughs, calling himself “made in Boracay.” So, when he, himself, finally set foot on Boracay, he couldn’t help but smile as savored the feeling of finally coming “home.”<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="703" referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nkBXNCOGI-c" title="I think I like this little life ✨😂 | Kuan On One Highlights | Watch on YouTube" width="1250"></iframe></div>It’s these fragments of his past, pieced together in the verses of his music, that make JK’s life so resonant. But, despite the &#x27;bubog&#x27; in his past, he grew up as a happy kid, thanks to the people around him who taught him to seek joy in the little things. &quot;Happiness is a perspective, like some sort of glass that you can try to wear,&quot; he reflects. &quot;Kasi tayo naman sa buhay, stress is constant. Normal lang ang mga problema, ‘yung mga sakit sa ulo, mga taong mahirap kausap,&quot; he adds, to which &quot;Kuan On One&quot; host Melai Cantiveros nodded in agreement, &quot;Hindi dapat yun dinidibdib dahil ganun talaga. Pagdadaanan talaga natin yan.&quot;This is why music has become best friend. It&#x27;s where he finds the space to channel his ‘hugots’ and personal experiences. &quot;Marami tayong pinagdaanan sa buhay, and I try to delegate such energies into different aspects,&quot; he explains. &quot;So, from my end, being able to create music, ginagawa ko ito na parang pampalabas ng kung ano ang nasa loob ko.&quot; For JK, songwriting is a form of release, a way to express the complex emotions he’s accumulated over the years. &quot;I feel like it&#x27;s a subconscious conception of everything around you,&quot; he continues, explaining that his songs are born out of his &quot;gibati&quot;—his feelings. And in this raw, unfiltered art, he finds catharsis.For JK, music is life itself. &quot;Music in general ay isa sa mga biggest source of support that you can get,&quot; he shares. &quot;When you listen to something, aside from being able to relate to it, if you&#x27;re going through something really bad in life, there&#x27;s a constant reminder na may nakakaintindi rin pala sa lahat ng nararamdaman at pinagdadaanan ko.&quot;He can’t imagine a world without the sound of music. &quot;Us, humans, we don’t only consume fuel through food and sleep. We also consume things that kind of are put in this category of like, fuel and food for the soul.&quot; For JK, art in all its forms, whether it’s music, acting, or entertainment, serves as a fuel for the human soul. It’s clear that, for him, the power of creative expression provides the sustenance and strength people need to keep going in a world that’s often difficult to navigate.<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="703" referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5l3H9PUmwt0" title="JK Labajo talks about his &quot;sad boy&quot; era | Kuan On One Highlights" width="1250"></iframe></div>Fans have dubbed him &quot;sad boy&quot; because of his heart-wrenching hits that cut deep with their painful messages. But JK reminds everyone that he’s not just about heartbreaks and melancholy. He has happy songs, too. It’s just that, more often than not, the sad tracks seem to align perfectly with whatever personal struggles he’s facing at the time. It’s all about timing where life’s emotional rollercoaster finds its way into the music he creates.For him, the process of publishing music is about letting go. It’s like his therapy where he gets to release his emotions and experiences. &quot;So, ang focus ko is just to really stay in that lane of being selfish. Being selfish in the sense of, &#x27;I’m gonna make the song because this is my outlet at ito ang mga bagay na gusto kong sabihin.&#x27;&quot; He continues, &quot;Once that thing is released, sa public na &#x27;yun. Nasa tao na &#x27;yun. Sila na ang bahala kung paano nila gagamitin &#x27;yun.&quot; And this connection between the artist and audience is where the real magic lies.For JK, making music isn&#x27;t about chasing numbers or pleasing an algorithm. It’s about channeling raw emotion and unfiltered thoughts into something that strikes a chord with listeners. While he’s aware of the trends in the industry, he doesn’t get bothered by them. Unlike other songwriters who might dissect the top hits of the moment to find common patterns and create new music based on that, JK’s approach is more organic. He’s not focused on creating a formula for success because his main goal is to speak from the heart.He acknowledges the value of studying music, though, whether through formal education or diving into technicalities, and he has a high level of respect for those who choose that path. &quot;Music is a whole new different language,&quot; he notes that it really helps when someone has studied music formally, as it provides solid foundation, especially for those who want to take their craft to another level. But for JK, the real secret to songwriting is authenticity. When it comes to technique, his is just wearing his heart on his sleeve and letting his emotions guide the process rather than relying on formulas.He firmly believes that the essence of creating music lies in two simple concepts: listening and expressing. One can’t exist without the other. &quot;This is what I tell everybody as well, the producers and the creators, don’t forget to consume,&quot; JK shares. In order to create, you must first absorb. &quot;For you to make music, you also have to listen to music.&quot;Teamwork is also a crucial aspect of creating music professionally, as an artist is often supported by a whole village. “May mga tao rin na parte ng team na naging part ng pag-create n&#x27;yan. For example, the collaborators, the people who helped you produce, the people who recorded your songs, the super talented musicians that played the instruments for the song,” he shares. Making music, as JK sees it, isn&#x27;t a solo mission but a collective effort that involves many hands coming together to shape a track.While some young people today might see collaboration as simply &quot;working together&quot; for a project, JK believes it goes much deeper than that. To him, true collaboration brings out creativity. &quot;I want to be in a room full of musicians who are so good at what they do, better than me in every aspect.&quot; He says that he views himself as the &quot;weakest link&quot; when working in a team because he wants to learn from these people. He believes there&#x27;s no such thing as a self-made success. Every successful person is a product of collaboration. &quot;You won&#x27;t get to where you are without the help of people around you,&quot; he states. Whether directly or indirectly, someone has helped you get to where you are today.While writing songs means drawing from real-time emotions and experiences, performing them in front of an audience is a different experience altogether. Singing a song doesn’t necessarily mean he&#x27;s reliving those moments. Take for instance the massive success of his love song &quot;Buwan&quot; followed by his heart-wrenching breakup piece &quot;Ere.&quot; Both songs were birthed from a past love, yet they have become timeless. Despite being in a new relationship now, JK still gets requests to sing &quot;Buwan&quot; and &quot;Ere&quot; at his shows, which sparks a question from Kuantie Melai: does it ever make him feel guilty to perform a track dedicated to a past love while his current girlfriend is there? With maturity, JK explains that an artist understands the concept of &#x27;service to the public.&#x27; If his listeners want to hear him sing those songs, regardless of his personal life, then he owes it to them to perform.Through this, JK has come to view his songs as time capsules. &quot;When I sing that song, I&#x27;m just brought back to that place, and that&#x27;s it. It’s as simple as that,&quot; he says. He acknowledges that some might not understand that when he performs a heartbreak song, it doesn’t mean he&#x27;s going through the same emotions in that moment. For JK, music isn’t about reliving pain; it’s about capturing a moment in time. &quot;Ganun lang ang emotions na nalalabas ko kasi all of the songs that I make just really inherently brings me back to the moment when I made it,&quot; he adds. &quot;There’s no need to change history. And there’s no need to erase history.&quot;People often see JK as a &quot;lover boy,&quot; someone who falls hard, and he’s the first to admit that, indeed, his world revolves around the person he’s giving his attention to when in love. His most intense act of love, he shares, was giving everything to someone else without realizing he had nothing left for himself.And with that depth of love comes equally deep heartbreak. JK acknowledges that everyone has his or her own way of grieving after the pain of a breakup. For him, moving on wasn’t always easy; he too went through the phase where he had no appetite, didn’t want to leave the house, and found himself sulking in isolation. But what he’s learned is that there’s no universal blueprint for healing. There’s no one-size textbook guideline on how to move on. One just needs to do what he/she thinks will help him/her.And if crying helps, then let yourself cry. JK points out that men, too, should be allowed to be vulnerable and express their emotions without shame, especially in places where there&#x27;s a stigma against showing weakness. He also underscores the importance of seeking external support during a breakup. After all, a breakup is a type of loss, and loss is something that, no matter the cause, hurts.He also emphasizes the importance of holding onto hope—paglaum, as they say in Bisaya, a lesson his grandma deeply instilled in him.From his &quot;sad boy&quot; era, JK has found joy and new love, and now he channels that newfound happiness into his music. In fact, there are two songs in his latest album dedicated to his current girlfriend, Dia Mate, who came into his life while he was working on the album. But beyond romantic love, JK’s heart remains firmly rooted in his family, particularly his grandmother, who raised him and has lived the most colorful life he knows. Next year, JK plans to create a set of songs dedicated to his lola.Imagine a man who would write songs about you and for you—someone who captures your quirks, your laughter, even the silence between your words, and turns them into melody. That’s the kind of artist JK is.JK’s versatility doesn’t end with his music, though. While he’s known for his emotional depth as a singer-songwriter, he’s just as impressive in front of the camera. Take, for instance, his performance in the Kapamilya teleseryes “<a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/seniorhigh2023" target="_blank">Senior High</a>” and “<a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/highstreet2024" target="_blank">High Street</a>.” He admits that acting wasn’t always part of his plan. After all, he started in the industry as a singer, joining “<a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/thevoicekids2" target="_blank">The Voice Kids</a>” in 2014. But it wasn’t until he was given the opportunity to portray his life story in &quot;<a href="https://ent.abs-cbn.com/maalaalamokaya" target="_blank">Maalaala Mo Kaya</a>&quot; that his passion for acting truly sparked. &quot;That&#x27;s where my love for it really grew,&quot; he shares. For JK, acting is all about being open to the opportunities that come his way. He doesn’t overthink it, he says, and he’s always open to whatever project is assigned to him. However, he also takes the time to carefully consider the material.At the end of the day, he is just grateful, acknowledging that his career today wasn’t something he originally dreamed of. He confesses that he only joined &quot;The Voice Kids&quot; simply because singing was their favorite family bonding activity. But the path that life has taken him on, the success, the opportunities, and the growth—it’s all been more colorful and fulfilling than he could have imagined. And for that, he’s grateful to the bigger plan that God has laid out for him.It&#x27;s time to put his songwriting skill to the test! In the &quot;Dakong Problema&quot; segment in this episode of &quot;Kuan On One,&quot; JK was challenged to create impromptu Bisaya songs based on various emotions from Melai’s pictures. From the pain of a toothache to kilig, hunger, and even chaotic situations, JK delivered a song with ease, showing just how effortlessly his mind works when it comes to making music. And for all the Bisdaks eagerly waiting for his Bisaya version of &quot;Ere,&quot; he didn’t disappoint and performed it live in the podcast.In the &quot;Ultimate Yawyaw&quot; segment, where JK and Melai reflect on the episode’s lessons, JK shares his personal mantra: &quot;Ayaw paghunong sa pagkat-on,&quot; which translates to &quot;Never stop learning.&quot; He firmly believes that every experience has a purpose. He reminds everyone to keep hope alive in their hearts. After all, paglaum is what keeps the music going.To catch all these insightful moments with JK, watch the full Episode 1 of &quot;Kuan On One&quot; Season 2 with ‘Kuantie’ Melai Cantiveros, now available on the ABS-CBN Entertainment&#x27;s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/abscbnentertainment" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>!

JK Labajo’s Bisdak identity isn’t just a background detail; it’s a crucial part of his music and who he is.