It’s the mother of all versions!
Actress Kim Chiu just recorded and released Bawal Lumabas: The Classroom Song, the full version of the accidental hit inspired by her viral “sa classroom may batas” gaffe. It’s her way of turning a negative experience into a positive one.
To recall, in a Facebook live protest on May 8, Kim tried to express support for her home network ABS-CBN following the shutdown of its broadcast operations with a classroom analogy. She herself admitted that she fell short in sending across a clear message. (READ: Kim Chiu says sorry over viral ‘classroom’ statement)
As netizens pounced on her statement, memes, jokes and parodies were born. Then Bawal Lumabas got remixed into a danceable, LSS-inducing track that has since spawned other viral covers, from kundiman, metal to acoustic and jazz.
In a YouTube vlog on Monday night, Kim admitted that being the subject of the ridicule and bashing made her feel so down that she stayed away from social media these past few days. However, she decided to move forward and “make things negative into positive. Kasi ang dami na ring malungkot na tao ngayon. Dahil sa ‘bawal lumabas,’ natawa sila.”
“Siguro kung that keeps them home, that keeps them happy, sabi ko nalang sarili ko, siguro I’m doing a good job (dahil) na enjoy naman nila yung words ko. Thank you so much to myself!” she said with a laugh.
For her vlog, Kim was joined by two people she credited for helping her rise above what she described as one of the “lowest moments” in her life.
According to her, she started to look at the incident differently thanks to an open letter posted on Facebook by a total stranger named Adrian Cristobal. He “encouraged” her to turn her mistake into a mission as she “accidentally created a genius marketing idea in this pandemic: #BawalLumabas.”
“Record the song! Andaming naglipanang covers at remixes. But we’re still waiting for you to own it. You have Star Music. You have the best producers there. Release it on Spotify, iTunes. Radyo. YouTube. Gawa ka ng music video. Get millions of views,” wrote Adrian, a brand guy who also happens to be a songwriter.
“‘Lalabas na! #BawalLumabas by Kim Chiu’ Kung hindi ba naman magimbal ang netizens nyan. At dahil practically ikaw ang nagsulat nyan, you can earn royalties as a songwriter. IT WILL BE A HIT,” he added.
Kim ended up seeking him out and asking him to become the songwriter for the full version of the single.
During the vlog, she also presented DJ Squammy who is responsible for creating the beat for Kim’s classroom statement.
Asked about how the song version first came to be, the music arranger/producer said, “Nung narinig ko yun, ako sa technical side kasi nag-a-arange ako, nag-po-produce ako, narinig ko yung pagkakabigkas mo. May tinatawag kaming prosody, yung tono ng salita, di ba sabi sa classroom may batas, maganda yung ganun mo, parang sa journalism din, may intonation, may internal rhyming, lahat present dun.”
“So sabi ko pag ito nilatagan ko ng solid na beat, kakabit to. Tapos ma emphasize pa natin ang meaning sa loob ng bawat phrase. Ako gets ko naman, nag-stutter ka lang sa ibang words kasi emotional ka, naintindihan namin yun. Ako naman kasi ang goal ko dun pagandahin,” he added.
DJ Squammy recalled uploading the track to his Facebook account, receiving two likes and then going to bed. When he woke up, he was shocked to find it already exploded online. Comments, he added, were more positive than negative.
Nevertheless, Kim told DJ Squammy that she got sad when she first heard the song. “Parang bakit nila pinaglaruan yung sinabi ko? Tapos nung nakita ko yung mga videos sa TikTok, pati yung mga pamangkin ko sumasayaw na dun sa beat na ginawa mo, sabi ko, shucks, at least sumaya pala yung mga tao sa sinabi ko at sa beat na ginawa mo,” she said.
“Kahit malungkot yung paligid, malungkot yung mga nangyayari sa bansa natin, at least nagawa ko yung part na mag-entertain ng tao, nagawa mo yung part na gumagawa ng beat, I think we did a good job.”
She then revealed that she asked DJ Squammy to provide the beat for the entire song.
ABS-CBN’s recording label Star Music, on the other hand, helped Kim with the applications to make the home recording possible.
At the end of the vlog, Kim unveiled the finished product along with a music video filmed in her home. She also gamely included all home-made videos of people who danced to the song.
“This is something nice and this is something positive na nangyari out of the negative na mga nangyari nung mga nakaraang araw,” she reflected.
“It’s OK. That’s life. Diretso lang ang buhay. Gusto ko maging masaya lang ang lahat ng mga tao.”
Lyrics of the song also included a little message for the Kapamilya star’s bashers: “Oh no, you can’t shut me down. I’ll break free, bounce back from the ground. May natatangi tayong batas, nalilimutan nating madalas. Mahahalin mo ang kapwa mo tulad ng pagmamahal mo sa sarili mo.”
As of writing, the YouTube video has 344,560 views.
Watch the full music video of Bawal Lumabas below:
