MIDNIGHT CHIKA: Indie artis Kaydee Sunchild calls Mariah Deborah’s “Na Para Bang” baduy and questions its place in the spotlight. Gets naman na everyone has their own taste in music, and there’s nothing wrong with preferring UDD, Tom’s Story, or Urbandub. Pero the way she frames artistry, musicality, and depth as though these automatically make other artists more deserving of recognition comes across as elitist. Since when did being baduy automatically mean a song doesn’t deserve its success? Music doesn’t have to be critically acclaimed or complex to resonate with people. Hindi naman kailangang may ibaba para may maiangat. And telling people to study what good music is because they enjoy a song you don’t like? That’s unnecessarily condescending. What I also find in poor taste is using the attention surrounding the controversy to get people to check out your own music. Nothing wrong with promoting yourself, but doing so in the context of putting another artist’s work down can come across as opportunistic. You can champion the artists you believe deserve more recognition without implying that another artist, and the people who enjoy her music, deserve less. Music is subjective and having different taste doesn’t make you superior.

‘MAKASAYSAYANG BUH-REL?’ House Prosecutor Ysabel Zamora says she takes no offense after prosecution witness Alexander Cabrera seemed to have poked fun at her viral speech when he appeared before the impeachment court last week.