Lirah is Gloc-9’s new protégé

MANILA, Philippines — Meet Lirah, the new protégé of OPM rap star Gloc-9. If she’s a familiar face to music fans, it’s because Lirah — a.k.a. Lirah Bermudez — was a runner-up in the reality-based singing talent competition Protégé on GMA 7 back in 2011. She was only 13 years old then, but she stood out as an acoustic singer and was even dubbed as the show’s pop sweetheart.

Through the same show, Lirah was first discovered by the 41-year-old hip-hop artist who happened to be one of the celebrity mentors. Gloc-9 and Lirah would eventually collaborate on songs like Asintado, which became the theme song of a 2014 Cinemalaya film with the same title, as well as Basta’t Kasama Ka and Para Sa Bayan, the themes of the GMA dramas Yagit and Ilustrado, respectively, also in 2014.

Lirah would be asked by Gloc-9 to join his gigs, most especially when he needed a female singer for the chorus parts. “As I continued to join his gigs and shows, I also got to sing his songs and learned to adapt (to the rap genre). I also tried to cover his songs in my other shows and gigs. When they (Gloc-9 and his team) heard me perform his songs, parang naisip nila na OK pala, (that I can do) acoustic and rap,” Lirah told The STAR during a recent presscon organized by her music label Ivory Music & Video.

Today, Gloc-9 — who is also a mentor and frequent collaborator of teen rap sensation Shanti Dope — has officially taken Lirah under his wing. The now 21-year-old singer is being managed by Asintada, the talent management group run by Gloc-9’s wife Thea Pollisco.

With hip-hop icon Gloc-9.

Lirah’s recording debut — or musical comeback or reinvention if you want to call it that way — begins with Sahod, a Latin-flavored, danceable and very relatable single, composed and produced by Gloc-9 himself together with Paulo Zarate.

The song was supposed to be recorded by Gloc-9 but he decided to give it to Lirah as her first song, saying that its rap parts are some of the hardest he has written. “Before we recorded the song, I told Lirah, that the rap parts are not easy, so bahala ka sa buhay mo (laughs). We really worked hard on the song in the recording studio but much to my surprise, while shooting the music video, she was able to do it live. But that’s what I’ve been teaching her also, na whenever you do music videos, I don’t like seeing you lip-synching kasi ang tamad-tamad tingnan (you will appear very lazy). No pun intended to those who lip-synch in their music videos (laughs),” Gloc-9 said.

The rapper was also impressed at how Lirah immediately learned his breathing technique in delivering rapid-fire rap verses. “My breathing kasi, matagal kong inaral yan, so to see an artist who’s able to do it just like that, it breaks my heart,” Gloc-9 mused. “It’s also very rare to find a rapper who can sing very well.”

Know what Gloc-9 is talking about by listening to Sahod, which is now available in digital music stores nationwide under Ivory Music & Video. It is also streaming on Spotify, while its music video, which features Gloc-9 doing a sign language version of the song, can already be viewed on YouTube.

For Lirah, everything now feels like a fresh start for her.

“This is the new me,” said Lirah, who is setting herself apart from other rappers because she also plays the guitar while performing. “I really want to tell everyone that I can do more besides playing the guitar and singing.”

To be guided and backed by Gloc-9 is a dream come true as well. “It’s a very big opportunity, privilege and blessing for me that he’s the one helping me,” she said.

As mentor, she described Gloc-9 as “sobrang perfectionist.” “If Sir Gloc sees something in you and knows what you can do, he will never give up in pushing you to your limits, until you’re able to show what you’re capable of doing. He wants to do things the right way and not yung ‘Sige, OK na yan.’ If he knows you can do it, he will make sure that you will really do it.”

Lirah just graduated from college last May with a Tourism Management degree, but she’s determined to pursue a career in music. It’s something she has always imagined from when she was much younger, joining singing contests as a child, forming bands when she was barely a teenager, and starting to perform as a solo artist when she reached high school.

Doing music, Lirah noted, helped her finish her studies. More importantly, it’s her way of living the dream of her siblings, especially her younger brother who passed away just when she was starting out in the music scene. She said, “Kahit nasa Heaven na siya, itutuloy ko ito. Hindi lang para sa akin, para din sa kanya.”