Catching up with ‘Mr. Selfie Song’

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After “Pinoy Dream Academy,” Davey Langit found success through songwriting, awards and his work
promoting Ilocano music.

The year was 2013. Singer Davey Langit was struggling with his career after being launched as one of the “scholars” of the first season of ABS-CBN’s music-themed reality show “Pinoy Dream Academy” (PDA). Davey was in the first batch that included Ronnie Liang, Jay-R Siaboc and eventual winner Yeng Constantino. “From 2006 hanggang 2013, I was just finding my footing sa Manila…,” Davey shares with Malaya Business Insight. “Kasi taga-Baguio ako. Probinsyano sa Manila, iba ‘yung thinking… Ang akala ko kasi nanggaling sa reality show, I’ve made it. After that, magkakaroon na ako ng successful career. Pero hindi pala ganun.”

After PDA, he was signed by a label where he did not exactly flourish. Davey really thought his music career was over so he looked for a regular job. “Nag-apply ako as production assistant at ABS-CBN, call center agent, guitar teacher…,” reveals Davey.

But around this time, he also seriously tapped into his natural talent for songwriting. Davey joined and got in the Elements Music Camp where he was mentored by Ryan Cayabyab, Rey Valera, Ogie Alcasid, Noel Cabangon, and other OPM greats. From out of the camp, Davey created and performed his original composition “The Selfie Song.” On a whim, he released the video online. “I was thinking of running it (the song) through a label kasi ganoon naman ang sistema noon. Pero nagbago isip ko. Sabi ko, ‘Bahala na! Subukan ko lang ito.’ So I uploaded it on YouTube.”

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Weeks later, internet sensations Jam Sebastian and Michell Liggayu a.k.a. JaMich contacted Davey to collaborate on a music video that was also uploaded on YouTube. The response was phenomenal. Davey recalls, “Ang bilis n’un! A month in, nasa almost 500,000 hits na kami kaagad. It became super big to the point na maririnig mo everywhere ‘yung song. Oh my God, I think it was on so many radio stations’ Top 10 Songs of the Week.”

When the word “selfie” was officially included in the dictionary, the University of the Philippines invited Davey to perform the viral hit. The singer-songwriter declares with a smile, “‘I sang in front of academicians and linguists. ‘Yun ang pinaka-cool!”

The feat brought him to his true path. “I’ve always thought na I’m a singer, a songwriter and a guitar player. Ang ‘peg’ ko talaga n’un was John Mayer and Jason Mraz.”

“The Selfie Song” video with JaMich has gotten 12-plus million views on YouTube. On Davey’s Spotify account, it has hit more than 1.2 million streams.

Davey’s penchant for creating tunes has led him to more successes: 2014 Philpop Music Festival finalist with “NGSB,” first runner-up at the 2015 Philpop with “Paratingin Mo Na Siya,” grand prize at the 2016 Himig Handog with “Dalawang Letra,” which earned for him his first Awit Award Record of the Year, first runner-up at the 2019 Himig Handog with “Simula ng Dulo,” which he composed with his wife Therese Villarante.

“Sa apat na beses na sumali ako, I placed three times. So that’s not bad. That’s not a bad percentage at all,” he says.

Yet his most popular composition is “The Wedding Song” which has received more than 2.1 million streams on Spotify. “Parang sort of underground cult hit,” Davey says of this song. “Maraming nagkagusto to the point that I was singing it sa weddings, at naging suki ako ng weddings because of that song.”

Davey has also become a “suki” of advertising agencies and companies who hire him as a jingle maker. After work and gigs stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has now become more active in songwriting and performing again. He’s also embarked on an advocacy. As his Spotify profile proudly states, he and his fellow composers from Northern Philippines are spearheading AmiananPop, a movement that champions the Ilocano culture through songs written in the Ilocano language. To date, Davey has a number of songs in Ilocano: the autobiographical “Idjay,” “Bai” and “Awat.”

Eighteen years since “Pinoy Dream Academy,” the 38 year-old Davey feels he still has much to learn and much to do. Although he says that the singing business, is a “young woman’s league, a young man’s league,” he quickly points out that “the songwriting part… ‘yan ang hindi mo pwede lagyan ng edad.”

Lately, just when precariousness of the entertainment biz has made him contemplate on finding greener pastures abroad, the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. (FILSCAP) handpicked Davey to represent the Philippines at the Asian Songwriting Camp held in Thailand from October 21-25, 2024. Collaborating with fellow songwriters from Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia was nothing short of awesome for the talented Davey. He declares, “My musical heart and soul are overflowingly nourished.” More than ever, he sees that creating songs is what God wants him to do. “Sa tuwing ako’y pabitaw na, lagi akong binibigyan ni Ama ng isa pang sanga na kakapitan. Lagi Niya akong pinapaalala na nasa tama akong daan.”

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