Denise Julia is the face of Philippine R&B
The 22-year-old singer is going absolutely viral for shaking up the Original Philippine Music scene
Denise Julia's second EP, "Sweet Nothings (Chapter 2)", came out this November.
Courtesy of Denise Julia
Words by Lai Frances
“Wait. What?! How—why would people want to see me?” a surprised gasp comes from across the table.
Denise Julia has just finished having lunch at Loft, one of her favorite local spots in BGC’s Burgos Circle in Taguig, Philippines. A notification has popped up on her phone, saying she’s sold out her one-night only show at the New Frontier Theater, with only VIP standing tickets left. While the restaurant lounge is quiet during its lunch rush, her wide-eyed, mouth-agape expression is loud enough to fill the vicinity with the excitement of the moment.
“I don’t think you understand your reach,” I immediately responded.
The past year has been quite the whirlwind for the 22-year-old Filipino R&B singer. As one of the most prominent faces of today’s Original Philippine Music (OPM) scene, she’s bringing modern nostalgia to the table with her sultry vocals, layered by runs reminiscent of late ‘90s, early 2000s R&B. Think Mariah Carey with a little bit of Aaliyah, Brandy and Monica, and the sass of Ariana Grande and Beyoncé. Her viral hits “NVMD” and “B.A.D.” have become such earworms that even some of the biggest K-pop acts have hopped on the “B.A.D.” dance challenge or used it during their live streams.
Today, Julia carries two EPs, Sweet Nothings (Chapter 1) and Sweet Nothings (Chapter 2), hit singles including “twin flames,” a collaboration with Vietnamese American R&B singer thuy, a sold out solo concert, and a slew of award nominations, as well as public appearances under her belt. Right after lunch, last-minute preparations for the MYX Music Awards (the Philippine version of MTV’s Video Music Awards) are underway as she’ll be opening the award show with a two-song performance—she’s also nominated for four awards. Julia’s booked and busy, but still humble, to say the least, as she sees her popularity grow to new heights. While she hasn’t had the chance to really bask and process it all, she is glad she’s becoming the baddie of Philippine R&B.
“I kind of saw that when, you know, when I hit number one here,” she begins to explain over our Filipino brunch spread. “The people, they were like, ‘Finally the Philippines waking up to c*nty music. Finally we’re done with the ballads and the pickup and punchlines.’ There’s nothing wrong with that. I love it. I love that type of music, but then they’re like, ‘Wow! A c*nty-*ss artist rising and giving way.’”
Besides delivering and serving her vocal chakra, what makes Julia a certified standout in the scene is her bold character. She’s not afraid to stand her ground. As cliché as that may sound, it’s true.
In an industry that is typically known for its heart-wrenching ballads, mellow rock or band music, or even bubble-gum pop with the recent rise of idol P-Pop groups, Julia defies it all through her visuals and sounds that are reflective of her personal life. She’s a proud Pisces morena, radiating Philippine sun-kissed skin and representing the LGBTQ+ community. She sings about love, heartbreak and all things related, while still trying to figure out her identity—even now, with her growing success.
Filipino listeners are drawn to Denise Julia's music because it brings something new to the table.
Courtesy of Denise Julia
“I’m also still growing, you know?” she says casually. “There’s still a lot of changes in my personal life. So that translates to music. I think I’m very transparent when I’m going through something. The way I am online, the way I am with my music reflects it. When I’m in love, the music is like, ‘Okay, I’m in love.’ When I’m soft, I’m soft with my music. When I’m feisty, I’m feisty with my music. I’m always on this continuous journey. Everything just keeps changing. But you know, one thing that I made sure of is that I'm 100 percent honest when it comes to my identity. I want them to see me as me.”
Known as the Patron Saint of Situationships—a title bestowed upon her by her fans, who are called Bilatz (Tagalog slang for a female’s womanhood)—because of the ongoing themes of her music and her online persona, Julia is as unapologetically transparent as a closet made out of glass. As a matter of fact, her latest EP, Sweet Nothings (Chapter 2), is all based on personal stories. When asked about it, she compares her songs to astrological zodiac signs for fun, and also for better understanding.
“Okay, number one, ‘better than he does,’” she begins, counting with her fingers to keep track, “probably Scorpio because of the theme's possessiveness of the song. ‘sweet nothings’ is all lovey dovey because all Cancers go all out when they love someone. It’s about selfless love. ‘thinkin’ bout u’ is a Pisces song since it’s about the push and pull of love. Kind of like, ‘I shouldn’t be thinking about you but why am I?’ ‘twin flames’ is a Gemini because twins! And then ‘(boy it’s just) attraction’ is probably Aquarius because that song is about detachment.”
The songs on "Sweet Nothings (Chapter 2)" are all based on Julia's personal stories.
Courtesy of Denise Julia
She quickly goes off on a tangent to dive deeper into how the fifth track came about.
“You know I wrote that after a breakup? I was trying to see if I can still have that connection with a dude. So I ended up dating the guy and then three months in, I’m like, ‘Yo, dude. I can’t do this anymore. I need a girl,’” she chuckles, recalling the process of how the track became a coming-of-age song for her. As she continues to match her tracklist to astrology signs—“‘inhibitions’ is a Leo so I can gas myself up. ‘bet’ is for a horny sign like Aries. Then ‘there’s no way you’d want me back’ would be a mix of Cancer and Taurus”—she discloses how all of these signs and trials have led her to a happy stage in life in which she’s graduated from situationships and has gotten herself into a relationship with her “pretty masc,” which is her type.
But in a religious and conservative country that still only acknowledges the LGBTQ+ community at a surface level, it was a fight for Julia as a pansexual woman just to be herself. This has been especially true whenever discussion topics or her lyrics would refer to a male counterpart; accusations of her queerbaiting and faking her identity have often been brought up in social media. “They’re not used to it,” Julia says confidently. She recalls being called out and labeled a liar at the beginning of her rise.
“Last year, I was fighting for my life like when I would see comments like that—probably ‘cause I was still starting and I was on my own. I didn’t have any mentors then,” she says. “So when I see comments like that, it gets to me. In my head I’m like, ‘What do you mean? Why did that happen? How could you come up with that? How did I present myself for you to think that?’ But now people are starting to realize and they’re the ones defending me. The reality is, it’s really gonna be hard ‘cause you’re a girl. You really have to have a backbone. You can’t let the opinions of others sway you in the end. The truth eventually comes out.”
And so it does. Embodying the characteristics of a Pisces, being compassionate in her work and maximizing her levels of creativity, pulling through those baseless accusations wore off. Beyond her identity, it’s Julia’s music that continues to prevail and win the hearts of many. After years of expanding her network at DLSU Senior High School, to releasing music on her own on the web, Julia found her team of mentors and producers and has made a name for herself outside of the Internet and into the ears of listeners worldwide. She’s received virtual co-signs from K-pop idols who have either danced or listened to her songs, and as a K-pop fan herself, she’s still processing how big her audience is.
“It hasn’t really hit,” she says straight away. “You know that’s kind of the goal. But when it happens, it makes me think, ‘Did that really happen? Is this a glitch in the matrix?’ It’s nice to see that your music reaches different parts of the world.”
For a moment, her inner fangirl comes out as she expresses her love for other female acts; especially for aespa’s Giselle and KISS OF LIFE’s Julie and Natty. Julia also shares an anecdote about Tyla, whose team reached out during Julia’s “B.A.D.” era.
“During ‘B.A.D.’ her creative team emailed the person who made my beaded outfit. And they said, ‘Hi this is Tyla’s team. We would like to work with you in the future because we saw this.’ I freaked out! Does that mean she watched my music video?” Julia says.
As much of a baddie as she is, Julia is unaware of how big she is outside of the Philippines. As a devout member of the Beyhive, she hopes Queen Bey herself will one day listen to her music.
As a strong believer of astrology, with a knack for tarot cards, the multi-hyphenated Pisces continues to represent minorities—from queer folks to darker-skinned women in media—in the Philippines.
“Every day, people change stories. People change their narrative. They switch it to whatever floats their boat. But at the end of the day I’m not doing that for you. You can say what you want but there’s a whole demographic that’s feeling empowered with what I’m doing and that’s what I wanna focus on,” she says.
Published on December 16, 2024
Words by Lai Frances
Lai Frances is a multimedia journalist and producer that focuses on music, pop culture and entertainment. She is currently a Social Producer at CNET by day and a Contributing Writer/Host by night talking about music and K-pop. You can find some of her bylines on MTV News, Teen Vogue, PopCrush, tmrw, and Glamour while being a host for KCON and NME. To date, Lai has written special features on K-pop acts such as TWICE, Taeyang, Jin of BTS, aespa, ITZY, Stray Kids, LOONA, Sunmi while writing cover stories featuring ATEEZ, Jackson Wang, and more.