The surge of popularity for song-making has been noticeable since the start of the pandemic. People are locked in their homes and had nothing to do, and some tried writing and recording songs. All you need are recording equipment and creativity.
The city is no stranger to this phenomenon. Many of the youth here who are stuck in their homes recorded songs, raps, and tracks. They would release them to their respective YouTube and SoundCloud channels.
Some of them even form groups that would release music on various platforms. Verdant Clique, one of the groups here in the city that is slowly growing in popularity released songs on Spotify and Apple Music and even had accompanying music videos that would garner tens of thousands of views and streams. Westground, one of the largest hip-hop groups here representing the city also released songs whether solo projects of one of their members or releasing tracks featuring most of their members. While some independent artists like KnG, Junjidreu, and Keen had garnered hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify alone.
Some artists have been in the art before the pandemic. Jamal, the founder of the local rap battle scene here in Puerto Princesa called Quality Control Battles. The rap battle league has a huge similarity to the Flip-Top battles they hold nationally. It has produced talents, artists, and battle rappers who would then make their own music. Other artists like Swizz Muller, Akira, P-tribe, and Narra Independent Music were the ones who paved the way for newer artists because they had been in the art long before.