Draft:Maki (singer)

Ralph William Datoon Galang (born November 27, 1999), known professionally as Maki, is a Filipino singer-songwriter from Quezon City. He is currently under Tarsier Records, a Filipino record label and subsidiary of Star Music. He garnered recognition from his viral songs "Saan?" and "Bakit?" in 2023, where both songs received major traction on Spotify.

His debut EP, Tanong, was released on September 22, 2023, featuring three new songs including "Saan?" and "Bakit?".

In 2024, Maki achieved new career heights with the release of his single "Dilaw". The song charted on the global Spotify chart, becoming the third Filipino song to achieve that milestone. It also became the first-ever number-one song on the relaunched Billboard Philippines Hot 100.

Personal life
Maki's favorite food is california maki, a popular sushi roll made with crab, avocado, and cucumber. This inspired his social media username, "clfrnia_maki." He also affectionately refers to his fans as "zushis."

Maki has six siblings. Among them are Clare Galang, a former member of the P-pop girl group Ppop Generation, and Haro Galang, who is part of the P-pop boy group PLUUS. He enjoys playing video games and loves spending his alone time sketching and reading books.

Musicality
Some of his musical influences are Mariah Carey, The 1975, Michael Buble, Beabadoobee, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, and Taylor Swift. He often writes songs from a child-like perspective, aiming to create music that makes people feel understood, with melodies that evoke good memories, peace, and calmness.

His songs are often featured in TikTok K-pop AUs, which center around alternate universes starring K-pop idols, typically members of Seventeen, Enhypen, or NCT, who fall in love with an original character. As readers swipe through these stories, background music that relates to the storyline can be heard.

Career
Maki auditioned for the first season of the reality TV singing competition The Voice Teens. Throughout high school, he struggled to find his path as a singer and eventually decided that maybe singing wasn't for him, so he chose to focus on college instead.

Maki nearly left the music scene as he was about to graduate from college and planned to step back from his career as a musician. A friend came across his demo tape, which ended up with the A&R representative of Tarsier Records. This caught Tarsier's attention. Initially, the plan was to help Maki and his music gain exposure as an indie artist, but he eventually signed with the label. He started appearing on TV shows like It's Showtime.

He also did some gigs and busking events to promote his songs. His debut single "Halaga" was released on December 17, 2021 under Tarsier Records. In 2023, he released "Saan?", a song for people who struggle trying to explain the feeling of sepanx. Maki initially teased the song on TikTok by posting a series of snippets which went viral and reached over 500,000 views.

He released his debut EP, Tanong, on September 22, 2023, featuring the tracks "Saan?", "Bakit?", and three new songs. Maki wrote the songs in the album as questions directed at people who are no longer in his life, missed opportunities, and questions for himself. The tracks began as journal entries, eventually becoming a collection of songs that reflect his personal journey.

He gained worldwide recognition in 2024 with the release of his song "Dilaw." The track topped local Spotify and Billboard charts and also charted on the global Spotify chart. It became the third OPM song in history to achieve this, following Juan Karlos' "Ere" and gins&melodies' "Babaero" featuring Hev Abi. The school-themed music video of the song featured Maloi Ricalde, the main vocalist of the P-Pop girl group, Bini. Maki said that song has been on his vault since August 2023 and waited for the right time to release it to the world.