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| Budots | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Budots |
| Etymology | "Slacker", inBisaya slang |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 2008,Davao City, Philippines |
| Derivative forms | |
Budots (/buˈdɔːts/;boo-DOTS) is anelectronic dance music (EDM) genre that originated inDavao City,Philippines, and is considered as street styletechno. It eventually spread inBisaya-speaking regions. Based ontechno andhouse music withVisayan pop[4] it is regarded as the first "Filipino-fied" electronic music, characterized by its aggressivepercussion, heavy use ofsampling, off-beatbasslines, high-pitched "tiw ti-ti-tiw" whistle hooks, and organic noises that surround the city.[2] It is created to complement a form offreestylestreet dance that bears the same name.[1]
Budots is aBisaya slang word forslacker (Tagalog:tambay).[1] An undergraduate thesis published inUniversity of the Philippines Mindanao suggests the slang originated from the Bisaya wordburot meaning "to inflate", a euphemism for theglue-sniffing juvenile delinquents called "rugby boys". The publication also claims that rugby boys dance in a style that would be calledbudots to disguise their drug use.[5][3] It can also be traced from the Bisaya wordtabudots, which means "a person dancing with unpredictable movements."[6]
The style seems "worm-like" or "ragdoll-like" in nature, wriggling the hips while moving the arms and legs in slow movements.[6] One of its characteristic moves features opening and closing the knees while in a low squat, the arms swaying and pointing at random.[3][8] Despite its freestyle movements.[1][9]
Budots dance was performed with foreign electronic dance music until Sherwin Calumpang Tuna, aninternet café manager who goes by the stage name DJ Love or Lablab, created a new techno music genre that would complement the dance usingFL Studio, which locals referred to as "bistik" (short forBisayang Tikno, "Visayan techno"[10]). He also choreographed dance steps for his friends to perform on his budots music videos, which were uploaded on his YouTube channel since February 3, 2009.[1][2][9][11] According toVice, the budots dance compilation videos features "Myspace-era graphics, free-wheeling dances, and the names 'CamusBoyz' or 'DJ Love.'"[1] In an article published on February 18, 2025,The Philippine Daily Inquirer writer Gabriel Pabico Lalu identifiedbudots as a "Visayan pop dance craze".[12]
While local impression about budots is through its association withovert sexuality,gang wars, andjuvenile delinquency,[13] DJ Love has distanced himself and his budots mixes from such issues that plague Davao City. His music videos are incorporated with captions such as, "Yes to Dance; No to Drugs" or "Yes to Dance; No to Riots." The genre–and its creators–have also become at the receiving end ofcyberbullying.[2]
Budots music is characterized as a derivation from electronic and house music. It features 140bpmfour-on-the-floor patterns, notably having akick-snare-kick-snare pattern, off-beatbasslines, drum loops, a distinctive snare sound, distortedvocal samples,vocal chops,DJ fills placed throughout the track and distinct high-pitcheddutch house inspired synth hooks that locals onomatopoetically refer to astiw tiw.[5][15] The melodies and patterns are similar of that from early forms ofhardstyle and tribal rhythms. Its basslines are influenced fromEurodance. There are also expressions of emotional vulnerability in exchange for lewd jokes and calls for rowdy partying. Most budots tracks follow the structure oftechno and early hardstyle. The energetic beats are usually accompanied with sound effects such as vinyl scratches or chipmunk laughter. Meanwhile, budots tracks with lyrics are written in any of theBisayan languages, those that lack any lyrical content take advantage of sampling vocalspeeches from any source.[3] Budots producers also put their producer tags that typically goes "(DJ name) on the mix" or "(DJ name) on the beat".
Unlike most dance music that is commonly played innightclubs, budots is performed on public places such as basketball courts.[13] It also has an element ofvirality, as its distinct repetitive sound and the craziness of its dance moves serve as the background of a number of Filipinointernet memes such asHala Mahulog! ("Oh no, it's about to fall!") videos andTaga-asa Ka/ Tagasaan Ka ("Where are you from?") challenge.[1][17][18]
In 2024,"Emergency Budots" by DJ Johnrey received international attention through a dance trend inTikTok and other short form content exposing budots to international audiences for the first time.[19]
Music journalists in the Philippines have criticized budots music for its lack of form, repetitiveness,DIY quality, and "cheap-sounding" effects. In contrast, they also acknowledge how the people of Davao City have reinterpreted a Western music genre and have remolded it to their own liking, as well as the flexibility of budots music in keeping itself relevant by remixing any popular song at the moment.[3][6][15]
Budots is comparable to other electronic dance music genres that have developed in neighboringSoutheast Asian countries such asfull bass inIndonesia and Vinahouse inVietnam.
Budots first appeared in Philippine mainstream media in 2008 when Ruben Gonzaga, the winner ofPinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition 2, performed the dance steps on national TV. An episode ofGMA Network'snews magazine programKapuso Mo, Jessica Soho featured a segment about budots in 2012.[1] In an effort to explain a regional subculture to aMetro Manila-based TV audience, hostJessica Soho called the budots dance as the Philippines' counterpart to otherdance crazes at the time such as thedougie in the United States and the "horse dance" inGangnam Style byPsy ofSouth Korea, describing it as "seemingly freestyle like thepandanggo."[20] She also said that in some instances, the performers did the "spageti dance" that was popularized bySexBomb Girls, but they spent much of the time grinding while in a squatting position that it was deemed vulgar by people who were unfamiliar with the genre.[9][21]
BuwanBuwan, a Filipino electronic music collective, released a playlist of budots music in 2017 as part of their monthly challenge to their producers. Each track featured excerpts from speeches of Philippine presidentRodrigo Duterte, a resident of Davao City.[1][6] London-based collective and label Eastern Margins released a compilation album titled "Redline Legends," which features reinterpretations of East and Southeast Asian dance music genres such as budots, Vietnam's vinahouse, and Indonesia's funkot.[22]
D'Squared Cru, astreet dance group from Davao City, won second place in VIBE PH Dance Competition in 2018 after performing a routine that featured budots tracks namelyBudotz byQ-York,Asukarap, andKiat Jud Dai.[23] Their choreography to theKiat Jud Dai segment became viral in China after multiplecontent creators onTikTok and other social media replicated the dance steps, which they referred to as the "electric pendulum dance" (电摆舞, diàn bǎi wǔ).[24][25] Chinese celebrityWang Yibo danced toKiat Jud Dai in an episode ofUpward Everyday variety show onHunan Television.[26]
D'Squared Cru participated in the first season ofWorld of Dance Philippines in 2019, also performing to budots, but failed to pass the Qualifiers.[27] The group then flew to China that same year to participate inShenzhen Satellite TV'sDance in Step. Their Round 1 performance featured their viral budots choreography, which impressed all three judges.[28]
The documentaryBudots: The Craze by Jay Rosas and Mark Paul Limbaga explored the music genre and its dance style, featuring an interview with DJ Love. According toSun Star of Davao City, the film "raises questions oncreative gatekeeping and the extent of ownership", as DJ Love's music was played onFilipino TV networks without proper acknowledgment and compensation. He also alleged a YouTuber claimed ownership of his popular mixes.[2] The documentary premiered in 2019 at theCinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 43rdGawad Urian Award.[1][29]
A restaurant inCagayan de Oro had itswaitstaff dance to budots once thedisco lights were turned on.[30] An advertisement forLucky Me! Pancit Canton in 2019 used budots as amnemonic device for its "No Drain Cooking" method.[31]
In February 2023, Manila Community Radio won Boiler Room's sixth Broadcast Lab grant to mount a showcase spotlighting budots and its many mutations.[32][33] The Broadcast Lab grant scheme funds ideas in the broadcasting space, and brings new audiences to underrepresented scenes, communities, and artists.[34] The recording session took place in April 2023 at an undisclosed location, featuring DJ Love, Libya Montes, Teya Logos, Showtime Official Club, T33G33, Hideki Ito, obese.dogma777, and Pikunin.[35][33]
Budots remixes of popular songs have become mainstays inPhilippine festivals,local radio stations, andChristmas parties. It has also become a form of "uncool" yet non-derogatory self-expression.[1]
The 2022 Irish-Filipino horror filmNocebo also featuresBudots as part of its soundtrack.[36]
In June 2024, the budots song "Emergency, paging Dr Beat" by DJ Johnrey (sampled fromMiami Sound Machine's "Dr. Beat")went viral onTikTok accompanying short videos of people changing into a series of outfits. It caused a surge in popularity of other similar remixes like "Emergency Budots" by Linear Phase (also budots). Unlike the exaggerated and smoother comedic dance moves in budots (which are featured in earlier videos with the song on TikTok), the later TikTok trend feature subtler and stiffer movements while walking in place, due to it achieving popularity from TikTok videos of aRoblox emote.[37][38]
During his term asmayor of Davao City, Duterte was seen dancing to budots on two occasions in 2015. One video featured Duterte dancing withCebuano-speaking Americans fromHey Joe Show! YouTube channel,[40] while the other clip showed him dancing with local teenagers at a public park. The virality of these videos may have helped him win the2016 presidential elections.[1][2] Adiscourse published inUniversity of the Philippines Diliman claims that budots has become instrumental in cementing Duterte'spopulist posturing as a politician for the masses who is allegedly deeply immersed in Visayan culture.[41] The captions found in DJ Love's budots dance videos, such as "Yes to Dance/ No to Drugs," can be read as support for Duterte'shardline stance on thecriminalization of drug abuse.[3]
Several Filipino politicians have used budots to attract voters, most notablyRamon Bong Revilla Jr., who ran forsenatorin 2019. He appeared in a national television advertisement dancing to budots music, which critics pointed out failed to mention any governance plans during his campaign.[1][42] Revilla won the 11th Senate seat (out of 12), even doing a little dance after the official proclamation.[43][44] DJ Love claimed Revilla used his track without permission and demanded compensation from Camus Girls, the dance group that popularized the choreography.[45][46] Revilla'spolitical advertisement was listed as one of the best Filipino internet memes in 2019.[47] In a column forDaily Tribune, Larry Faraon wrote that Revilla's victory by dancing to budots reflected the culture of elections in the Philippines.[43] SenatorPanfilo Lacson lamented the "pathetic" situation of Filipino voters who are easily swayed by stage performances of election candidates, such as cracking jokes and dancing to budots.[48]
Then-Davao City MayorSara Duterte-Carpio (daughter of President Duterte) questioned the use of the 1976 songManila byHotdog during the parade of Team Philippines at the2019 Southeast Asian Games opening ceremony. She claimed the title iscapital-centric and did not represent the whole country, even suggesting to use budots instead since her fellow Davaoeños "invented" it.[3][49]
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)"Lupang Hinirang" (Philippine national anthem) | ||
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