Joh-pahy, kah-moose-tah kuh nahhh...

It's usually really amusing when an American tries to speak Tagalog. He tends to prolong the vowels or put the accent on the wrong syllables; for instance, he might say "Tag-uh-lohg" instead of Ta-ga-log, or "muh-boo-hey" instead of ma-bu-hay. Once he's familiar with the rhythm of the language his efforts are easier to understand, but the accent remains; he now says "Thi-gah-luhg" and "muh-boo-high." Still amusing, but improvements nonetheless.

Now, an American singing in Tagalog would be another matter altogether. You can imagine my amusement when one of my roommates showed me a Youtube video of this white guy from New Jersey singing covers of Pinoy rock bands. He calls his music jOePM, a pun on what an American guy is usually called in the Philippines, and the acronym for original Pinoy music. So far he's already sung songs by the Eraserheads, Parokya ni Edgar, Sugarfree, and Mayonnaise. His pronunciation is pretty good, albeit still accented (hence the title of this post); it looks like he's been practicing. I doubt that he understands what he's singing, though. ^^ At any rate, he seems to be a true fan of OPM, and apparently the Philippines in general - in his video of Jopay, there's a Philippine flag hanging from a table in the room. From the looks of it he either has Filipino relatives or Filipino friends, maybe both; he even visited somebody in Kalookan City and played for a bunch of kids while he was there. It's heartwarming to see his enthusiasm for Pinoy music; when he says, "Kah-moose-tah muh-nga rah-kees-tahng Pee-noy? (How are you, Pinoy rockers?)" I wanna reply, "Rakenrol!"

He accepts requests for OPM songs, although I'm not sure if he sings any non-Tagalog ones. Maybe I should request Francis M's Mga Kababayan Ko (My Countrymen), or Three Stars and a Sun; maybe he can rap too. :D