This 25-year-old Filipina is the latest in the line of cover artists-turned-hitmakers

Ahead of the release of her debut single “Leave a Message,” a!ka recalls the moments of self-doubt and clarity that shaped her into the musician she is today

We’re all to some extent afraid of failure. Whatever the reason may be, the fear of not living up to expectations can be paralyzing. After all, one can’t fail when there’s nothing to fail in. As talented as she is, even Aika Zabala felt the very same.

You’ve probably already come across her TikToks and fallen in love with her voice and undeniable charm. Zabala, better known as A!ka (stylized as a!ka), is a pop/R&B singer-songwriter-producer. The 25-year-old took up theater arts at UP Diliman but unfortunately dropped out due to personal and financial reasons. Since then, she has taken the internet by storm with covers done with a unique personal twist.

Just last week, after a little over a year of posting covers, she released her first original song, “Leave a Message.” Co-produced with her sister Karina (who goes by allthatkaz), who made the initial instrumental, the brand new track is all about moving on from and leaving behind a relationship. And while a!ka drew from the experiences of a prior heartbreak, the song is much more than an airing out of unexpressed feelings. It is a testament to and an affirmation of her capabilities as an original artist.

READ: More than a decade into the game, Crwn is only just getting started

Here, we caught up with a!ka to talk about “Leave a Message,” her experiences as a content creator, and her journey from covers to original music. And quite frankly, it’s not often an artist gets to debut with the following a!ka has. With hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views and likes across multiple platforms—and that’s even before her debut single—there’s a lot to look forward to from one of OPMs biggest up-and-comers.

How did you get into music?

I’m from a family of musicians and I’ve loved to sing and dance ever since I was young. My parents also signed me up for a lot of singing contests and workshops. But at that time, if you wanted to succeed, you had to be a biritera. So when I was a kid, I tried to fit into that mold but couldn’t because the pressure was too much. 

And over time, my voice also evolved into something much softer, and I couldn’t really fit into that any longer. I had sort of accepted the fact that maybe singing was just not for me—that I’m not cut out for a biritera career. So, I decided to switch to musical theater and acting. This time, I was also doing a lot of freelance singing projects, and I was a vocalist for several sync licensing clients. But throughout that time, the initial dream of being my own artist had sort of taken a backseat. 

That changed during the pandemic when I wrote my first song through my sister’s beat. That pretty much triggered my new soul-searching process, and I eventually started learning music production and posting on TikTok, and thus, found my way back into music.

You started music production during the pandemic. Why did you choose to commit to both singing and producing?

I got into music production because I kept seeing my sister do it. Initially, it was very intimidating. What helped was that I realized I was already doing it through vocal arrangements. And so, whenever I watched her use synths and all these virtual instruments, I noticed that it was pretty much the same concept. 

As for the reason why I decided to pursue both singing and music production, it’s because I felt like I boxed myself by sticking to just singing for a very long time. It was only when I questioned that identity that I felt more free.

“I had sort of accepted the fact that maybe singing was just not for me—that I’m not cut out for a biritera career.”

Who are your musical inspirations?

My three long-standing musical inspirations are Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Lea Salonga. I looked up to Ms. Lea for the longest time and being like her was my first dream. 

Who do you look to for music production?

My first teacher was really my sister. But in terms of music production style, I’d say I listen to a lot of Ariana Grande and I love her blend of pop and R&B, together with some orchestral and musical theater elements.

READ: Dreaming of creative change? These Benilde Open programs empower innovators 

How did you get into content creation?

I was always singing other people’s songs. It didn’t feel like I was working on any project that I was proud to put out. I felt a lot of creative burnout. That led to content creation because it was a way to keep myself accountable to keep learning music production. Initially, the concept was going to be, “This is day one of me learning music production,” but I scrapped it. 

As a content creator, you could have done pretty much anything, but why covers?

I started with covers because I hadn’t really explored the songwriting world. To me, covers were a safe space—you could ease into finding your style through the songs you already love. 

My first couple of covers were pretty similar to the reference. As it went on, it started getting more and more different from the original. That’s what gradually allowed me to figure out the style I wanted for my songs. I also did translated covers because I found that they’re great songwriting exercises.

“I was always singing other people’s songs. It didn’t feel like I was working on any project that I was proud to put out. I felt a lot of creative burnout.”

Do you have a favorite cover?

My favorite so far is “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” because I grew up on a lot of Disney and musical theater so that’s very close to my heart.

What about a cover you’re looking forward to doing?

To be honest, lately, I haven’t been thinking of the covers I want to do because the urgent item has been writing more originals.

Can you tell us about your debut single?

My debut single is titled “Leave a Message.” I wrote it in 2022. It started out as I was updating my portfolio as a vocalist. And then my sister, who is a music producer, I asked her if I could borrow a beat that I could sing on. Initially, I didn’t really think much of it, but then when I let her hear it, she told me that I had to release it. 

Though, that took a while because I had stuck myself into the box of “I’m just a singer.” But, that also kickstarted this whole identity shift from just a singer to a singer-songwriter-producer that eventually gave me the confidence to release this song.

Now that you’ve gone to doing originals, before that, would you say you were lacking confidence in yourself?

I definitely lacked confidence in writing my songs. Every time I would write before, I never took it seriously. I was scared that it was going to suck. I was deeply afraid of failure. The mentality was, “I can’t write a bad song if I don’t write one.” That was the lack of confidence I was dealing with before I found confidence and the belief that I could actually do it.

“Every time I would write before, I never took it seriously. I was scared that it was going to suck. I was deeply afraid of failure. Essentially, the mentality was, ‘I can’t write a bad song if I don’t write one.’”

When did you know that you could do it?

When I wrote “Leave a Message.” It was the first fully fleshed [out] idea I’d ever had that didn’t sound like an ad-lib. The top lines I thought of before were like that because I was very used to doing them. 

And a lot of what makes a solid song structure is that it has a consistent pattern. It has some repetition, nice recall, and a good balance of variety. Before, it was all variety. There was no pattern, there was no repetition. But when I wrote “Leave a Message,” I got to prove myself wrong.

READ: ‘Inside Out 2’ is for the grown-ups

How does “Leave a Message” represent a!ka and how do you see it as your introduction to the world?

Sonically, it’s a good starting point for me to demonstrate the genres and styles I want to explore, which is a blend of pop, R&B, and musical theater. 

Lyrically, I wanted to write a song about how even if you have to leave certain things from your past behind to move forward on your own, ultimately, you’ll be okay. 

I’ll survive just fine
On my own
So leave a message
At the tone

And I think that also relates to my journey as an artist. This all really started with me letting go of my old self-limiting beliefs and discovering a new version of myself. That’s also why the “I” in my artist name is upside down. It’s because I flipped my identity upside down and found an exclamation point, which is a symbol of newfound passion and growth.

“This all really started with me letting go of my old self-limiting beliefs and discovering a new version of myself.“

What do you want a!ka to be known for?

Since I’m coming from covers, I would love to redefine that and build my own sound as an original artist. I’d love to reach a global audience and do my part in showing the world what local Filipino talents have to offer. 

Ultimately, I also hope to inspire other independent musicians—especially aspiring female artists in a male-dominated field like music production—to redefine their capabilities and push the envelope.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.