James Reid has released ‘Hello 2.0 (Legends Only)’, a remix of his 2021 single ‘Hello’ featuring JAY B of K-pop group GOT7 and Taiwanese-American singer-rapper ØZI.
Released on streaming platforms today (March 11), ‘Hello 2.0’ kicks off with Reid before JAY B takes over for a suave verse and ØZI flaunts his swagger with slick rap-sung bars.
Listen to ‘Hello 2.0 (Legends Only)’ below and read on for the Reid’s conversation with NME on how it came together, running his label Careless Music, working with Zack Tabudlo and Nadine Lustre, and much more.
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Can you tell us more about how ‘Hello 2.0 (Legends Only)’ came about? How did you get Jay B and ØZI onboard?
“I released the original track last year with Transparent Arts. Towards the end of 2021, we were working on different kinds of collaborations, one of them was with Jay B and Jay Park.
“We recorded another track, and after that, Jay B worked on ‘Hello’. We got ØZI onboard because we wanted to do a big feature with a big Asian act to promote Asian artists breaking out into the international scene.
“I was really grateful to be on a track with the two of them, who have really been killing it in their respective countries. It’s a huge opportunity for me.”
What kind of K-pop do you listen to?
“I first started with G-Dragon and T.O.P from Big Bang. That was before they blew up worldwide. I saw them perform when they came to the Philippines. I’ve also been a big fan of the H1ghr Music stuff, DPR and Dean. I’ve always wanted to do a collab with him, because then we’d be James Dean.”
You’ve also collaborated with Zack Tabudlo on ‘HATDOG’, and you were in his music video for ‘Para Sa Mga Ex’. Have you considered working on a larger collaborative project together?
“We haven’t discussed anything concrete, but that’s a good idea. What he’s been doing has been pretty amazing and I think he has a lot of potential to break out of the Philippines as well.
“‘HATDOG’ was really a spur of the moment thing, but there are plans for him to collaborate not just with me, but other artists on my label as well in the future.”
“I’ve been told in the past ‘the music you’re trying to make is not marketable in the Philippines’ and it proceeded to be a game-changer”
You’re currently working on an upcoming album. Can you give us a little insight to what themes the album will explore?
“I don’t want to call it an album just yet because it’ll put too much pressure on me. But yes, I’m in the process of working on a lot of songs.
“So far there has been kind of a recurring theme. It’s kind of me finding my way back into love and relationships, if you’re familiar with my past relationships. I’ve been exploring a lot of different sounds and storylines, so I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Besides your own music, you also run Careless Music. What’s it like working with all of the artists on the label?
“The label really started out small. I started out with my own music and I was able to break some kind of mold when it came to mainstream music in the Philippines.
“From there, I started working with friends of mine and it became like a collective. We just made music for fun. As I’ve gone down this path of running a music label, there’s been so many battles that we’ve had to overcome.
“Where I’ve landed at is to just let the artists make the music that they want to make. I own the label but I’m also an artist so I see it from both perspectives. You never know what’s going to work, so really having the creative freedom to make the music you want has been the most important thing about Careless Music.
“I’ve been told in the past ‘the music you’re trying to make is not marketable in the Philippines’ and it proceeded to be a game-changer. You never know what’s going to come out that might be a massive hit, so letting them do their own thing seems to work for us.”
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Given the label’s star-studded roster, are there any plans for an all-star album?
“Yes, there is! There’s going to be a Careless mixtape coming soon, which will feature all of the current roster and a lot more artists too. We’re growing the roster in the next two to three months, I think they will be revealed shortly.”
What do you think the Filipino music scene is lacking, and how do you see Careless Music coming into play?
“I think it would be our professionalism. We started as an indie label and as an indie label, you’re typically very flexible with what you can do. Now, we’re bigger, but not too big or corporate that we have to stick to a certain formula and do things in a traditional way. We’re right in the middle, where we’re the most mainstream indie label in the Philippines, but we’re also an indie-sounding commercial label, if that makes sense.”
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You get a lot of tabloid attention because of your past with Nadine Lustre. Does it get in the way of your working relationship?
“Not at all. We’re still very good friends and she’s still a Careless artist. There are still projects that we’re working on together. I’ve learnt to drown out all the noise. It doesn’t do you any good to listen to what everyone else is saying.
“They’ve always got something to say about you, you can never make them fully happy without making yourself miserable. That’s never gotten in between us, not just in our working relationship, but in our friendship in general.”
What else do you have planned for the rest of 2022?
“For the year, the main focus is announcing the new roster for Careless Music. We have some big names, not just in music, but in the entertainment industry as well. We’ll be releasing a lot of their debut projects, so that’s going to be really fun.”
