Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Gabriel Teodros, host of Early on KEXP, is "On My Way (feat. Kimmortal)" by A La Una, a 2022 single on Palms High Records.
A La Una is the just the latest iteration of a long-running collaboration between Lex Junior and Romeo Candido. Formerly known as DATU, the duo has progressed from focusing on contemporizing traditional Filipino music to a vast landscape of various tempos, stories, and textures as A La Una.
Our Song of the Day, “On My Way,” represents just one side or facet of the sounds A La Una is making and sees the duo put Vancouver rapper Kimmortal to the front. Over a ferocious beat, Kimmortal spits a story of resilience in the face of hardship with an allegory for being considered too short to play basketball. Written for the NBA, the song is the lead track in a short film directed by Candido called “Shorty.” Kimmortal said this about the song on Instagram:
