Lola Amour’s “Raining In Manila” has been given special recognition at the first-ever Music Awards Japan (MAJ). The award has become a full-circle moment for the Filipino band as the track marked Lola Amour’s first foray into the popular Japanese music genre, city pop.
The record-breaking hit was awarded the Special Award for Philippine Popular Music, which recognized its status of excellence in the Philippines.
At the country’s prestigious 2024 AWIT AWARDS, “Raining In Manila” took home four nods, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Recording, and Best Parody Recording (for their Michael V. collaboration, “Waiting Here Sa Pila”). Since its release in June 2023, the band’s massive hit single has garnered millions of streams across various streaming platforms, spurned countless covers, soundtracked hundreds of Reels and TikToks, and gained them fans across the globe.
With the band having prior scheduled commitments, their longtime manager Mika Ordoñez flew to Kyoto to receive the award on their behalf. In a statement, Lola Amour vocalist Pio Dumayas shares, “Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we would receive international recognition and what an honor it has been to receive it at the Music Awards Japan 2025. ‘Raining In Manila’ was inspired by the themes of 80s city pop, so it hits even closer to home. To all our friends around the world that inspired ‘Raining In Manila,’ this one's for you!”
The Special Award for Popular Music was presented to six artists who have received outstanding recognition for their work in their respective countries. Other winners in the same category were SEVENTEEN (South Korea), Jeff Satur (Thailand), Zhou Shen (China), Salma Salsabil (Indonesia), and Tùng Dương (Vietnam).
Held on May 21 and 22 at the Kyoto’s Rohm Theatre, Music Awards Japan is dubbed as the “Asian version of the Grammy Awards,” and aims to recognize the best in Japanese and Asian music. For its inaugural edition, the awards show was graced by Hikaru Utada, Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i, Creepy Nuts, and more.
Celebrating nine years as a band, Lola Amour is set to celebrate the momentous milestone with a new single titled “Misbehave” and a free concert for fans at the Open Air Auditorium in Luneta Park on May 30.
