Felip has never been the kind of artist to do things half-hearted.

Since breaking out onto the music scene as a soloist, his every project has been a labor of meticulous thought and undying dedication, regardless if it’s just a song and music video or a fuller body of work. With a talented team behind him, the talented multi-hyphenate — who is also known as Ken of SB19 — carefully pieces an entire world and story together to immerse his audiences in.

In the past, he retold tales from Philippine mythology, took us to the desert to bear his emotions, and shed tears in fan-filled stadiums across the world. Now, he’s guiding his listeners through the darkness with his first full-length album, 7sins.

It’s no secret that Felip is a man of few words, often opting to let his music speak for him. In the same vein, 7sins dives deep into the unsaid inner workings of the singer-rapper’s mind as he reveals and comes to terms with his wrongdoings and desires.

“I’m the type of person who finds it difficult to express myself through words in interviews or in conversations. So, I write songs about my feelings and observations. Through this album, I just want to say that we are all human — we make mistakes,” he tells Billboard Philippines.

Joined by a handful of collaborators, including Belgian singer-songwriter Cyra Gwnyth and PLAYERTWO‘s Luke April, Felip put together a genre-diverse record that tests the limits of his artistry and reveals his rawest emotions. “As an artist, I just keep experimenting and exploring. I’m not afraid to try new things and I think that’s also the highlight of this album — the diversity and emotions that come out of the songs,” he shares.

“It took months to finish this album, from the concept, to creating the beat and writing the lyrics, and even the visuals,” Felip continues. “I try my best to explain my vision to my team, even if I struggle with it a lot of times, but I’m just very lucky to have a really good team behind me who understands my ideas, vision, and direction for this album. I think it is also great that Luke is Bisaya, so we get along really well. I’m very comfortable and confident with everyone in my team, so it’s really nice to see them excel in their art too.”

7sins is an album that encompasses everything Felip is as an artist: honest, bold, and unpredictable.

With that, Billboard Philippines caught up with Felip to take us behind the scenes of his album, track by track.

Foes

“This is the right song to introduce the album because of its dark nature and sound. It just feels right with the guitars and the whole production.”

Envy

“I was very particular about the mixing of the tracks. ‘Envy’ was the track that I wanted to focus on; it took days to make it sound like I wanted it to. We had samples [from] around the world that we had to set aside because I had a particular sound direction about my album, which was also difficult to explain— especially with the overseas setup — so we made a decision to mix it ourselves. With my schedule, it was difficult to really make time [for mixing], but we pushed through because I really wanted the best sonic experience for this album.”

Wrath

“It’s also nice to share that even before I finished the album, there was so much support already from my label and [from] brands that I worked with. So with this song, I’m so excited how it can be shared and used for other platforms. It will be such a dream for me to see my music and my other passions meet.”

Greed

“This track was co-written with Cyra Gwynth, which was one of my first experiences for this album, too. The song is very emotional; despite working on this track with Cyra while she was in Belgium, it was still a worthwhile experience.”

Pride

“I’m a proud Bisaya, so it was fun to really just go all out on this track about this. We should not let other people dictate what we should do in our lives.”

gluttony (ft. PLAYERTWO)

“One of the messages of the album is found in the actual lyrics of this song: ‘I’m just a man and I know, I know that I am flawed.’ I really just want to be real in this album by saying that people make mistakes. We also gain confidence once there is acceptance. “

lust (ft. Cyra Gwynth)

“It was just right for ‘lust’ to be an R&B track, and for me, Cyra’s voice fits right for this track as well.”

Sloth

“I teased an acoustic version of this track even without the album announcement yet, but everyone didn’t know it was gonna be a mix[ed]-genre track. It’s such an interesting sound for me. It’s [also] something that might be new [to] people who listen to my songs.”

Ache

“I have had this track for about a year now and I felt it is the best melancholic track to end the album — from darkness, there is hope and light through this track.”