Dig Into the History of the Viral Filipino Dance Genre Budots

Budots has been a force to be reckoned with in the Philippines for over a decade, but its viral videos on TikTok have now reached a global audience.

“Emergency! Paging Dr. Beat! Emergency!” If you’ve opened Instagram or TikTok lately, it’s been nearly impossible to avoid this infectious budots beat that’s backed videos of people dancing or copying the latest trend of outfit changes.

DJ Johnrey is the artist behind this “Disco Remix” that has taken hold of many since its release in 2023. Titled “Emergency,” it samples Gloria Estefan’s vocals on Miami Sound Machine’s ‘80s track “Dr. Beat.” It has since racked up millions of views on YouTube — millions more on Instagram and TikTok as thousands use the sound for their own videos.

The byproduct of this song catching the ear of such a large audience has thrust budots back into the spotlight once again.

Clocking in at 140 BPM, tracks in the budots genre are defined by their four-on-the-floor beats that are layered with distortion, pulsating basslines, high-pitched synth hooks, and repetitive vocal samples, many of which are rooted in the Bisayan languages. The concoction is hypnotic, making it no wonder why its tracks have dominated social media trends.

Budots might feel akin to Eurodance, electro house, or even Jersey Club in many ways, but it’s typically devoid of song structure common in that genre and others. You won’t find verses and chord progressions in these tunes. Instead, it’s dominated by party-forward elements, cheesy sound effects, and vinyl scratches, along with vibrant yet chaotic artwork for added flair.

In a sense, budots could also connected to other genres popularized by TikTok in recent years, like Drift Phonk or Brazilian Funk. All three are rooted in other styles yet are uniquely their own, with producers fairly localized to specific regions of the planet.

According to writer and musician Dominic Zinampan, Budots emerged from Davao City and has apparent roots in Badjao art forms. The dance and its conjoined genre appeared on local radio stations as early as 2007, reached mainstream media in the Philippines in 2008, and fell in popularity around 2011 for many before resurging once again on a more national level.

The rise of budots can be pinned on DJ Love, also known as Lablab, or his real name, Sherwin Calumpang Tuna. While he wasn’t necessarily the creator of the genre, he championed it as early as 2009 and helped make it the sensation it is today.

DJ Love produced Budots tracks using FL Studio and did the choreography for two dance groups, CamusBoyz and CamusGirls, to create music videos that paired with them. Early examples of this from DJ Love include 2007’s “BUDOTS DANCE VIDEO 9” (uploaded in 2013) and 2014’s “BUDOTS DANCE VIDEO 42.” Both short videos feature the signature sounds and dance moves that have since defined the genre.

That doesn’t mean Budots has strayed from controversy. In 2019, VICE explored the genre’s roots. While centered on a conversation with filmmakers Jay Rosas and Mark Limbaga’s documentary, Budots: The Craze, it also dug into the political side of the genre.

Former Philippines President and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte featured the genre and its dances in videos during his campaign in 2015. It is unclear whether the virality of these videos helped cement his victory. One aspect that did stick out was how aligned DJ Love’s “Yes to Dance / No to Drugs” captions were with Duterte’s aggressive stance on narcotics. For years, DJ Love had long distanced himself from the party-forward nature of early budots tracks.

The success of Duterte’s run made it clear that budots’ grassroots nature was ripe for politicians to win over working-class Filipinos on a large scale. Others, like Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., followed suit with their campaigns. Revilla Jr., a longtime government official who faced multiple accusations of plunder and graft, released a campaign video that helped him secure a spot in the Philippines Senate in 2019.

On the other hand, collectives like BuwanBuwan have transformed the genre into a parody by utilizing Duterte’s speeches as samples. Yet it hasn’t seemingly threatened the status quo in the country.

While the genre has become popular in the Philippines over the past 15 years, its (arguably) biggest exposure to the global stage prior to the virality of “Emergency” arrived in the summer of 2023. That’s when Manila Community Radio won Boiler Room’s Broadcast Lab grant, putting budots on display with a special showcase.

This Boiler Room x Manila Community Radio takeover featured a vibrant performance from the genre’s hero, DJ Love, but he was joined by other artists who play the genre or draw inspiration from it. Libya Montes, Showtime Official Club, and Teya Logos all played solo sets, while b2bs featuring Pikunin and obese.dogma777, as well as T33G33 and Hideki Ito, also took place.

Each performance showed off plenty of budots tunes; other genres were represented. For instance, the set from Teya Logos saw them deliver everything from house and hard dance to hip-hop and pop, while Hideki Ito and T33G33 played out loads of euphoric trance and techno. This exemplifies how the style can be blended with other genres and could be a perfect fit at more mainstream shows in North America or Europe.

Other artists, like Dj Danz, Dj KRZ, Dj Ericnem, and Dj YuanBryan have also carried the torch for budots in recent years by consistently releasing remixes and mixes on YouTube. Many of their followings on that platform have swelled to the hundreds of thousands, with views following closely along.

Although the likelihood of budots gaining significant ground in the US or other Western countries seems low, this new, social media-dominated world might help the genre grow even larger. Perhaps its influence will trickle into the work of other artists beyond the borders of the Philippines in the future. Only time will tell.