Jake Zyrus opened up about re-recording his earlier songs for his upcoming six-track EP Roots, which includes “Reset,” “Nobody’s Singing To Me,” “Wherever You Are (feat. Cheesa),” “Yakap,” “Lighthouse,” and the global hit “Pyramid.”
“I was able to take control. I was able to actually do everything myself, obviously with the help of my trusted friends. Pero kakaiba lang ‘yung feeling if ikaw ‘yung may hawak ng lahat kasi parang… you have freedom to do whatever you want, be creative, lahat, at to me dun ko na-realize na ay yun pala ‘yung kulang. I needed to be in control because I know what I want. Alam ko kung ano ang gusto kong gawin,” he said in a fan Q&A on his YouTube vlog.
He described the process as empowering and nostalgic: “It was very empowering, it was very nostalgic and dun ko rin na-realize na no matter, whether pre-transition or now transition, everything felt the same to me like technique wise, everything. It was quite a journey. I hope you guys will like it.”
Jake also reflected on adjusting to his deeper voice after transitioning. He admitted, “In the beginning yes. It felt like I went through puberty all over again as a trans man.” He added, “Ngayon, when I did this EP, I think there was a lot of realization na talagang na-feel ko na for some reason na ‘yung technique na ginagamit ko kinda felt the same but again maybe my voice kinda stabilized now throughout the years. Yes and no there are some new techniques that I discovered as a trans man but at the same time, I still feel some techniques that I used before.”
On releasing a full-length album, he said: “I’m gonna be honest with you guys, it took me years to finally get that confidence and motivation to release this EP that’s why I started with six songs muna. I was like you know what, let’s go slowly but surely. Depende sa inyo, if you guys receive this well, maybe we’ll have Roots number two.”
Jake also discussed potentially changing his legal first name. “Jake Zyrus is only my screen name. I have not changed my legal name just yet pero kung babaguhin ko siya, I kinda like Charles because it’s closer to my original name, Charice and Charmaine so I kinda like that, Charles, and then maybe put Jake in the second name. For how many years Charles, I’m kinda set with the first name Charles. And obviously keeping my last name Pempengco. So yeah, Charles, I feel like it is very me,” he said.
Roots is set for release on November 21, marking Jake’s first major music release since his 2022 single “4 Life.”
