Morobeats' "Anak ka ng PU!" Is the Anti-Corruption Rap Track You Need to Listen to

(SPOT.ph) How can you make a scathing rap song in a day? Easy—if you've lived the very experience you’re raging against. Just ask the writers, producers, and rappers of independent record label Morobeats who gave birth to “Anak ka ng Pu!,” a soundtrack calling out the corrupt officials involved in flood control projects.

Since its release on September 10, the track has racked up over 390,000 plays and counting on YouTube. It’s not the kind of song you’d expect to go viral—it’s more curse than chorus, more indictment than entertainment, but that’s the point. It caught fire because people are done being polite. SPOT.ph sat down with Morobeats to talk about what it means to write protest music for over a decade now.

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“Anak ka ng Pu!” is not the type of song you’d hear on the radio—it’s raw, heavy, and built for shouting in the streets. This track rips into corrupt politicians who treat stolen billions from flood control projects like pocket change, leaving ordinary Filipinos drowning—literally and figuratively.

“Di mo ba napapansin? / Na kayo kayo lang din, ang nagtuturuan kung sinong may tunay na salarin”

“Ang tanong ay sino nga bang nararapat managot / Katarungang hinahanap ay hawak din ng sangkot / Mga taong di kuntento sa karampot na dakot / Mawalang galang na sana’y patawarin ka ng Diyos”

“’Yung sa amin nanggaling sa hirap, ‘yung sayo galing sa mahihirap”

Each verse questions whether justice can ever be served when even the system meant to deliver it is compromised. The message couldn’t be clearer: people have had enough. It’s rage you can hear, even if you don’t speak the language.

The music video for “Anak ka ng Pu!” was filmed in Zambales, a location where dredging has scarred the land. It was the reality they wanted to show. Instead of a slick production, the music video went raw: muddy ground, heavy equipment, and the rappers walking shirtless to drive home the point that you don’t need spectacle to make noise. It looks rough because it’s supposed to.

“Gusto namin mapakita sa mga tao na hindi niyo kailangan ng super high tech. Puwedeng ikaw lang, katawan mo lang, puso mo lang ‘yung gagamitin mo para marinig ka at makita ka,” DJ Medmessiah says.

Recording the track is one thing; performing it in front of tens of thousands of people is another. When they took the song to Luneta, nerves gave way to adrenaline. Roughly 70,000 people filled the park. The group performed on a ten-wheeler truck, the speakers nearly toppling as the crowd screamed the lyrics back at them.

Morobeats is not new, though it might feel that way if you’re only hearing them now. Founded in 2014, the group counts around 15 active members: producers, writers, rappers, not all of them front and center but all of them building toward the same project. They survive on invites, a modest but loyal audience, and merch from the independent record label. It’s not glamorous, but it’s steady enough to keep the message alive—and the message is what drives everything they do.

When the Senate began digging into flood control projects, Morobeats picked up their pens. Ten people contributed to "Anak ka ng Pu!", each bringing their own style, weaving verses that sound different but converge on the same outrage. According to DJ Medmessiah, founder of Morobeats, the title drew inspiration from Boy Sullivan’s song of the same name, while the most iconic line—“Yaman ng taas galing lahat sa ibaba”—was borrowed from one of the rappers, Buencamino, in an earlier song. And yes, the entire track was actually created in a single day.

"Madali naming nagagawan ng lyrics ang mga ganitong bagay kasi may inspirasyon na—nangyayari talaga siya sa Pilipinas. Tinitingnan lang namin tapos lalabas na ‘yung artistic, ‘yung creative side namin. Kaya nadalian kami kasi meron rin kaming hinanain, may gusto ilabas at sabihin, kaya nagkakonekta lang,” one of the rappers, Dizzy, says.

Morobeats has been writing about corruption long before “Anak ka ng Pu!” broke through.

“Siguro 95% ng music namin is about corruption, injustice, social awareness. Nandoon na kami from before pa,” DJ Medmessiah says. One look at their catalogue shows this: West Philippine Sea, vote-buying, and even environmental neglect are topics they've touched on. Even if some songs manage to hit the millions on YouTube, they are still far from penetrating the mainstream. They were never really meant to compete with the algorithm. There’s no hint of pretense when DJ Medmessiah says this, only objectivity. He laments how digital platforms push for a certain image in the hip-hop scene—“drugs, money, bitches”—and in that sense, Morobeats has always been swimming against the current. “Hindi naman uso ‘yung ganitong tema. Iilan lang rin nakakaintindi ng ginagawa namin o sangayon sa mga topics namin.”

At the same time, they don’t pretend to have all the answers. They even acknowledge that many artists out there tackle the same issues, maybe even better, but don’t get heard. That humility goes hand in hand with their conscious refusal to put themselves above the cause, which is also why they define success differently. For them, it's not about money, fame, or viral numbers, but about real impact.

"Hindi kami yung tipong grupo that would have millions because of our songs. Kung may maipasa ng mga batas, kung kasama kami sa nag-contribute. 'Yun ang mission eh: may magbago dahil may nagsalita," DJ Medmessiah says. And because they’re not chasing constant relevance, they’re in no rush to flood the internet with new releases. They’d rather wait for the right moment, when a song—whether it's about gambling, drugs, or any of the other issues they care and write about—will land with full force.

The group has no illusions that one song will topple corruption, but they believe their words can push the needle—if not today, then eventually, as part of a larger movement. DJ Medmessiah says everything else that follows—awards, merch sales, clout—is just a bonus. If it happens along the way, then great, but otherwise, the team behind Morobeats is more than happy to echo the sentiments of ordinary Filipinos.

“Mas importante samin ‘yung next generation. Kung magiging uso man ‘yung pagiging makabayan, mabuti. Vessel lang kami, kami lang nagdedeliver ng message,” DJ Medmessiah says, adding that such a change doesn’t depend on who ends up in power—Marcos, Duterte, Aquino—because names are irrelevant if the system stays broken. “Mismong Pilipino sa Pilipino ‘yung nag-aaway, lahat nasa baba, nagkakaroon ng ego. Si Marcos tama, si Duterte tama, si Aquino tama. Nobody cares about that anymore kasi pare-parehas tayo nananakawan.”

And so the chant of “Anak ka ng Pu!” carries on, meant to be shouted again and again until something finally breaks.

“’Yung music namin, magtatagal ‘to," DJ Medmessiah ends. "Babalik-balikan ‘to habang may problema ‘yung Pilipinas.”

Also read: LOOK: Nearly 50,000 Turn Out for Luneta Protest Against Corruption