Gloc-9 won four major awards in the Myx Music Awards 2014 (MMA2014), the most for any artist who was nominated.

But what is more important about this win, is not so much the fact that Gloc-9 won in four out of six categories that he was nominated in, nor that he won four times more than any other artist.

It is that Gloc-9 won it for a song like “Magda.”

The idea of Magdalena is not new. The legend that is Freddie Aguilar introduced us to “Magdalena” in the early 1980’s, a folk song about the plight of a girl who was misunderstood because of the work she was forced into doing. In the Aguilar song, Magdalena is seen as “sawimpalad,” living a wretched life, where her story is one of choicelessness.

Gloc-9’s “Magda” does not point a finger at this woman’s life. The songwriter tells this story with compassion and understanding. Spoken from the perspective of her childhood sweetheart Ernesto, the story is allowed its romance, as it is allowed its heartbreak and undoing. Because Ernesto speaks of Magda, we are given the chance to see Magda as a spit of a girl, as someone who left her childhood behind. In the present she is a woman who is trapped in the cage of her own doing.

The song does not judge Magda, as it does make her human. She is treated as solitary and independent, she is allowed her own individuality, her own voice.

This is Gloc-9 at his most creative, where his decision to use another character to speak about Magda allows for a distance, a non-judgmental stance about her character. It is this creativity that was awarded by the MMA this year. But more importantly what they were honoring was this rapper-songwriter-artist’s decision to tell a story we would rather not hear, of a woman we would rather be blind to.

And this is really the value of Gloc-9’s quadruple wins in this year’s MMAs. He won for the song “Magda” in the context of mainstream original Pilipino music that makes hits out of repetitive lovesongs and novelty. He won for “Magda” at a time when the originality and relevance of original Pilipino pop music is being questioned.

Each MYX Music Award is composed of 60% audience votes and 40% artist or peer votes. And on a year when Gloc-9 wins big for a song like “Magda,” we are being told how the audience and the members of the industry as well, are in fact ready for difficult stories and complex songs.

Winning those four MMAs for “Magda,” as such, is not just a measure of Gloc-9 as artist. It is a measure of what the audience of local music is ready for. One hopes original Pinoy mainstream music heeds this call for creativity and relevance.

We might say that Pinoy rap is going through a revival. What we must know is how different Gloc-9's kind of rap remains, regardless.

At the heart of Gloc-9's icon is the fact of his creativity. This is a rapper who dares writes songs from nation, trailing an eye on the things we fail to see, listening to words no one else hears.

If the first single off his new album Liham at Lihim is any indication, then Gloc-9 has again raised the bar for songwriting in general, Pinoy rap in particular.

A collaboration with rock icon Rico Blanco, “Magda” is Gloc-9's storytelling at its best. For one thing, he doesn't take on the persona of Magda; instead he speaks as Ernesto, telling the story of Magda – the little of it that he knows. For another, Magda's story doesn't unfold easily, where many things are left unsaid, and much of what is truth happens in a letter. This is also why Gloc-9 thinks “Magda” the best choice for a carrier single, given the CD's title.

But Magda's complexity, as Liham at Lihim suggests, is borne of the fact that she is trapped in what she does, and we cannot understand why. Gloc-9 doesn't insist that we understand it, but through Ernesto we are being made to see the sadness in this situation, the nostalgia for the past, the longing for better.

Talking about the inspiration for the song, Gloc-9 says: “I was thinking of reasons why a daughter who was most precious to her father, could end up living the life of a prostitute. One line from the chorus goes “Magdalena, anong problema? / Alam naman natin na dati kang Nena / at sa ‘yong ama, ikaw ay prinsesa.”

That chorus is sung by Blanco, something that Gloc-9 is grateful for. “Rico is one of the most talented singers we have right now, and even though I wrote the song, Rico is the only one who can sing the chorus the way he does and bring to the song his own uniqueness. Sobrang galing,” he says.

“Magda” reminds us that there are many difficult stories to tell, and very few who dare tell it the way Gloc-9 and Rico Blanco do. This song reminds us that there are no judgements, as there are questions. And there is no right and wrong, as there is need and love. If not hope.

Without a doubt, Pinoy rap's going through a revival. With “Magda” and all of Liham at Lihim, Gloc-9 proves he is in a class all his own.

Liham at Lihim will be released in October 2013. This is Gloc-9's second album with Universal Records after 2012's Mga Kwento ng Makata and the critically-acclaimed hit single “Sirena.” Liham at Lihim features Gloc-9 collaborations with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Quest, Marc Abaya, Zia Quizon, Kamikazee, Eunice of Gracenote, Denise Barbacena, and Sly Kane.

Tracklist:

1. Huminahon Ka (featuring Sly Kane)
2. Takip Silim (featuring Regine Velasquez-Alcasid)
3. KMT (featuring Eunice Jorge of Gracenote)
4. Magda (featuring of Rico Blanco)
5. Rap Ka Nga
6. Kuwento Mo
7. Tsinelas sa Putikan (featuring Marc Abaya)
8. Siga (featuring Quest)
9. Hindi Sapat (featuring Denise Barbacena)
10. Katulad Ng Iba (featuring Zia Quizon)
11. Kunwari (featuring Kamikazee, Biboy Garcia of Queso and Manuel Legarda of Wolfgang)
12. Itak Ni Andres