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Yaelokre

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Not to be confused with Yalakalore.

Keath Ósk
OriginPhilippines, Iceland
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • multimedia artist
Instruments
Years active2024–present
Yaelokre
Genres
Years active2024–present
Labels
Members
  • Keath Ósk (leader) - guitalele, vocals
  • Reynaldo Capuno - percussion
  • Emil Ortega - guitar
  • Eugene Rabang - drums
  • JD Santos - bass guitar

Keath Ósk (born September 4) is a Filipino-Icelandic singer-songwriter and multimedia artist known for their[a] folk music storytelling project and band Yaeklore. Ósk began releasing music under the project name in January 2024, going viral on TikTok the summer of the same year for their song "Harpy Hare", entering the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and topping Spotify's Global Viral Songs Chart the same year.

They frequently perform in-character at live shows, with animal-themed masks and Renaissance-esque outfits representing various characters within the setting of the project. It has received praise for their artistry and style, with Yaelokre being named as a representative of both folk revival and Original Pilipino Music.

Early life

[edit]

Keath Ósk was born on September 4[‡ 2] to Icelandic and Filipino parents.[4] While growing up, Ósk stated that their mother taught them how to play the guitar, the chords on a piano, and how to sing while their father read fantasy storybooks and fairytales to them. With these influences, Ósk had planned to go to college to pursue a career in becoming a kindergarten teacher, with their second choice of becoming an author of children's storybooks.[1]

Career

[edit]

Ósk began releasing music under a storytelling project named Yaelokre in January 2024 with a single; the project was compared to The Lord of the Rings franchise by Kara Angan of Rappler. The project is set on a world named Meadowlark and focuses on a musical ensemble called The Lark with four characters wearing animal-themed masks named Cole, Clementine, Perrine, and Kingsley, all voiced by Ósk.[5][6] The characters themselves are based off of Ósk's experiences while growing up.[1] During live performances or lives on TikTok, Ósk wears such masks, Renaissance-esque outfits, and other clothing items such as a rabbit-shaped hat to represent the characters within the project.[7][8][9]

Their debut single was "Harpy Hare", with the music video that accompanied the song was illustrated by Ósk themselves. Kristin Robinson of Billboard compared the song and its accompanying music video to a blend of the band Gorillaz and the illustrations of Maurice Sendak on the book Where the Wild Things Are, much to acclaim. Robinson additionally commented on how Yaelokre continues the revival of folk music due to the combination of Ósk's illustrations and their songs.[7] They then released their debut EP entitled Hayfields in March of the same year, which includes "Harpy Hare". The EP serves as a prelude for the storyline within Yaelokre.[5]

Fan art of the character Cole in Yaelokre, wearing a rabbit-shaped mask.
Fan art of Cole, one of the Larks within the storyline of Yaelokre.

The single went viral four months later in July on TikTok and YouTube,[10] with Ósk gaining millions of listeners on Spotify and YouTube. Upon its virality, fans created original characters based on the Larks, fan art, made theories surrounding the project's setting, and posted videos emulating the choreography within its music video. It topped Spotify's Global Viral Songs Chart on the 15th for nine days straight while maintaining a placement on the top-half of the chart further on[5] and entered the TikTok Billboard Top 50 by Billboard on the week beginning July 20 at the 45th placement before peaking to 34th in its second week on the chart.[11][12] Official on-demand U.S. streams of the song rose to 557% from June 14 to July 11, and rose again by 186% on the following week.[7] As of April 2025, "Harpy Hare" has over 115 million listens on Spotify.[13]

Yaelokre released their second EP in September 2024, with the singles "Bird cage blue and yellow" and "My farewells to the fields".[6] The full band composed of Ósk, percussionist Reynaldo Capuno, guitarist Emil Ortega, drummer Eugene Rabang, and bassist JD Santos, were one of the opening acts for Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora during her What Happened to the Earth? tour stop in Manila.[9][14] It would be the first time that Yaelokre performed at the New Frontier Theater at a capacity of 3000, with prior gigs by the band holding around 20 to 200 people. During an interview with Rappler before the performance, Ósk commented that the virality of their songs felt horrible though stated that "something magical happened" as they were reminded by their friends who helped them pursue Yaelokre.[1]

Ósk and Yaelokre's genre have also been described as a part of Original Pilipino Music (OPM), with Angan stating that the project has a role within its future, "one that's filled with magic, mystery, and wonder." Interviewee Esther Comia commented that she was excited to listen to Yaelokre at a live performance as it was the first time she had seen "any OPM artist close to my age do the kind of storytelling I aspire to do".[5] Rafael Bautista of Nylon Manila further commented that the "level of creativity" in Ósk's style is rarely found in OPM, describing their work with "wonder and magic" due to the project's style and storyline.[8]

Listicles

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Name of publisher, name of listicle, year(s) listed, and placement result
Publisher Listicle Year(s) Result Ref.
Billboard Philippines 10 Filipino Artists To Look Out For This 2025 2025 Placed [6]
Nylon Manila 11 Breakout Stars From 2024 We Loved Seeing Winning 2025 Placed [8]

Discography

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EPs

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  • Hayfields (2024)
  • Songs of Origin (2024)

Singles

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  • "Harpy Hare"
  • "Bird cage blue and yellow"
  • "My farewells to the fields"

Notes

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  1. ^ Ósk uses they/it pronouns. This article uses they/them pronouns for consistency.[‡ 1]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Angan 2025.
  2. ^ Paintbox 2024.
  3. ^ Atlantic Records.
  4. ^ Universal Music Publishing Group.
  5. ^ a b c d Angan 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Go 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Robinson 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Bautista 2025.
  9. ^ a b Domingo 2025.
  10. ^ Donelson 2024.
  11. ^ Billboard 2024a.
  12. ^ Billboard 2024b.
  13. ^ Spotify.
  14. ^ Soliman 2025.

Sources

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Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ^ "🪕 𝐘𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐤𝐫𝐞 🐦📖🌾". Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2025 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Birthday fellow 🐦". September 4, 2024. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025. Retrieved April 16, 2025 – via Facebook.
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