There is a particular kind of surrealism that comes with meeting someone whose music once formed the soundtrack to your adolescence, only to find yourself years later hearing that person sing words you wrote.
For Nadine Lustre, that moment came in the studio with Apl.de.Ap.
“The Black Eyed Peas were such a huge part of my teenage years,” Lustre says. “I listened to their songs every day, so getting to work with Apl was a dream.”
When Apl recorded his part for “Donuts,” Lustre and her collaborator Ivo could barely contain their excitement. They were smiling through the session, watching a childhood musical reference become part of their own creative reality.
“We couldn’t contain our kilig,” she says. “Beyond having him on our track, hearing him sing lyrics that we wrote was such an amazing feeling. It was one of those moments where you think, ‘Is this actually happening?’”
The answer, apparently, was yes.
“Donuts” began as a solo track. But Lustre, increasingly comfortable with pushing her music beyond predictable boundaries, sensed that another voice could change its chemistry. She had met Apl earlier in the year and initially hesitated to ask him to collaborate. Then came the realization that not asking might be the bigger regret.
“So I went for it,” she says. “I’m really glad I did.”
That decision is emblematic of where Lustre is now as an artist. There is less hesitation, less concern about fitting neatly into a particular category, and more willingness to follow instinct. “Donuts” occupies a space where pop, R&B and hip-hop overlap, but it does not seem particularly interested in choosing one lane.
That freedom is deliberate.
“My music taste is pretty broad, and I think that naturally comes through in what I make,” Lustre says. “I’ve always been drawn to artists who experiment and have their own identity.”
She is particularly interested in the unexpected: a strange sonic detail, a sudden shift in energy, an unusual vocal delivery. Those choices can turn a familiar genre into something more personal, and “Donuts” gives her room to explore that territory while retaining its physicality.
“I wanted to explore that while still making something you can move to,” she says.
It is a deceptively simple ambition. Making a song people can move to while maintaining a distinct artistic identity requires knowing what to leave in and what to leave out. Lustre credits the producers she has worked with for helping her understand her instincts and giving her the confidence to pursue them.
At this stage, she says, she is learning to trust her taste.
“I’m more comfortable trusting my taste and being adventurous,” she says. “I want to give myself room to explore different sides of my sound without feeling like everything has to fit into one genre.”
That philosophy makes Apl.de.Ap an especially fitting collaborator. His hip-hop roots and instantly recognizable delivery could have pulled “Donuts” in an entirely different direction. Instead, the two sounds find common ground in the very influences that shaped Lustre’s musical palate.
Pop, R&B and hip-hop have always existed alongside one another in her listening habits. Apl’s contribution simply adds another personality to the mix.
“Hearing him perform lyrics we had written was exciting because he gave them his own character,” Lustre says.
It also reinforced an idea that seems increasingly important to her: a song is not necessarily finished when the writer finishes writing it. Sometimes it becomes more interesting when another artist gets the chance to inhabit it.
That sense of exchange extends into the music video, where “Donuts” becomes part of a larger visual language surrounding Lustre’s album. The record explores transformation, stepping into one’s power and becoming more comfortable with who you are. For the video, she wanted those themes to exist within a world that felt unmistakably Filipino without becoming overly literal.
The first image that stayed with her was the landscape.
Open fields. Talahib. A provincial setting.
There is something almost cinematic about the contrast: contemporary styling against an expansive Filipino landscape, traditional references meeting a modern pop aesthetic. From that starting point, the video developed into a visual exploration of Filipino history, spirituality and a warrior spirit.
At its center is the same idea that drives the song: fearlessness.
“I wanted the visuals to carry that same confidence, with a sense of freedom and rebellion,” Lustre says.
Apl’s own pride in his Filipino roots made that direction even more meaningful. His presence gives the video another layer of cultural continuity, connecting a globally recognized hip-hop artist with an artist from a younger generation who is building her own relationship with Filipino identity through music and image.
The result is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It is a conversation between past and present, between influences that shaped Lustre and the artist she is becoming.
Lustre was closely involved in constructing that visual world. She knew the feeling she wanted and how “Donuts” needed to fit into the larger universe of the album. But she did not treat authorship as a reason to shut out collaboration.
The director and creative team helped turn the initial idea into something tangible, with styling, production design, movement and camera work each contributing to the final picture.
“I enjoy being hands-on, but I also love seeing people take an idea and add something I wouldn’t have thought of,” she says.
That openness mirrors the way Lustre approaches music itself. Creative control does not necessarily mean controlling every detail. Sometimes it means being confident enough in your own point of view to let someone else challenge it.
And perhaps that is what makes “Donuts” feel like a meaningful chapter in her musical evolution.
The collaboration with Apl.de.Ap is undoubtedly a bucket-list moment for an artist who once listened to the Black Eyed Peas as a teenager. But its significance goes beyond the novelty of working with a childhood musical hero. Lustre had to first take the risk of asking. Then she had to trust what could happen once the song left her hands and entered someone else’s.
That is a different kind of growing up.
“Donuts” finds Lustre stepping further into an identity that does not require a single definition. She can be pop without being confined to pop. She can pull from R&B and hip-hop without treating either as a costume. She can build a visual world from Filipino history and spirituality while making it feel contemporary. And she can collaborate with an artist who once seemed impossibly distant, only to discover that the distance was never as wide as it appeared.
More than anything, the track reflects an artist becoming increasingly willing to ask a more interesting question than “What is expected of me?”
What else can I do?
That curiosity is where Lustre wants to stay.
“I want to keep exploring, work with people who inspire me, and make music that reflects who I am as I grow,” she says. “I want to stay curious about what else I can do.”
For now, “Donuts” is an answer.
