‘Drink Your Water, Bitch’ is (mostly) Mimiyuuuh’s brainchild, down to the ‘rawr’

A show of hands, anyone here forgets to drink water? Ah, yes, everyone. Thank you, glad to know we’re not alone, because you know ya girl Mimiyuuuh’s been reminding us to stay hydrated since she dropped “Drink Your Water, Bitch” last year.

If you haven’t listened to her kickass debut track, WYD?

And for all the laughs and memes “DYWB” gave us, there’s a bit of a story behind this gem, too. In a virtual press con with O/C Records, label CEO Kean Cipriano said Mimi was pretty much involved and hands-on in the process of creating the track, even shooting down the initial demo he made for her.

“I was thinking, Mimiyuuuh is an internet sensation on the mainstream side of things. Pero ’yung ginawa kong demo, very pop, very mainstream approach. Tapos noong binigay ko sa kanya, sabi niya, ‘Kean, ’di ito ’yung gusto kong mangyari eh,’” he said.

(I was thinking, Mimiyuuuh is an internet sensation on the mainstream side of things. But the demo I made was very pop, very mainstream approach. When I gave it to her, she shot it down. “Kean, this isn’t really what I want.”)

“Sabi ko, ‘Sir Kean, kulang sa bass!’” Mimi said.

And it was a good sign for Kean: Mimi knows what she wants as an artist.

With creative freedom at the center of O/C Records, Mimi even had a hand at engineering the track, finding a way to work around the pandemic restrictions.

Mimi trying to record the track was a mood. The label sent her some recording equipment so she could do it at home. She was well into the second verse when she realized the recording only caught a few seconds of audio.

“Hirap na hirap ako. Sabi nila, ‘Ay, Mi, dapat doon ka sa wala masyadong tao [para] ’di masyadong mag-e-echo, wag ka na muna mag-aircon.’ Pawis na pawis po ako noon kaka-‘drink your water.’ Tapos ang na-record lang, eight seconds.”

(I was struggling. They said, ‘Mi, you have to be somewhere quiet so there’s no echo, and try not to use the air conditioner.’ I was sweating as I kept rapping ‘drink your water,’ and only eight seconds were recorded.)

Mimi’s apparently really meticulous, too (makes sense, she studied fashion, after all). All the “rawr”s and random numbers Mimi spits out in the background vocals? Not random at all, ’cause Mimi directed where even those tiny details should be, especially at the one-minute mark: “One minute pa lang ’to, girl.”

For Mimi, the experience helped her appreciate the collaborative effort that creatives put into their work and motivated her to keep honing her craft, both as a content creator and a recording artist.

“Ako po, ’pag pinakikinggan ko po ’yung vlog ko, medyo nagki-cringe ako kapag naririnig ko ‘yung boses ko. Pero pag ‘tong song na ‘to narinig ko sa radyo, I be like, ‘Daaaaamn, that’s ma track!’”

(When I hear my voice on my vlogs, I cringe a little. But when I hear this song on the radio, I be like, “Daaaaamn, that’s ma track!”)

What is Mimiyuuuh’s sound? That depends. Even Kean can’t categorize it because he believes Mimi could explore other genres in future tracks. For now, Mimi identifies with hip-hop and pays tribute to local OPM, looking up to artists like Shanti Dope, Gloc 9 and Al James.

Mimi’s goal at the moment is to make more tracks that other people will enjoy. If any of y’all wanna create your own music too, she says just go for it―even if you think people won’t vibe with it.

“I-unleash mo ’yung creativity mo. ‘Di ba ang music kasi, it’s an art. Lahat ng art hindi na-a-appreciate ng lahat ng tao. So ang mahalaga, dapat ma-appreciate mo muna ’yung sarili mong art bago ma-appreciate ng ibang tao.”

(Unleash your creativity. Music is an art, and not every kind of art is appreciated by everyone. What matters is you learn to appreciate your own works of art before other people do.)

Stills from “Drink Your Water, Bitch” MV