The Filipino multi-hyphenate returns to his home turf with&nbsp;a new album and teleseryes for 2026.

Hi James! How has 2026 been treating you so far? It&rsquo;s been a big year. Not only have I been releasing a lot of <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/style/harry-styles-aperture-music-video-prada-showcasing-elegance-celebrity-fashion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">music</a>, I&rsquo;ve also started filming a TV <a href="https://www.hommessingapore.com/culture/best-japanese-anime-series-on-netflix-for-beginners-animation-classic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">series</a> &mdash; something I haven&rsquo;t done in seven years. So it&rsquo;s been quite crazy.
Let&rsquo;s start with the music. We&rsquo;ve been enjoying your latest single &ldquo;Traffic&rdquo;. I actually wrote this song at the beginning of last year during a songwriting camp. I was listening to a lot of alternative R&amp;B and pop rock at the time, and we just wanted to make something fun. The idea was to play around with a concept that&rsquo;s super relatable to Filipinos. It was great to make then, and I think it still feels relevant now. I&rsquo;m having a great time with it.

James Reid - Traffic (Official Music Video)

Getting stuck in traffic is a universal experience. How do you deal with it in real life? Music is a lifesaver, for sure. Having a soundtrack always makes it more bearable; I&rsquo;ve actually listened to &ldquo;Traffic&rdquo; a bunch while stuck on the road. And I read a lot too, especially during long drives.
Speaking of getting stuck, what does a creative block look like for you? I know I&rsquo;m having a creative block when I start forcing things. Maybe I like a beat or melody, but the lyrics won&rsquo;t come together. Sometime it&rsquo;s the other way around. It just doesn&rsquo;t flow. With &ldquo;Traffic&rdquo;, it was the opposite. I was working with two other Filipino artistes, Luke April and Nhiko Sabiniano, and we finished it in a couple of hours. Everything just came naturally &mdash; that&rsquo;s when you know it&rsquo;s a good one.
Before, I&rsquo;d used to bang my head against the table and force myself to finish a song. But I&rsquo;ve learned it&rsquo;s okay to stop and start something new. Sometimes you come back it later; that&rsquo;s part of the process. A creative block usually just means you&rsquo;re going in the wrong direction.
What&rsquo;s been a surprising source of inspiration lately? I&rsquo;d say my inspirations aren&rsquo;t a surprise. My girlfriend has been the biggest one. All of my songs lately are about her. And since we got together, I haven&rsquo;t run out of ideas &mdash; which is a good thing!

There&rsquo;s been a growing interest in Asian music thanks to the global influence of K-pop. Do you think Southeast Asian pop will develop its own identity on the world stage? From where I&rsquo;m standing in the Philippines, definitely. We&rsquo;ve always had the potential. Filipinos have such a strong affinity for music, and you see us everywhere &mdash; in production, as DJs, performers and vocalists. There are challenges locally, but we&rsquo;re getting there. And when you look at groups like SB19, they already have a very distinct Filipino identity and international recognition. It&rsquo;s only a matter of time.
You&rsquo;re also returning to acting this year, in the upcoming series&nbsp;Someone, Someday. What&rsquo;s it like stepping back on set after so long? Some of it is muscle memory, but it&rsquo;s never easy diving into a full-length series. I&rsquo;m talking up to 100 episodes. That&rsquo;s a real mental exercise, staying in character for that long. But it&rsquo;s been fun. This is my comeback after seven years, so I wanted to do everything: release an album, shoot a series. I&rsquo;m even writing music for the show, so I get to bring both worlds together.
Does music make you a better actor and does acting make you a better musician? I think making music makes me a better person, and being a better person makes you a better actor. You can only act as much as you know yourself. And music lets you explore your emotions and your soul in a way acting does not, because acting is about embodying someone else. With music, it&rsquo;s very personal &mdash; you&rsquo;re really digging into yourself.

"Making music makes me a better person, and being a better person makes you a better actor.&rdquo;

This year feels like a homecoming for you, with your focus on local projects. It really does feel like coming home. This is where I started when I was very young, in television and film, and then music. I stepped away for a while to focus on my music, and now I&rsquo;m coming back with fresh eyes and more life experience. It&rsquo;s like returning after a long adventure. It feels good to reconnect with my roots, and I&rsquo;m enjoying it more than ever.
You are known to the public in many ways &mdash; pop star, actor, label owner &mdash; but how do you actually see yourself today? Right now? I&rsquo;m just someone trying to teach his dog how to pee on her pee pad. I just got her yesterday, so she&rsquo;s taking up all my time. Her name&rsquo;s Koda, she&rsquo;s an Aussiedoodle. So yeah, at the moment, I&rsquo;m a full-time pet trainer.

Photography SHAIRA LUNA Styling JOHN LOZANO Grooming MAC IGARTA Styling associate BEA YABUT

James Reid Finds His Footing Back on Familiar Ground

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