STAYING POWER

Despite having multiple awards and rising to fame, Jed recognizes that at the core, he is a person with his own emotions and feelings. Jed shared with us there was a time when he found validation in others more than himself, and at some point, this made him question if he was still for the industry.

“To be honest, I am a people pleaser. I like pleasing people and giving them the performances they expect from me. There came a time that every time I would go off stage, despite the cheers, applause, and standing ovations, I would only believe I did a good job when someone tells me that I did a good job. I would need to ask “Okay ba ako?” or “Did I do well?” and have someone affirm me.”

Because of this, there was even a time that Jed questioned if he was still relevant to the industry and if singing was still the career path for him. He even said a few years back that he felt neglected.

“There was a time when there was a shift in the industry where being a balladeer wasn’t the “uso”. During this time, I felt that maybe I was not what the people wanted anymore and people were no longer going to want me again. It made me think that maybe this is where my career ends.”

Luckily, Jed persevered and was able to soon realize that he was surrounded by people who cared about him. He soon discovered that what matters is the quality of the people that he was surrounded by, which are his family, friends, team, and supporters. To have these people tell him that his songs were the soundtrack of his life has been more than enough to keep him going in his career.

“I have people come up to me and tell me that “ay yun kanta mo, pinapakinggan ko yan noong heart broken ako” or “Yan yun wedding song namin ng asawa ko”. Whenever I hear these comments, it means so much to me. I realized that I don’t need a lot of people around me, I just need people who really believe in me to keep me going.”