‘Somewhere to be themselves, and be kind’: the Filipino folk-popper creating a hand-drawn world for gen Z to escape to

What started as a school project about plucky fictional kids in animal masks sparked an obsessive fanbase and a major label deal. Now the artist behind it all – known as Yaelokre – is ready to reveal themselfHarpy Hare by Yaelokre is the kind of song you might expect to have gone viral in the 1520s, not the 2020s. Backed by guitalele (that’s a guitar/ukulele hybrid), the lullaby begins with the line “Harpy Hare, where have you buried all your children?” performed by fictional kids from the equally fictional world of Meadowlark who are depicted in fey illustrations wearing animal masks. But two years ago it became an unlikely TikTok hit, reaching No 1 on Spotify’s Global Viral Songs chart.That was in summer 2024, when the world of Meadowlark was a bit more DIY. Not only was its creator still making tracks and illustrations from their “diary turned storybook” in their bedroom, there was no Reddit community around them yet and only the faintest of whispers about Yaelokre online. These days, Keath Ósk, the Icelandic-Filipino artist behind the project, has almost three million monthly Spotify listeners; last year they played a sell-out UK and Ireland tour, and they have just released their first album under their own name, delighting a following of gen Z and queer listeners who write fan fiction about Ósk’s world and cosplay as their hand-drawn characters, prompting questions on Reddit such as: “My costume has bells [on it], should I remove them for the concert?” Continue reading...