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

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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 equal