The Cool Girl Records release takes the pop star’s sound into bleaker, more graphic hip-hop and R&B sonic territory.
Nadine Lustre collaborates with Black Eyed Peas member Apl.de.ap for “Donuts,” a genre-twisting musical alliance that drives production and sound in thrilling and exhilarating new directions.
Released under Cool Girl Records, the hip-hop-flavored bop brings together two Filipino pop superstars who have made big cultural impressions in their respective fields.
For Lustre, “Donuts” follows glowingly-reviewed comeback single “Personal.” For Apl.de.ap, it presents another opportunity to mix his worldwide hip-hop identity and Filipino roots in a modern pop backdrop. The production and musical arrangements recall both Timbaland and SB19. The end product is a collaboration that plays to both artists’ strongest points.
Apl.de.ap makes a mark with a powerful Taglish verse ingrained in his Filipino identity, including a reference to the iconic Datu of Mactan Lapulapu (“Reach high to the strength to the words I told / Build bridges where the roads was closed / That's my story unfold / We've been known to do too much / We gon' be doing that 'til we dust / And we gon' keep showing 'em how it's done Like what Datu did in Mactan”). His verse underpins the song’s main concept of seizing command of one’s fate and standing in one’s own power.
The collab also gives Nadine the chance to explore a more uncompromising and more urban sound. Where “Personal” tilted into a glossy and polished pop aesthetic, “Donuts” moves toward a more experimental direction, coating her rap-sung flow over retro-futurist production, weighty 808s, gritty dissonance, and marching drums. The song has potent vitriol for the main persona's imaginary enemies ("Spicy little thing with crown on tight / Don't be so rude, swerve fast to the right / All I'm trying to do is mind my business / While these wannabes make money off chismis").
Narrated by the authoritative voice of former NU107 DJ Francis "Brew" Reyes of The Dawn in John Arcilla Heneral Luna-fashion with evocative choir “oohs” intertwined into the musical arrangement, the song constructs a cinematic ambiance before falling into high pressure beats and witty lyricism ("Kaya bakit ka makikinig sa mga taong wala namang alam sa mga pinagdaanan mo? / Hindi mo kailangang patunayan ang sarili mo sa kanila / Kung hindi sila titigil sa mga pinagsasabi nila, hayaan mo lang silang mag-ingay diyan / Mga punyeta sila").
Nadine had earlier expressed her eagerness for the project in an Instagram post on September 5, 2026, writing: “A little surreal making music with a legend, @apldeap. D O N U T S out on all platforms.”
Co-songwriting crecits on “Donuts” are shared by Nadine Lustre, Andric Ivo Empreso, and Jan Roberts Baloloy, with production by Khalil Atienza, Elijiah Wudz Bitacura, and Farewell Fair Weather keyboardist Isagani Palabyab.
As the second chapter in what seems to be a succession of new drops, “Donuts” implies a bigger musical whole from Lustre, whose body of work continues to move gracefully across music, film, business, and creative pursuits.