Stripped down hip hop in Abra, Lyrically Deranged Poets & Stick Figgas concert

August 16, 2014, 7:00 PM

Greenhills Shopping Center

San Juan

Featuring:

Lyrically Deranged Poets

Stick Figgas

Thyro & Yumi

Quest

Syke

Nathan J

In the past couple of year, the hip hop scene in the Philippines has experienced a major renaissance and has truly penetrated the mainstream music scene. Among the main movers in the hip hop scene today are Stick Figgas featuring Loonie and Ron Henley, and Lyrically Deranged Poets comprising of Alex Omiunu, RJay Ty and Abra. These top acts belonging to Artifice Records will join forces in a unique concert, billed as Artifice Unplugged, this August 16, 2014, 7:00 PM at the Music Museum at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan.

This concert aims to highlight the musicality and artistry of these hiphop acts courtesy of stripped/toned down (yet still awesome) music arrangement by multi-awarded singer/songwriter/producer Thyro Alfaro. Thyro, along with Yumi and Quest will be the special guests in this concert hosted by Nathan J that also features spoken word by Syke.

Artifice Records’ stable of artists have amassed over 200 million views in YouTube with Abra’s Gayuma holding the record as the most viewed local music video with 29 million views and counting, and their Facebook pages have reached 4 million likes, and boasting more than 500,000 followers on Twitter. Albums released by these artists include Loonie’s Ultrasound, Ron Henley’s Wala Pang Titulo, Abra’s self titled debut album and Lyrically Deranged Poet’s The Project.

Abra

Artifice Unplugged Orchestra and Balcony tickets are available at the Music Museum box office and at selected TicketWorld outlets. A limited number of VIP tickets are available by contacting 0917-5684480.

Ticket prices:

P1500 VIP

P1200 Orchestra

P800 Balcony

For inquiries:

Music Museum 721-6726

TicketWorld 891-9999

RAd's Hiphop Journey feat. Abra and Triangulo

Abra

Some months ago, a bunch of friends wouldn’t believe me at first when I told them that I just met a young rapper named Abra over at Radio Republic. He, along with his manager and beatboxer Josef Amarra, were guests at the station’s Swag program. Before they went on air, I had the chance to chat with them for a bit, asking them a few questions about the hiphop music genre. At that time, I had no idea who Abra was and how big he is in the rap scene especially in FlipTop battles. Friends pointed out afterwards how foolish I was for not knowing who Abra is. This spurred made me to take note and anticipate what he would come up with next.

Abra and RAd

Incidentally, what came next for Abra was Gayuma, the phenomenal track featuring Thyro Alfaro and Jeriko Aguilar that talks about how a young man was duped by an unattractive lover through the use of a love potion. The music video also featured Easter Eggs in the form of cameos from various hiphop personalities. It has already amassed 22 million views so far (and counting) making Gayuma the most viewed music video by a Filipino artist. The video also won the Favorite Urban Video and Favorite Music Video at the MYX Music Awards 2013.

Abra and Thyro Alfaro

Now, Abra keeps things rolling with the release of his newest single Ilusyon featuring Arci Muñoz of Philia This new song is another track composed by Abra himself that serves as a reminder for corrupt politicians to clean up their act. The music video had Abra dressing up as other personalities like a crocodile hunter, news reporter and even a female drama anthology host.

What’s next for Abra is the release of his highly anticipated album under Artifice Records and distributed by Ivory Music and Video. As a way to tease hiphop fans for this upcoming release, an event dubbed as Triangulo was held over at Eastwood. Triangulo was a star-studded affair headlined by Loonie, Ron Henley, and the Lyrically Deranged Poets that also featured an army of guest artists from the hiphop world. Guests like Mike Swift, the duo of Thyro and Yumi, and Kat Agarrado posed no problem for me since I’ve known and met them before. But I admit that I had a very hard time keeping tabs on the other performers there like Beatbox Philippines, BLKD, Smugglaz, DJ Spinz, DJ Buddah, Basilyo, among many others. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of artists who participated and I even joked that I felt like having an overdose of hiphop since I hung out at the wings during the entire event. But the performances that featured a mix of tracks already in my playlist along with a bunch of songs that I’ve heard for the first time ever, was great as always and it got the Eastwood crowd alive and going. I remember Mike taking note of me swaying to the beat when Kat was singing the chorus to Ron Henley’s Hagdan. I still feel bad for missing out on Araneta Dreams back then (my apologies Mike), so Triangulo was my way of catching up and making up for what I’ve missed.

I am always the first to admit that I am still not yet through exploring the world of hiphop. I consider myself very fortunate that I had the chance to know Abra and Josef personally and these two has further opened the door of hiphop for me. So I believe that it will no longer surprise my friends when they find out that I am among the ever growing number of hiphop fans patiently awaiting Abra’s album as it lands in stores this August.

Celebrating Homeworkz victories at the 25th Awit Awards

Taking a ride with Mike Swift inside the R2A van

The Beginning
Knowa Lazarus, Chelo Aestrid, RAd, Flava Matikz and Jerome B. Smooth

Since I’m talking about my hiphop journey, I must not forget to thank those who gave me my start namely Jerome B. Smooth, Q-York’s Knowa Lazarus and Flava Matikz, Chelo Aestrid and JayR. Special thanks also to the fine folks over at Radio Republic where my hiphop education started.