FAHM 2024 W/Rap Up
The year 2024 has been incredibly abundant for Bay Area and West Coast Filipinx rap and hip hop. From new music labels, to protest anthems, to diaspora of vinyl— here are several cuts and projects (in no particular order) that were released as recently as this October, some throughout 2024, some from 2023. What better time to honor these works than during Filipinx American History Month—or any month.
Scroll to the end for my FAHM W/Rap Up playlist on Spotify— a compilation playlist including two full hours of recent releases from Rocky Rivera, Emcee Klassy, Audvision, Sendai Era, Rocky G, Lumikools, JonnyChang, Kimmortal, and Ruby Ibarra.
Long Kiss Goodnight movie poster. Way too dope not to include! (Pulled from Rocky Rivera’s Instagram)
Rocky Rivera— emcee, journalist, author— the Frisco OG and First Lady of Beatrock Music did not come to play. As a young listener, Rocky Rivera deepened my personal understanding of women in hip hop and community. Her music continues to push the conversation forward about our roles on and off the stage, and the right to demand a more just world. Her new album, entitled Long Kiss Goodnight, in collaboration with Beatrock label-mate Otayo Dubb, was released in September 2024. Rocky stays true to her roots in feminism and anti-fascism, while her signature storied punchlines are fitted perfectly onto a romanced gangsta cinematic soundscape. Long Kiss Goodnight is a rich buffet for rap heads; Rocky Rivera generously delivers depth— proud, sharp, reflective, protective, vulnerable, grieving, gracious, never shying away from fighting the good fight, and most importantly— remaining truly genuine.
Emcee Klassy’s velvety tones and half-song melodic cadence are incredibly difficult to forget. Her unique delivery shines especially on “No More,” from her Good Seeds (2023) album. With 16 total tracks, Good Seeds features nearly the entire roster of Beatrock Music— Bambu, Do D.A.T, Faith Santilla, Marco Kane, Otayo Dubb, Power Struggle, Prometheus Brown, Rocky Rivera, and Ruby Ibarra— on a single track aptly titled, “Greatest Song Ever.” It’s reminiscent of the harmony in rap group classics like Souls of Mischief’s “‘93 til Infinity,” and the likes of Hieroglyphics and Living Legends. While “Greatest Song Ever” may just be a one-time group track, the cohesion is a testament to the label— and I just loved the way they all showed up for Klassy’s album.
Good Seeds also samples from the hip hop classics, Common’s “The Light” on her track, “Like This” and Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop” on her track, “Genuine” with Rocky Rivera. Listening through this album was so personable and fun, with the incorporation of clips from Bob’s Burgers, Adventure Time, and especially the heartwarming sound bites of her child’s laughter and multiple takes to say, “Klaaaasssssyy!”
Klassy | Instagram
As briefly mentioned in my previous post, Audvision has been hitting their stride as a musician. Over the course of 2024, they released a compilation of journal-entry-style tracks, entitled Stream of Consciousness. Their trajectory over the years within music production and emcee range has evolved into an exceptional experimental journey, playing with lowered deep tones, soft melodic deliveries, secret weapon R&B vocals, and still keeping it one-hunnid lyrically.
AudVision doesn’t shy away from talking about the intricacies of every day efforts just trying to be good person; showing up for yourself; figuring out where we belong in the world; and questioning intentions vs. the human condition— and damn ain’t that real AF?
AudVision | Instagram | SoundCloud
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Sendai Era hones in on their own profound way of weaving stories of Filipinx diaspora and makibaka spirit. Sendai Era’s latest 10-track project, Harana: Love Letter from the Displaced was released this October during Filipinx American History Month. Sendai Era has consistently captured themes of struggle, particularly of marginalized and dispossessed peoples. While political or conscious rap may not be everyone’s preference, this through-line honors both the roots of hip hop as a vehicle for social change, as well as calling for power to the People through interwoven stories of Filipinx resistance and anti-imperialism.
The term, ‘harana,’ in the Philippines, refers to a courtship tradition of serenading, often with a guitar. In the context of this project, Sendai Era shares:
“for us, this translated into our love for the culture of hip hop and the love we hold alongside those around us… This idea of expressing love also transformed this body of work into letters dedicated to those important in our lives.. it’s an album dedicated to those here with us today and those who will come tomorrow.”
Sendai Era | Instagram
If you’ve been rocking with me and this little hip hop blog over the last six years, you already know that I’m a fan of Rocky G. His latest album, Dimensions, was released earlier this year in 2024. It’s a storied and layered mixture of themes exploring home and community, interwoven through jazzy, funky, and soulful stoner vibes. The album was unfortunately taken down from Spotify but remains available on all other platforms. In the meantime, listeners can roll up a J and cool out to the visualizer version of Dimensions on Youtube.
In particular from the Dimensions album, Ash’s larger-than-life sultry vocals over jazzy sax, makes the track “Ground Up” an instant banger. The music video is as fun as the track— featuring dancers from The Company, iconic San Francisco locations like Beep’s Burgers and the Painted Ladies, and folks just having a good time in community. Similarly, the 2023 track, “Hypnotic” with DJ ET IV and featuring Astrologik, was a particularly refreshing addition to Rocky’s discography; it’s a testament to Rocky’s wide range of musicianship and capability to blend— much like the way he weaves DC and Frisco together through his music. Check out my previous posts on Rocky G about his album, Filipinos in Space, which was released with his long-time collaborator and producer Nuglife.
Ruby Ibarra kicked off 2024 strong, with an announcement of a brand new Filipino American music label and collective, Bolo Music Group, co-founded with music producer, LASI. Ruby broke the internet with her latest project, “Bakunawa,” which refers to a mythological creature from the Philippines— the Moon Eater. Not only are the song and music video already an incredible display of talent (both on and off screen!), Ruby’s intentional enlistments— of Bolo Music label-mate and vocalist Ouida; Toronto-based emcee Han-Han; and the legendary guitarist June Millington, co-founder of the all-women rock band, Fanny— all make for an incredible story of multigenerational and multifaceted Filipina artists creating an absolute masterpiece together.
If that’s not enough, Ruby also slam-dunked the stunning video direction exponentially, sharing a beautiful public announcement of her new journey into motherhood, anticipating the arrival of her first child.
Ruby Ibarra Instagram | Bolo Music Group | Youtube
As a bonus, check out Bay Area veteran DJ, Mista-B’s latest projects. With a specialty in Japanese vinyl records, Mista-B released a Japanese City Pop mixtape on October 7th, entitled, City Girl Style, featuring all-women Japanese artists and singers from the 1980s era of City Pop tunes— including soul, boogie, electro, pop, jazz fusion, and more. The mixtape was created in entirety from all vinyl, with Mista-B handling all the mixing, scratching, and editing himself. Check out his recent feature in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Love Talkin Sound finds its groove in retro Japanese music.” Beyond the wax, the way in which vinyl records find their ways around the world is a core motivation for Mista-B. In the same month, he dropped a live set on Youtube for Filipinx American History Month, celebrating the diaspora of Philippine vinyl:
“[I wanted to play] a live set of some Pinay & Pinoy music I have from vinyl. I really appreciate the artists [and how their] music got distributed over time. Some of the vinyl I play from this set have releases from the Philippines, Japan, UK, and the USA. The music genres range from Disco, funk, soul, hip-hop, independent, alternative, folk, jazz, and more.”
Happy Filipinx American History Month from Hip Hop x Asian America. This compilation playlist is for lovers of boom bap, storied rap, community, people power, and everything in between. Now available on Spotify.
