Paalam Francis Magalona (1964-2009) In MeMoRy oF Francis Durango Magalona (October 4, 1964 – March 6, 2009) or as he is also known FrancisM, Master Rapper, and The Man From Manila is credited as being the first Filipino rapper in the Philippines to successfully crossover to the mainstream. He is also popularly known as the “King of Pinoy Rap” and is one of the most idolized, celebrated and influential rappers within the genre. A sibling of nine brothers and sisters, Francis Magalona is the son of late Philippine movie screen legends Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. The late Senator Enrique Magalona was his grandfather. Starting out as a breakdancer in the early 1980s, he followed in his parents footsteps and ventured out into acting, appearing in several Filipino movies; he branched out to emceeing and released the groundbreaking album Yo! in 1990 garnering the nationalistic hit Mga Kababayan (My Countrymen), making Yo! the first commercially released Pinoy rap album in the Philippines.[1] While rapping politically conscious and thought-provoking rhymes in both English and Tagalog, the album was a total success and helped instantly catapult Filipino hip hop from underground to mainstream status and also marked the birth of Makabayang or Nationalistic rap in Filipino hip hop. Francis M. remains one of the most respected emcees within Pinoy RapIn 1992, Francis Magalona released Rap Is FrancisM (1992), which is highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy Rap albums. With …
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