the Apple of many eyes
(for November 28)
Yesterday I met one of my heroes. I say this because he amazed me with his success. Penetrating the US music industry isn’t easy; I understood this at a young age. And yet he not only landed several record deals but he became part of one of the hottest, most popular RnB groups of our time, the Black Eyed Peas. He is a Filipino and a proud one at that.
I really shouldn’t be including him as an entry here because I’m writing an article about him for a magazine I contribute to. But I can’t help it.
I was a sophomore in high school when the Black Eyed Peas visited the Philippines to do a concert. As a gift from my bestest best friend KC, I got silver tickets to the concert. The ticket cost her around 2000 pesos each. But because of our tardiness, natural luck or perhaps divine intervention, and uncanny ability to get away with things, we ended up watching the concert in the VIP section. Mind you, tickets to that area cost something like 15000 pesos.
Anyway, I didn’t get to meet Apl then (even though I impersonated to be someone from his hometown to get past the bulky bouncer guarding the entrance to the VIP section). It was only yesterday that I got to sit next to him (well actually we were seated in a supposed round table. I say ‘supposed’ because he was the only one seated in front of a circular table and I, along with a selected few from the press, was seated in a chair adjacent to the table.) and interview him. (Oh the perks of my job)
Apl is one of the coolest guys I’ve met. And I’m entitled to say this and use ‘coolest’ because albeit being only 20 years old, I’ve met my fair share of cool guys. He was dressed in a very cool way, wearing a good mix of shirt and jeans, a lovely jacket I’d wear if I were a guy or even now that I’m a girl, and shiny silver dunks. His aura was also cool, being so relaxed and handling the interview so well, so nonchalantly and even cracking a few jokes every now and then. But he was most cool because he was a world-class Filipino talent whose story doesn’t end with just making it big. He made it big and now he is giving back and promoting Filipino talent to the world.
As if holding a benefit concert wasn’t enough, he also started a music label and put up a contest for aspiring musicians to discover talents. He told me that he never tried escaping his being a Filipino, never forgot where he came from, and always incorporated it to his music.
Becoming internationally-acclaimed and selling millions of albums used to be the reason why he was one of my heroes. But today his markings as a hero changed. He is heroic because he is a Filipino who embraces it and proudly proclaims it to the world, an Apl who never fell far from the tree and even gave back to it. He is heroic because he inspires others to believe, to live their passion and to do what he has done.
Yesterday I met one of my heroes. I say this because he amazed me with his success. Penetrating the US music industry isn’t easy; I understood this at a young age. And yet he not only landed several record deals but he became part of one of the hottest, most popular RnB groups of our time, the Black Eyed Peas. He is a Filipino and a proud one at that.
I really shouldn’t be including him as an entry here because I’m writing an article about him for a magazine I contribute to. But I can’t help it.
I was a sophomore in high school when the Black Eyed Peas visited the Philippines to do a concert. As a gift from my bestest best friend KC, I got silver tickets to the concert. The ticket cost her around 2000 pesos each. But because of our tardiness, natural luck or perhaps divine intervention, and uncanny ability to get away with things, we ended up watching the concert in the VIP section. Mind you, tickets to that area cost something like 15000 pesos.
Anyway, I didn’t get to meet Apl then (even though I impersonated to be someone from his hometown to get past the bulky bouncer guarding the entrance to the VIP section). It was only yesterday that I got to sit next to him (well actually we were seated in a supposed round table. I say ‘supposed’ because he was the only one seated in front of a circular table and I, along with a selected few from the press, was seated in a chair adjacent to the table.) and interview him. (Oh the perks of my job)
Apl is one of the coolest guys I’ve met. And I’m entitled to say this and use ‘coolest’ because albeit being only 20 years old, I’ve met my fair share of cool guys. He was dressed in a very cool way, wearing a good mix of shirt and jeans, a lovely jacket I’d wear if I were a guy or even now that I’m a girl, and shiny silver dunks. His aura was also cool, being so relaxed and handling the interview so well, so nonchalantly and even cracking a few jokes every now and then. But he was most cool because he was a world-class Filipino talent whose story doesn’t end with just making it big. He made it big and now he is giving back and promoting Filipino talent to the world.
As if holding a benefit concert wasn’t enough, he also started a music label and put up a contest for aspiring musicians to discover talents. He told me that he never tried escaping his being a Filipino, never forgot where he came from, and always incorporated it to his music.
Becoming internationally-acclaimed and selling millions of albums used to be the reason why he was one of my heroes. But today his markings as a hero changed. He is heroic because he is a Filipino who embraces it and proudly proclaims it to the world, an Apl who never fell far from the tree and even gave back to it. He is heroic because he inspires others to believe, to live their passion and to do what he has done.
Comments
Post a Comment