Francis Magalona
Francis Durango Magalona, also known as Francis M, was a Filipino rapper, songwriter, and actor. He is regarded as an influential figure in Pinoy hip hop.
Magalona was a son of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. He started as a breakdancer and appeared in the teen comedy film Bagets 2 and the variety show That's Entertainment while building his rap career.
His songs "Mga Kababayan", "Man from Manila", "Ito Ang Gusto Ko", "Kabataan Para sa Kinabukasan", "Watawat", "Luv 4 Lyf", and "Lando" have each won the Awit Award for Best Rap Recording, while "Kaleidoscope World" is another notable single. His notable albums include Rap Is FrancisM, FreeMan, Happy Battle, The Oddventures of Mr. Cool, and FreeMan 2. Magalona also ventured into rock, fronting the band Hardware Syndrome. His music addressed social issues including politics, drug addiction, colonial mentality, and intellectual property rights. In television, Magalona was a presenter for MTV Asia, Channel V Philippines, and the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!. He was also a judge on Philippine Idol.
Magalona died of leukemia in 2009, aged 44.
Early life and career
Francis Michael Durango Magalona was born on October 4, 1964. He was named after Saint Francis of Assisi, whose feast day falls on his birthday. He was the eighth of the nine children of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, popular film stars of the 1940s and 1950s. His grandfather, Enrique B. Magalona, served as a senator from 1946 to 1955. Magalona was also a second cousin of Cacai and Regine Velasquez through his mother whose first cousin was Gerardo Velasquez.For his high school education, he attended the Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong then proceeded to San Beda College in Manila, attending from 1981 to 1984.
Magalona started out as a breakdancer in the 1980s. He was cast in several Filipino movies including Bagets 2. He was the resident DJ/rapper in the IBC variety show Loveli'Ness.
Music career
Filipino hip hop and nationalistic rap
In 1990, he released the album Yo!, the first commercially released Filipino rap album. Yo! included several popular singles such as "Mga Kababayan", "Gotta Let 'Cha Know", "Cold Summer Nights", and a duet with Pia Arroyo "Loving You" which made her the first Filipina woman to rap on a record. His tracks feature politically conscious and thought-provoking rhymes in both English and Tagalog, in the style known as Filipino hip hop.In 1992, Francis Magalona released Rap Is FrancisM. With tracks addressing the various cultural and social problems that plagued his country such as drug addiction in "Mga Praning", political instability in "Halalan" as well as the detrimental effects of a colonial mentality in "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy", the record's complexity and conscious message earned it its classic status. This album helped tag Magalona as one of the most politically conscious voices of his generation.
Hardware Syndrome and the merging of rap with Pinoy rock
The release of his third album, Meron akong ano! in 1993 marked the beginning of Magalona's experimentation with Pinoy rock. It also saw the birth of Hardware Syndrome—previously known as Cannabis—the band that would, with Magalona at its helm, introduce the merging of Pinoy rock and rap to the Filipino music audience. Members over the years included musicians Carlo Sison, Francis Villanueva, Niño Mesina, Boyet Aquino, Elmer Blancaflor, Noel Mendez, Perf de Castro, Benjie "Bagets" Mendez, Albert Tamayo, DJ Kimozave, DJ Radikal MK, Otep Concepcion, Kenji Marquez, Jack Rufo, and Wendell Garcia.Magalona was soon cited for excellence in both genres of music. He collaborated with other notable OPM artists including Andrew E., Joey Ayala, Heber Bartolome of Banyuhay, Ryan Cayabyab, Mike Hanopol of Juan Dela Cruz Band, Michael V., Death Threat, and the band Eraserheads. In the latter part of his career, Magalona worked together with rappers Pikaso, Gloc 9 and the Pinoy rock band Parokya ni Edgar. In 1994, Magalona moved from Octo-Arts EMI Philippines, which had released all of his previous albums, to BMG Records Inc. with Musiko Records, the same label as the seminal Pinoy rock group, The Eraserheads.
Freeman was released the following year, 1995, and firmly established Magalona's legitimacy in the Pinoy rock scene. Tracks such as "Three Stars & A Sun", "Kabataan Para Sa Kinabukasan", "Suckin' on Helium/Kaleidoscope World" would become defining touchpoints in Magalona's body of work. A track titled "Intellectual Property Rights" would sample a speech by then-president Fidel V. Ramos. Intellectual property rights was an issue that would continue to be an important and very personal advocacy for Magalona. "Kaleidoscope World" went on to win 1996 Awit Award for Best Produced Record of the Year, and the 1996 NU 107 Rock Award for Song of the Year. Its music video was directed by the celebrated director/cinematographer Raymond Red
Magalona's next album, Happy Battle, was released in 1996. The launch for the video-game themed album at the Hard Rock Cafe in Makati was noted by the press for its wide range of influences: aside from fans of Magalona's music, he had showbiz fans and coworkers from Eat Bulaga!, where he had already started hosting; and two sets of Sony PlayStations with giant screens set up so people could play video games while watching the gig. The album was also notable for a number of significant collaborations: "Unstrung Heroes" with Ely Buendia; "Sapot" with project band Planet Garapata, which included Raimund Marasigan, Jeng Tan, and Mark Lakay, who would later form Sandwich; and "Make Your Move" with pioneer Filipino punk band Betrayed. In keeping with the nationalistic theme in Magalona's work, 1-800-Ninety-Six was written in celebration of the centennial of the Philippine revolution of 1896. "Rainy" won Best Folk song, and the album itself would become the only album to win Best Rock and Best Rap Album at the Katha Awards. When Magalona was diagnosed with leukemia, he and his wife Pia would use the album name "Happy Battle" as a reference to his fight against cancer.
Later albums with Sony Music
The 1998 album The Oddventures of Mr. Cool saw a move from the last two albums' heavy guitar sound and explored mellow, urban-style rapping. It featured the song "Whole Lotta Lovin'", whose music is a sample of the Eraserheads song "Alapaap".Later albums with BMG would include Interscholastic, which featured adaptations of various artists' songs; and Freeman 2, which would echo many of the themes that had made the first Freeman album so popular. In 2002, his greatest hits album The Best of FrancisM was released by Musiko Records and BMG Records Inc. 2004 in turn saw the release of a single titled "Pambihira Ka".
Independent projects
In 2002, with the assistance of then FUBU Philippines' management employees Carlo Maniquiz and Nick Tuason, Magalona launched a compilation album of the same name.Magalona founded his own record company called Red Egg Records, and a production company, Filipino Pictures Inc., where he served as the resident director. Through his production company, Magalona produced and directed music videos for several bands and solo artists such as Ely Buendia. His work on Sponge Cola's "KLSP" won Best Rock Video at the 2006 MYX Video Awards.
Shortly before his death, Magalona collaborated with Buendia and other Filipino artists on a project titled The Sickos Project. The sessions were later released as In Love and War in 2010 after his death.
Television career
In addition to co-hosting LoveliNess, Magalona was one of the original members of the youth oriented show That's Entertainment in 1987. He was also a co-host of the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!. Magalona coined the word Dabarkads as a nickname for the Eat Bulaga! family i.e. the presenters, production team, and fans. Dabarkads is a of the Tagalog word barkada, which means "group of friends".He was also a VJ for MTV Asia and Channel V Philippines. He was MTV Asia's first Filipino VJ and remained with the network from 1996 to 2000.
He was also known for starring in the second installment of Bagets. In 1997, Magalona played the lead role in the made-for-TV movie Kamada by Raymond Red. The film, a full-length feature shot on 16 mm, received awards from The Philippines Broadcasting Television and Asian TV Awards during the same year.
He was also chosen by Fremantle Media, owners of American Idol as one of the judges of in the first Philippine Idol season that aired on ABC. Magalona and his fellow judges Ryan Cayabyab and Pilita Corrales were not retained when the franchise transferred to GMA Network in 2008 with a different title: Pinoy Idol. Aside from television, he also hosted live events and presentations.
Other endeavors
Magalona was a photographer and submitted pictures to magazines for publication. News reports note that he was overjoyed when he was accepted as a member of the Camera Club of the Philippines, and eventually received critical acclaim for his photographs.Magalona also established a clothing line named FMCC, which stood for "FrancisM Clothing Co." FMCC is sold in stores called "3 Stars & A Sun."
He also started a foundation with Ely Buendia called Heartist Foundation, which aims to help Filipino artists with health and commercial concerns.
Legal issues
In 2001, Magalona was arrested for alleged possession and use of cannabis whilst inside his vehicle in Quezon City; he was later acquitted of all charges in 2004 when no sufficient evidence was found.Personal life
Magalona was introduced by actor Richard Gomez to Pia Arroyo at a party in a disco owned by film director Ishmael Bernal, and the couple married in 1985. The couple had eight children, two of whom were Magalona's stepchildren: Unna, Nicolo, and television personalities Maxene, Frank, Saab, Elmo, Arkin, and Clara who entered showbiz to follow their father's footsteps.On an episode of the YouTube series Pinoy Pawnstars uploaded on October 17, 2023, Abegail Rait, a former flight attendant, claimed to have had a relationship with Magalona and that they have a 15-year-old daughter together.