Its been a minute since my last online interview, but don't worry, I always pick up my slack. Alot has been happening on the otherside of things. We are finishing up on the AMP/Aquariuss launch which will be in Bacolod. Again, a first from any hiphop act in the Philippines. We are still doing our Beyond, Beyond campaign so watch out for that. And on top of that we are about to launch Hotnixx's video and a new Loyalty Feeds The Movement shirt! Now back to the matter at hand, I met Pong Posadas and MHC a couple of gigs before The Community show in 2006. These were cats who are often overlooked. Some people would dismiss them early cause of how raw they sounded back in the day. I would always observe how they'd take this, and to my surprise Pong stands out as the leader where this team gets they're confidence from. Pong reminds me of me in more ways that one, and one thing we both understand is the value of not giving up. The field will level itself and soon MHC will rise to challenges. And they have, we're taking this time to know more about Pong, MHC, Funkworx Pilipinas, they're new single with Jay Flava and his views on different things. This SOULFIESTA Exclusive is brought to you SPECKS and To The Billboard!
MHC - Hey Now (Produced by Pong for Funkworx Pilipinas)
SOULFIESTA: Aiyo Pong, been a minute man, musta? Whats MHC been up to since The New Movement mixtape?
What it do? The mixtape was last 2007, after the mixtape we were busting our asses working on our debut album, getting the logistics right, recording tracks, making mad music. Also in 2008’s Community show, we released the FunkWorx Pilipinas 2008 primer where we gave it away or free during our performance, that was early 2008. But during mid 2008 to 2009 we all got sidetracked by personal priorities so we went under hiatus for almost a 8 months. Recently we all came together again to record new tracks and are now trying to wrap up the tracks for our album. We’re back kids! Haha!
Thats good to hear man! Been waiting for that for awhile now man! Tell me, whats the hardest thing to deal with as a hiphop artist in the Philippines?
There are quite a few if you ask me, let me break it down. First is the lack of support from the Music industry, they don't see Hiphop as a big market. You gotta be “bakya”, you gotta make stupid songs to be heard or get signed to a major label. Secondly the stereotype, that we’re all gangstas, bad-asses or whatever. Filipinos judge books by their cover and the stereotype is killin us, real talk. And lastly all those egos you have to put up with, the fake swaggers, the “superstar” habits, it’s a bit taxing on a brother sometimes. It's not conducive artistically.
Francis M just passed away, where do you think this leaves hiphop artists?
The King left us an indelible mark, he gave us the fire to keep the hiphop flag up and never let it go down. Actually, it was one of the things that made the community come together. Everybody in the scene should take something that they learned from the King and try to use it to improve their music or whatever they’re doing.
If you were to educate FIL AMs of home grown music, what 5 songs will you use to enlighten them?
Francis M – 3 Stars and A Sun
Nimbus Nine – Manila Boys
Oblaxz – Ang Gusto Ko
MastaPlann – Fix Da World Up
God’s Will feat. Lowdown, Likwid and Nyko Maca – Bagong Yugto
What made you want to do hiphop music?
I was really into poetry and music at a young age, started writing poems at around 11years old. Also, I was playing the piano since I was a kid, so it was an easy transition into writing raps and making music. Everything started when a friend’s brother lent me a copy of 2pac’s “All Eyez On Me” album. From then on, I was sucked into Hiphop because of the realness of the music, the exposition of reality with the power of words and head-bobbing beats. Then a homeboy of mine, Gauch, introduced me to local hiphop music. From then on, I delved into the local hiphop scene by buying my first ever local hiphop album which was Ghetto Doggs “Born To Kill The Devil”, I collected albums from way back, from BB Clan, Legit Misfits, SVC, IPK, Oblaxz etc. And after a while, I realized that I can do what the people I’m listening to was doing, so I started writing raps, performing it to my friends and then we’d record it over old tapes on an old school radio, we’d freestyle on our tambayan in school, we’d perform on school events doing hiphop. I think that we were the first ones to ever perform as a hiphop group in Lourdes School of Mandaluyong, which was then a rock dominated school music scene. Then after a while, me and my homeboys decided that we should formalize what we do by forming a group ourselves, that was the time me and my homeboys Gauch and Miko G formed MHC then after a while, our homeboy Krayzie-V jumped in, the rest is history.
I started out as a hardcore fan. You can say that I am a student of the game.
MHC feat. Jay Flava - Questions (Produced by Krayzie-V & Pong for Funkworx Pilipinas)
You were part of the pioneering batch of The Community performers, could you share your experience of the first ever Community event? What makes it so special to you?
Man that was a rush! Haha! We were young as hell back in those days. That was the time when we were starting to break into the scene. I remembered bugging Bong to put us up on the performer’s list, coz that time we were so hungry like caged animals! Haha. On a serious note, it was a privilege for us that we were part of the pioneering performers of the community. It gave us a venue to present what we have and it also affirmed the fact we are now part of the local hiphop scene. MHC was born in 1999 when we were still high school kids, performing on small events and clubs, then having performed in the community in 2006 was like a baptism or an affirmation that we are indeed part of the scene after so many years of being underground. It opened our eyes a lot and gave us the hunger to do what we have to do as musicians.
Francis M told me "Radio is killing OPM", whats your take on it?
This one’s pretty true. Radio is feeding the masses with songs that are not thought-provoking. I’m not against the Lito Camo’s or whoever/whatever makes those kinds of music, that’s how they feed their families, can’t knock their hustle, but the music that their playing doesn’t give people chances to think or to question things around them. It lacks imagination and creativity. It’s just sad that the rule to get local airplay is “The dumber, the better.”
What about electronica music attracts you to it?
The freedom, electronica g ives you the opportunity to experiment on the arrangements, instrumentations etc. It’s a musicians dream to have all those freedom. Coz in making beats for hiphop you're a bit bounded with regards to the arrangements and beats. As a producer you still have to think about the MC, if he can spit on your instrumentals. You don't wanna overpower or suddenly turn shit up on an instrumental that would fuck up the vocal performance. In electronica, the Producer is the main man. You get to do what you want whenever you want.
If you were to be granted one wish to work with any artist in the world, who would it be? Why?
Of course The King himself Mr. Francis Magalona. I really admire his ideas and views regarding music. How he diversifies by fusing different genres. HE IS A GENIUS.
For you Pong, whats the difference between and MC and a rapper?
This one's a bit subjective, but I guess for me an MC speaks the truth, and gracefully lays it on a well thought out rhyme scheme, while a rapper just spits and is not mindful of the art and science behind what he does.
Do you think hiphop in the Philippines really need the UNITY we all promote or is it time for us to be competitive?
Of course unity is evidently what we need in our scene. But eventually it’ll all boil down to what you can offer to the scene. Yes we need unity, let unity be the fire that will feed everyone to have a healthy competition; like brothers competing for something. Unity and competitiveness should come hand in hand. We all start out united, then we have a healthy competition.
After all these years, why hasn't MHC made a video yet?
Actually there were plans last 2008, we were preparing for our debut album and the video was one of the things that was lined up for the single of the album. But then you know what independent artists experience, lack of funds, resources, lack of time, that’s why it didn’t materialize. But hopefully soon as we wrap up tracks for our album, we’ll definitely be coming out with one.
Why is it important for you to make music and rock a stage?
It is important coz it is my life. Music made me who I am today. Music and performing taught me to grow balls to face whatever it is I'm dealing with in my life. Also the one thing that is very important is that you can affect a whole lot people with your music. Reaching out to people you don’t know and getting something stuck in their head is the essence of being a performer and a musician.
This has been an ongoing topic on my blog man, what should MCS invest on?
Knowledge. Read, read read. It makes you think. Materially, invest on a computer, a sound card and a good mic. It’ll allow you to record your ideas on the fly and when you get the beats, you can lay it down with what you have. And since if you’re a hiphop MC in the Philippines, most probably you’re not signed to a major label, so this means GO INDIE! Haha!
Thank you for your time Pong, more music to come please, anything else you want our readers to know and look out for?
Yess.. Mellifluous Hiphop Crew is back from the grave! Please do watch out for Funkworx Pilipinas’ releases this 2009, one of them will be our debut album, also we’re in the process of putting out the second installment of “The New Movement MIXTAPE”. We’ll keep you all posted. Oh and please check out my summer track “Summer Lovin”! Maraming salamat.
MHC's MYPSACE SITE
PONG's MULTIPLY SITE
KRAYZIE-V's MULTIPLY SITE
DOWNLOAD SUMMER LOVIN' HERE
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