Thanks to the internet, it's now easy to discover people with talent and skills that will "Wow" the crowd. Singers, Tiktok stars, Youtube vloggers and more! We narrowed down the several Rising Artists we've had on the Monster!
1. Graham Caygill
Graham Caygill is a Filipino-British model/football player residing in the Philippines but he rose to fame for his popular show on his Youtube channel titled "Street Singing Superstar" where he would go to different places around Metro Manila and approach random strangers by giving them the chance to sing on spotlight for a fleeting 15 seconds! The show instantly gained popularity because of Pinoys' love for singing! And we might add Graham's charm as well, he's not just easy on the eyes but he also has such a friendly nature!
It's just the beginning for Graham as his Youtube show is rapidly growing and it's on its second season. The show even featured celebrities like Regine Velasquez, Mimiyuh, Jose Mari Chan and more. Not only is Graham known for "Street Singing Superstar" but the man has the vocal talents too! Although he hasn't released any music or sang on the show himself, he did showcase his singing and songwriting abilities on his Instagram page. There's definitely more to come from Graham so we all better stay tuned for that! And if you happen to walk the streets of Manila, whether in the Metro or the busy areas, who knows you might stumble into Graham and have the chance to be the next Street Singing Superstar!
May 4, 2020 - Live interview of Graham Caygill on The Morning Rush:
2. Keshi
Keshi is no stranger anymore to the world of music as he has been a musician since 2017. Starting out on music sharing website Soundcloud, Keshi started uploading original songs on the platform, even writing, producing and creating the music himself! Now Keshi has been signed under Island Records, alongside famous artists!
Keshi definitely has his hands full as he has been constantly creating music, working with artists and gaining fans along the way. Plus he's also Asia reppin' and has been part of Asian-American collective group 88Rising's online quarantine concert last year (in which our very own Inigo Pascual was also part of the lineup). We can't wait for more of Keshi's mood music to grace our eardrums in the years to come!
May 8, 2020 - Live interview of Keshi on The Daily Survey:
3. Lesha Liton and Miguel Odron
Singer Lesha Liton is literally a bedroom artist making music just from the four corners of her room! She started out by releasing her debut album in 2018 independently and uploading it on Youtube which gained popularity.
Lesha has been involved in music and collaborations, the most recent is the collaboration of South East Asian artists from different parts of Asia for a song titled "Heal" to deliver a strong message during the height of the pandemic. Back in 2017, Lesha and her friend, Leo Malli has also performed in front of Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris, singer Joe Jonas along with his former group DNCE and sang a cover of DNCE's song "Kissing Strangers". Even if Lesha wasn't known yet, she has already been immersing herself in music and music production ever since. Lesha's music has also gone viral when her song "Ciao Bella" was used as a dance challenge for Tiktok. In this day and age, you know you've really made it when you go viral on Tiktok! LOL!
Now, Lesha has been performing on TV5's variety program "Sunday Noontime Live" and still continuing making music as she just recently released a new single titled "Stripped" last December. Lesha is definitely active with her music and we'll definitely be hearing more from her!
We got to know Miguel Odron as one of the Top 5 finalists of Idol Philippines last year and has been making a name for himself since. He had his first headlining concert during the start of 2020 alongside other artists such as JMKO, Sam Mangubat and Jeremy G. His first single "Chevy Cruze" earned a spot on Spotify's New Music Friday playlist in 16 countries. Amazing!
Miguel Odron has been on the Monster twice: once at the RX booth in March 2020 with Young JV, even sharing that that was his first ever radio interview! We're definitely honored to be the first station to have you, Miguel! And the second time during the course of the pandemic with Lesha Liton via digital interview in May 2020, both interviews on All Out! This is just the beginning for Miguel as he has a lot more good music in store for us!
May 18, 2020 - Live interview of Lesha Liton and Miguel Odron on All Out:
4. Violette Wautier
Thai singer/actress Violette Wautier is the ultimate performer! First appearing on The Voice back in 2013, Violette has appeared on several Thai films and tv shows (she even won the Thailand National Film Association Awards for Best Supporting Actress), released some singles and made an album last year. She also went on a tour around her home country in Thailand, December of last year despite the pandemic. That's some dedication!
Violette is focusing more on her music but she did share in her Good Vibes interview about an upcoming film produced by the legendary Wong Kar-Wai in which she just finished shooting for last year. Definitely a lot of things to look forward to for Violette as we'll be seeing her on screen and hearing her on records!
June 18, 2020 - Live interview of Violette Wautier on Good Vibes:
5. Conan Gray
Conan Gray had his humble beginnings on Youtube as a vlogger way back 2013. His videos are mostly daily vlogs, art videos, hauls, how-to's, monthly favorites and cover songs, all in a pastel doodle-like aesthetic edit.
Conan released his first single and EP in 2018 and has been continuously releasing music since then. Conan Gray is already on the road to stardom but his name became more known when his songs "Heather" and "Maniac" became viral Tiktok songs! Conan's artistry really resonates with his songs, thus gaining success for his music. More underground vibe-y songs, may they be upbeat or sad and slow, are hopefully in the works.
Aug. 24, 2020 - Live interview of Conan Gray on All Out:
6. RISE Artists Iñigo Pascual and Zee Avi
Iñigo Pascual has been a household name already due to his multiple film and tv appearances. He also has released several songs under Star Music and was even tapped by Disney to sing the Philippine rendition of "Remember Me" from the movie Coco. He was also part of Asian-American collective group 88Rising's online quarantine concert, being the only Philippine-based musician included in the lineup among other Asian/Half-Asian artists.
Recently, Iñigo has been releasing songs under newly established label Tarsier Records which caters to a much more international audience. Iñigo released an album titled "Options" and a single titled "Catching Feelings" and has collaborated on a song with various artists, locally and internationally, titled "RISE" with Sam Concepcion, Moophs, Vince Nantes, Eric Bellinger and Zee Avi under the same label. There may not be any news yet on when we can see Inigo on the big screen again but we'd definitely hear a lot more from him music-wise!
Zee Avi is a singer hailing from Malaysia who was part of the "RISE" collaboration under Tarsier Records. She has been in the music industry for 10+ years now having released her debut album in 2009. She's also as brilliant as she is talented, having won multiple awards and recognitions. Definitely a multi-awarded star! She also recently released a single titled "Good Things" and now we're just waiting for a new album to drop. Fingers crossed it'll be real soon! But for now, do follow her Tiktok for more of her golden voice and quirkiness.
Oct 14, 2020 - Live interview of RISE Artists Inigo Pascual and Zee Avi on All Out:
7. MAX
MAX is one of our recent chart-toppers having had his song "Blueberry Eyes" featuring SUGA of BTS snag the number 1 spot on the Monster Hit List following his guesting on All Out. He definitely came in full circle!
MAX has been in the industry for a long time as well, co-writing songs for tv shows and even touring with the biggest names in music such as Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa and Hoodie Allen. He also has received some nominations and won awards in the past. MAX is also not just a musician but has acted in a few films and shows! He is definitely an all-around superstar! MAX just released an album last year titled "Color Vision" which featured his hit #1 Monster Hit List song! The future is absolutely looking bright for this artist as we're gonna see a lot more from him!
October 29, 2020 - Live interview of MAX on All Out:
8. Reneé Dominique
This soulful OPM singer had her start on Youtube uploading covers and gained views because of her sweet, soft, melodic voice and beautiful sound of her ukulele and guitar. Reneé is no stranger to the Monster for she has been on the station thrice! She has performed on the Concert Series and guested on Wild x Wicked both at the RX booth back in 2019 and caught up with her again via digital interview last year on All Out!
Reneé also broke records when she did a major collaboration with international singer Jason Mraz and released their song in 2019 titled "Could I Love You Anymore". And Jason Mraz himself actually reached out to Reneé to work on a song with her after hearing her sing on a commercial! All thanks to the wonders of the internet and Reneé's pure amazing talent that led her to this milestone in her life! Both artists delivered, for sure! Reneé also released a single titled "The Rose" and we couldn't wait for her to release more of her songs to keep us feeling calm despite the hardships we're facing. Rooting for you, Reneé!
Nov 4, 2020 - Live interview of Reneé Dominique on All Out:
9. Maximillian
The hit singer behind "Beautiful Scars", Danish singer Maximillian rose to fame by also doing covers on Youtube and Facebook. He first released his song back in 2017 titled "Higher" and has been making music since then. His hit song "Beautiful Scars" garnered the most attention in South East Asia and he couldn't help but feel grateful as he didn't expect his song would go viral on the other side of the world from where he's at.
Maximillian did make the time out of last year by releasing an album titled "Still Alive" and started 2021 with a high note by collaborating with OPM singer (that we all love) Moira Dela Torre on a duet of "Beautiful Scars". Just imagining the fusion of two beautiful voices together in one amazing track is more than enough to make us feel light and calm. Looking forward to more of Maximillian's music in the upcoming years because we 100% need more of him blasting out on our speakers!
Nov. 5, 2020 - Live interview of Maximillian on Wild x Wicked Snacc:
10. Ruby Ibarra
Ruby Ibarra is the epitome of a Filipina woman with the power of music - but her music doesn't come out in the form of melodies and harmonies, it's through flows and wordplay. Ruby Ibarra is a Filipina rapper based in California. The Filipina rapper started showing off her rapping skills on Youtube and was discovered by featuring her on XXL Magazine and Worldstar Hip Hop until she got the attention of DJ Kay Slay in which she gained the nickname "Hip Hop". Even if she's from the Bay Area, Ruby still embraces her Filipina roots. She has also done several shows both here in the Philippines and abroad including the famous music and arts festival on the mountains of Puerto Galera, Malasimbo Festival. She also collaborated with the one and only Nadine Lustre on a track called "No 3 2" released in 2019 under Careless Music.
Ruby Ibarra also showcased how important culture and roots are for her by directing a documentary titled "Nothing On Us: Pinays Rising" which showcased the vision of her music video featuring other artists titled "Us". The documentary shows the resilience and solidarity of Pinay women which makes it the ultimate Filipina anthem.
Her tough style and powerful music is what we need to remind us to be strong. Surely, there's more to come from this Filipina rapper and we know it! Ruby Ibarra works in the science field by day and spits bars by night, saving lives thru science and music.
Nov. 17, 2020 - Live interview of Ruby Ibarra on All Out:
11. Stephanie Poetri
Stephanie Poetri is another South East Asian representation in the world of music, hailing from Jakarta, Indonesia. Stephanie has music in her blood as she is the daughter of Indonesian Pop Diva Titi Dj. She started her first major music work by singing a cover, along with musician duo Goodbye Felicia, titled "Bimbang" for an Indonesian teen film back in 2015. Years later, Stephanie would go on to make her own music. Her career skyrocketed when her hit song "I Love You 3000" became viral on Youtube and Spotify. It started with Stephanie just singing the chorus of the song, that she wrote which references to the famous Tony Stark line on the Avengers: Endgame film and continued on to become a full single. It went famous so fast that she got signed under Asian-American collective group and label 88Rising and released another version of the song titled "I Love You 3000 II" with K-pop group GOT7 member Jackson Wang and was featured on 88Rising's sophomore album "Head In The Clouds II"
Ever since then, Stephanie would go on and focus on her music even releasing 4 singles last year titled "Do You Love Me", "Touch", "Straight To You" and "Selfish"! Well, Stephanie is just the gift that keeps on giving! This is just the beginning for the young artist as there's a lot more to come from her and we're here for it!
Dec. 22, 2020 - Live interview of Stephanie Poetri on All Out:
12. Harry Mack
Harry Mack is the King of Freestyle! If you have been scouring the internet, particularly Youtube or if you're lucky, catching him on Omegle, you'd know how fire this guy is! He first gained fame when his Venice Beach Freestyle became viral and has worked on opportunities alongside Kendrick Lamar, Ellen Degeneres and even got to do a freestyle rap on a commercial! But his virality increased when he started doing freestyle raps for strangers on chatroom website, Omegle! He would go on video chat on the site and ask random strangers to give him 3 random words in which he would spit freestyle bars right then and there which leaves his audience amazed at how talented he is in coming up with dope wordplay.
He also did a segment on his Youtube channel called "Guerilla Bars" with the same concept as his Omegle freestyle rap, but in this one he approaches strangers around town and gives them a fiery hands-down performance!
Harry Mack's cool, sick nature is definitely not coming to an end as we can expect more from this awesome guy!
Nov. 18, 2020 - Live interview of Harry Mack on Good Vibes:
And of course, our interview with Harry Mack wouldn't be complete without a freestyle rap exclusive on the Monster!
13. Kemrie
Kemrie is your average Filipina Tiktoker, doing challenges, dances, dubs and the like on the platform. But what made her stood out is when she posted a video of her on the app singing "Back To December" and people immediately perked their ears up and noticed how she sounded exactly like Taylor Swift!
@kemrie
NO.MORE.CHICKENS. Forever stanning TAYLOOOOOOR. I write songs because of her. #taylorswift
♬ original sound - Kemrie
Since then, people have been requesting for her to sing more Taylor Swift songs and from other artists as well and that's how Kemrie's singing prowess developed into something more. Kemrie released a single under Universal Records last year titled "Impressions" and has been recognized more in the country, having back to back interviews! Kemrie is still active on Tiktok and let's just hope to hear more original songs from her in the future!
Dec. 4, 2020 - Live interview of Kemrie on All Out:
14. Lyn Lapid
Another Tiktok viral sensation with a golden voice, Fil-Am Lyn Lapid's rise to fame is definitely interesting. Starting from posting cover songs on the app, she was immediately applauded by her viewers for having such a sweet, melodic voice. She's also part of Tiktok acapella group EARCANDY who delivers eargasmic songs by talented Tiktokers as well.
@lynlapid
this song is a whole vibe #fyp #STEMLife #FanEdit (song: close to you by carpenters)
♬ original sound - LYN
Her instant gain to fame is a song she wrote titled "Producer Man" that stems from her own personal experience about the music industry. She turned a negative situation upside down by writing a song about it and having said song become her first single, all thanks to the platform and a bad experience! But that bad experience is nothing compared to the good that came out of it.
@lynlapid
u won’t catch me selling my soul to be another Barbie doll pop star controlled by the industry. PERIODT. ##fyp ##musiclives ##foryou
♬ Producer Man - LYN
Lyn Lapid is unapologetically talented as she speaks facts in the form of music, and we're here for that and so do thousands of people supporting her. That is one way to use talent and we can't help but stan!
Dec. 18, 2020 - Live interview of Lyn Lapid on All Out:
We can't wait to see these rising stars rise and truly shine in their own ways and we hope they get the recognitions they deserve for being so talented and skillfull in their respective fields! We also have more rising stars to check out from so head over on our Facebook and Youtube channels to watch previous interviews of local and international artists!