Five Filipino Female Artists That You Should Know
Hello to you all! I hope everyone’s day is going swell despite the pandemic we can’t seem to stop thinking about - although it’s hard to think of much else while self-quarantine. In order to pass some time, here’s more daily content for you lovely individuals! I should probably introduce myself, so, my name is Jean! I’m Overachiever Magazine’s Design Editor, a boba and coffee connoisseur, and just for today, I’ll be sharing music recommendations for you all. However, every Monday (starting next week) I’ll be releasing a new column with more music recs! To start off music recommendations for this week, here are Five Filipino Asian Women Artists That You Should Know (in no particular order because we love equality and they’re all amazing Asian Women!)
H.E.R.
H.E.R. is a half Filipino, half African-American singer-songwriter who kept her identity relatively hidden for the earlier parts of her career. H.E.R., an acronym short for "having everything revealed," sort of presents an irony since her identity was revealed later on in her career. H.E.R's real name is Gabriella Wilson, in which everyone found out after she released not one, but two albums, H.E.R Volume 1 and H.E.R Volume 2, respectively. During this time of her identity being under the radar, she got people wondering "Who is she?", "Why isn't she showing her face?" but in the end, we loved H.E.R. for her music. To this day H.E.R keeps a low profile, allowing listeners to focus exclusively on her music. She continues to rock a variety of sunglasses when she's performing. The style of her music follows contemporary R&B with her intention of revealing her emotions, her stories, and who she is in her songs. She's received many nods (and wins!) in the Grammy Awards with the Best R&B Album as a win in her books.
beabadoobee
Real name Bea Kristi, stage name beabadoobee. beabadoobee was born in the Philippines and raised in London. Her indie, folk, and grunge aesthetic and genre, connects with many Gen Zers. The singer-songwriter creates songs with an airy, celestial bedroom-y acoustic feel, and hearing the lyrics to the songs, can make one relate… pretty fast (*raises hand*). One example is her first song, Coffee, a mellow love song that attracted many listeners online. beabadoobee continues to draw listeners to her music by having an indie-folk, lo-fi style that can resonate with anyone. She grew up listening to OPMs (Original Pinoy Music) and ‘80s pop/rock growing up, and indie rock in her teens, which leads to these elements in her music.
Jess Connelly
Jess Connelly is an Australian-Filipina R&B and soul artist. Her music is a combination of smooth vocals and a sultry bassline presenting a nostalgic lens on her music that shouldn’t be ignored (the hi-hats in her songs are amazing, sorry, I can’t say no to a good bassline and hi-hat combo).Connelly first pursued a career in the music industry as an artista when she was young. An artista is a Filipino star who is talented in all sectors of entertainment, ranging from singing to dancing. However, this did not suit Connelly, so she left this path. Soon afterwards, she released one song on Soundcloud, which drew the attention of many listeners around the world. From her one song on SoundCloud, Connelly became an artist that people should be paying attention to. In 2018 she released her mixtape, “JCon,”a highly anticipated mixtape involving electronic beats and tones alluding to a “let’s just chill at home” vibe. Connelly admits to still finding her sound and emphasizes the importance of it. However, from the work she has created so far, makes her a talent from Southeast Asia that we should all know of.
Marylou Villegas
Marylou Villegas is a Canadian-Filipino singer-songwriter. Villegas started singing when she was at a young age, and over time she's gained popularity on YouTube for her videos on doing covers of songs. In 2018, Villegas released her first EP, Voice Memos, that is available on majority streaming services.
Ruby Ibarra
Ruby Ibarra is a Filipino-American rapper who expresses herself in her music. Through her hardworking efforts and determination, she successfully built her name in the music industry. Ibarra’s music ranges from personal experiences such as adapting to her family’s new life in America, to representing the misrepresented and to addressing the Filipino identity and culture to be predominantly patriarchal causing women’s voices to be pushed to the side. Ibarra utilizes her lyrics to address these issues, becoming a first-generation Filipina whose voice should be heard. Through her music, it emphasizes how much Ibarra wishes for her music to represent her truest self. Thus, she hopes to inspire others to do what they wish to do in their lives as well.
Well, that concludes music reccomendations! If you have any reccomendations of your own, send them our way! You can send them to our Instagram (@overachievermagazine) or our Twitter (@overachieverM).
Thank you all for taking time out of your day to read this, and getting to deal with me talking (*finger snaps*). I hope that you like these types of posts, and that you’ll continue to tune in to future posts (because remember, each day is a different topic!) Take care, all the best!
