Pinays in Hip Hop Leading Us Into the New Wave
In general, Hip-hop has had a huge influence on Filipino American culture. We’ve fully embraced DJ culture and were the front runners of the early days of the mobile DJ crew scene. The battle scratch scene was dominated by Filipinos like the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, who recently performed at the 2023 Outside Lands, represents the real Hip-Hop. Other Filipinos like Bay-area hero P-Lo has topped the charts and consistently represents the next-gen rappers post-hyphy. While countless Filipino dancers have filled the ranks of underground dance crews, or have gone on to become influential choreographers.
But, when we think of Bay Area Filipinos in Hip Hop, you may not think about the Pinays who made their mark on Hip Hop culture.
During this past UNDISCOVERED SF Block Party on August 19th, we wanted to highlight Rocky Rivera, an incredible Pinay representing the Bay Area in Hip Hop. Rocky is an example of Filipino Hip Hop who is bridging the old school with this new school generation in Filipino Hip Hop.
Rocky Rivera
Rocky Rivera pictured with DJ Roza
“Rocky’s music is a journey into the spirit of resistance, blending social justice, feminism and West Coast-style hip hop into thought-provoking anthems with timeless appeal.” -RockyRivera.com
Rocky Rivera has been influential in putting Pinays on the map. She has empowered our community in a way that makes us want to do better.
Throughout her career, Rocky has been a community organizer and activist through her work with League of Filipino Students at SFSU, Filipino Community Center of the Excelsior, and Oakland Kids First. As an emcee with Beatrock Music, her love for the community and thirst for justice permeates through each bar, creating a unique militant feminist and socially conscious sound. Through her hard hitting lyricism, her under the nose wit, and flows that mirrors her nostalgic beats, Rocky Rivera tells stories about the highs and lows of Filipino culture, being especially critical about how people with marginalized genders are treated poorly yet are so integral to our community.
Before pursuing music full time, Rocky Rivera was a journalist and editor at Rolling Stone and currently she released her first book, Snakeskin. In Snakeskin, Rocky reminisces on what it took to become the artist she is today. She also includes lyrics from her songs to invite readers and fans to read deeper into her songs, and really connect with what she created.
Check out Rocky’s most recent interview with pioneer Dregs One as they talk more about Filipinas in HipHop.
She is currently a KQED Journalist amongst being an emcee, author, activist, mother, wife, etc. and all her creative professions, contributing to the everchanging landscape of Arts & Culture within the Bay Area.
List of Rocky Rivera KQED Articles:
ROCKY RIVERA
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EMCEE
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Community organizer
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Journalist
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ROCKY RIVERA 〰️ EMCEE 〰️ Community organizer 〰️ Journalist 〰️
In a short interview with Tianna Mae Andresen and Tofu Estolas, Rocky reflects on her time at Undiscovered and what she hopes for the future of Hip Hop:
Transcription:
My first question is introduce yourself. What do you do?
I'm Rocky Rivera, journalist, emcee, author, so excited to be headlining UNDISCOVERED for the first time. I was here a couple years back before the pandemic, but we're at a new home now. So that's super exciting.
Why UNDISCOVERED?
I mean, I feel like Filipinos have been in hip hop forever. And people are just now discovering our roots and our lineage and our culture and want to incorporate it within a Black art form. And I think it's really important for us as Filipinos to see other people that have similar oppression, similar conditions as us, you know, similar similar colonization, and that we really show solidarity not just to the music itself, but to the culture.
What do you hope to see in the future of hip hop?
I don't know. I hope it surprises me. I hope it stays critical. I hope it stays a voice for the voiceless. And I don't want it to be mainstream. I don't want it to represent corporate interests. And unfortunately, it has. So for the future of hip hop, I want it to just continue and thrive and really come from the places that it actually represents. So that's what I want for hip hop.
Rocky Rivera is just one of many Pinays who have made their mark on Bay Area Hip Hop.
Check out the dope Pinays who will perform at UNDISCOVERED SF next:
The Wave
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Pinays in Hip Hop
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Upcoming performers
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The Wave ☆ Pinays in Hip Hop ☆ Upcoming performers ☆
RUBY IBARRA
Ruby Ibarra Performing at UNDISCOVERED Season 2 in 2018.
There is no doubt that when you think of Pinays in Hip Hop, you think of the ever-evolving Ruby Ibarra. Her militant multilingual rap style is equally empowering and a stark reminder that there is so much to be done to uplift and liberate our communities from hardships and oppressions. Her realness approach to the Filipino first gen experience speaks to the next generation and bridges gaps between our elders and our youth.
Ruby Ibarra is a rapper, director, and spoken word artist from the Bay Area, CA who released her debut album, CIRCA91, at the end of 2017 and has since toured across the United States and the Philippines, including universities, empowerment conferences, music venues, and spaces such as - the National Mall in DC, the Getty Center, and the De Young Museum. Ruby has been featured on notable publications such as NPR, Huffington Post, Paper Mag, Buzzfeed, XXL Magazine, NY Times, LA Times, SF Chronicle, and in a Grammys/MasterCard TV commercial and billboard campaign with R&B singer SZA. In 2018, Ruby co-founded the Pinays Rising Scholarship program.
In 2022, Ruby was featured in additional billboard campaigns by Amazon Music and Spotify, and is currently a songwriter for the FOX Network’s hit TV show, The Cleaning Lady. Ruby’s music is available on all digital platforms and can be heard in several museum exhibits, films, and television features.
Check out a video from UNDISCOVERED X where Ruby Ibarra talks more about bridging the gap in the Filipino American community.
DJ NOODLES
DJ NOODLES has quickly become a well known Bay Area Pinay legend and we are excited to have her at our final UNDISCOVERED SF Block Party of the season!
Micah was born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay’s Hayward, CA. From a large Filipino family, she recalls the pressures that many Asian American kids face: a family that demanded success. Venturing into the local scene, she was captivated. “As I was discovering clubs, I was so fascinated with how DJs controlled the vibe of the entire room. That’s when I realized, ‘Since my Pops DJs, I should ask him to teach me properly how to do it.’” Micah’s father, a former resident mixer, gladly taught his teenage daughter to mix, scratch, and beat-count. She saved up and applied these analog techniques to emerging digital technology.
Branding herself NOODLES, Micah gained on-the-spot experience by playing clubs and events around the Bay. Music manager David Ali began helping NOODLES book gigs during her time earning a bachelor’s degree at San Francisco's Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Two years later, David Ali contacted NOODLES with an idea, introducing her to Kehlani on the same call. Upon the release of 2014 mixtape Cloud 19, the emerging teenage R&B singer needed a DJ for her first tour. “It was a year of us figuring it out, struggling together.” It also forged a strong bond that went beyond the stage. The two have performed together ever since.
Micah’s intersection of interests is apparent in her authentic online brand. This includes the popular Send Noodz merchandise line, carefully curated social media, graphic design, her viral Soundcloud mixes, and classic DJ edits. As a solo act, she’s played festivals, including Bumbershoot, Fvded In The Park, Camp Flog Gnaw, Sol Blume, Wireless, Soulection Experience, Something In The Water, DirtyBird Campout, Okeechobee festival, and many more. NOODLES has also completed a headlining tour called “SAYONARA” which consisted of 16 shows across the United States, selling hard tickets, merch, and meet & greet passes.
In October 2021 Skrillex asked NOODLES to open up for his rare headline show at the Avant Gardner music venue in Brooklyn, New York. From there she has been getting acknowledged by many big electronic acts. Her stylish and versatile range in music stemming from Hip-Hop, R&B, and electronic sets have also led to residencies at 1OAK and Jewel Nightclub on the Las Vegas strip. It’s an expanding career that never stops evolving.
Whether performing top festivals, rocking Vegas night club residencies, or priming the stage for major tours with Kehlani, NOODLES reaches millions of fans, and hopes she inspires others to go against the grain. For the last decade, she built a brand that curates the cool—in music, fashion, and spirit. The audience always responds to this authentic and positive energy. NOODLES continues to raise the levels, setting an example for others like her while setting the soundtrack to the party.
Amihan
Amihan is an emcee, vocalist, self-taught musician and producer born and raised in the Mission, SOMA and Excelsior districts of San Francisco. She creates hip hop & rnb music. Her unique sound incorporates live instrumentation with influences of neo-soul and jazz melodies over boom bap drums and hyphy 808s.
As an independent and self-managed artist, she dedicates her music and live performances to raising awareness of issues impacting Filipinos both in the Bay Area and in the homeland, while also fundraising donations for those communities. Amihans’ lyrics speak to themes of gentrification, past and present histories of colonization, as well as legacies of resistance. Amihan is currently in the process of completing her debut album--written and produced by herself in its entirety--set to be released later this year.
During her time as a Balay Kreative Growth Recipient, she produced "For My Ancestors", an album of 8-10 tracks long including elements of hip hop, r&b, traditional Filipinx instruments, as well as spoken word, written by Redondiez, and produced in collaboration with community-based artists.
Both her music and her work with Anakbayan Davis--a youth and student organization fighting for the liberation of our people in the homeland and the diaspora--she has connected our local struggles for social justice to the movement for national sovereignty in the Philippines.
djwavybb
djwavybb will be rocking with us at our UNDISCOVERED SF Afterparty!
djwavybb is Filipina American open format DJ who can't help but sing and dance while she DJs. Driven by her love for different genres of music, she loves playing R&B, Hip Hop and Pop but Electronic Music makes her happiest. In the past, she's opened up for artists such as Esta, Complexion, Snakehips, Sam Gelliatry and spun in cities such as LA, Orange County, Seattle, New York, Chicago and the Bay Area. One of her biggest motivations for DJing is to encourage other women to pursue their creative passions. Her ultimate goal is to make people feel something and take them on a journey.
Celebrate the Pinays who have performed at UNDISCOVERED:
Leaders of the New School
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tHrOwBaKz
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Leaders of the New School ☆ tHrOwBaKz ☆
DJ CELSKIII
Celskiii started learning how to DJ in 1997. She was heavily influenced by the late 1990s SF Beat Lounge Deco DJs, including Derrick D, Swiftrock, Vinroc, Shortkut, D-Styles, Qbert & MixMasterMike. In 2003, she co-founded Skratchpad as an ode to Deco's Beat Lounge, established in SF, spreading to different chapters across the country, helping to form DJ communities and crews in different cities.
Right after graduating from SFSU, Celskiii DJ'd for KRS-ONE, learned how to DJ for an emcee, saw a UFO, learned about metaphysics, etc. When she got back from tour, she was put down as a DJ for the Bay Area based & world renown B-boy crew, Rock Force Crew in 2005. A few years later, she competed in the USA DMC Team competition w/ Deeandroid in 2009, as the first all female-USA crew to enter. In 2010, she formed a band, La Femme Deadly Venoms (with Lady Fingaz, Deeandroid, & KatO1O), and they released a self-titled album in 2013. Celskiii attributes Hip Hop as a powerful and transformative culture, allowing her to live creatively, being a lifelong student of Hip Hop. Today, Skratchpad celebrates its 20th year with chapters in Las Vegas and Sacramento.
Check out DJ CELSKIII’s soundcloud!
DJ LEX
DJ Lex was a headliner for our September 16th UNDISCOVERED SF Block Party! Check out her Soundcloud to listen to her beats.
“Born in Hayward, CA and raised in Sacramento, CA, Lex began her DJ career at the peak of the COVID pandemic. At a time when live performances and live entertainment were at a standstill, Lex found the perfect moment to showcase herself on social media. As a result of her DJ mixes and mashups, she now has over +600k followers on TikTok and over 180k followers on Instagram.
Currently in her third year of DJing, she has played on radio stations, at nightclubs, corporate events, and festivals. With years of experience performing at gigs around the United States, she has developed the ability to adapt her sound and set to a variety of crowds. Now pivoting to selective gigs, she is focusing on her branding and influence on social media. She is currently active in working with artists and brands on content collaborations. Although she has established herself as a DJ, she is using it as a stepping stone to other avenues as an influencer and artist.”
JAEYA BAYANI
Courtesy of Jaeya Bayani
Recently performing at Pistahan, Jaeya has caught the eyes of Hip Hop lovers across the Bay. In her recent performance, she shared a verse paying homage to other women in Hip Hop. Not only is Jaeya an emcee and popper, she also is a student of Hip Hop studies. Jaeya be performed at the September UNDISCOVERED SF Block Party!
”Jaeya Bayani, p.k.a. Jaeya is a 21 year-old, Filipinx Bay Area native. She is a singer-songwriter, dancer, and emcee who is heavily influenced by her childhood: being raised as a guest to the Bay Area Hip-Hop community, developing a niche for thought-provoking lyrics inspired by other Filipinx emcees, and continuing her training as a lifelong vocalist. Ever since she was a baby, she's had a knack for memorizing lyrics from artists like Alicia Keys and Ruben Studdard. Her musical style encapsulates her passion for R&B, funk, jazz, soul, and underground, militant rap.
Jaeya's foremost inspirations in Hip-Hop are Filipina emcees and spoken word artists, i.e. Ruby Ibarra, Klassy, Faith Santilla, and Rocky Rivera. She's equally influenced by the sounds of Bambu, Geologic, G Yamazawa, and the Hieroglyphics. Although her ultimate aspiration is to follow a law career in the music industry and serve underrepresented artists, music for the sake of making music is, and will always be Jaeya's primary passion. Her core belief is in uplifting and collaborating with fellow BIPOC creatives in all of her endeavors, which is fueled by her love for community and for her ancestors. To reference the definition of ‘Bayani,’ Jaeya aims to be a ‘warrior’ for her people---who, to her, are the real ‘hero(es).’"
DJ BITESIZE
Hailing from the vibrant Bay Area, DJ Bitesize is a musical connoisseur who knows no boundaries when it comes to setting the dance floor on fire. DJ Bitesize will be performing at the September UNDISCOVERED SF Block Party! Check out her Soundcloud to get a sneak peek at what you might here.
With a penchant for mixing beats that span across genres like hip hop, rnb, reggae, dancehall, opm and more, DJ Bitesize's sets are a sonic journey that keeps the crowd grooving all night long.
Sharing the stage with music legends like Usher, A-Trak, Miles Medina, J. Espinosa, Noodz, Eric Bellinger, Suga-T, Celskiii, Rocky Rivera, Bambu, and Ruby Ibarra. DJ Bitesize has been fortunate enough to even open up for events such as NAMM, Red Bull Threestyle and Nike.
Rocking the turntables in cities across the United States, spreading the love for music to every corner. DJ Bitesize is not just a DJ; she’s a music curator, a party igniter, and a true aficionado of sound. Catch her spinning live, and you'll understand why her selections and mixes are irresistible and her energy infectious. The future holds even more cities and beats for DJ Bitesize to conquer, so follow her on social media to stay in touch!
Ladies 1st DJ Club
Ladies 1st DJ Club (Bay Area) is a family & community of women and gender expansive individuals who have the love & passion for music and DJing. Members jazz.fm, Charl3y Beats, DJ Nessrock, Jen Uy, and BBCarolz performed at our Afterparty!
Ladies 1st DJ Clubs’ main objective is to align, grow, evolve, and empower our womxn community through DJ education, through equity, and through sisterhood. They believe in building bridges, and in building our Ladies 1st DJ Club family. They believe that being diverse allows us to understand different views and to improve different vantage points. Through sisterhood, they are present for each other & our community. Their music is an eclectic influence of world sound inspired by r&b, hip hop, flips, edits, & instrumental beats. They are here as iconoclasts and to change the climate.
Besides performers at UNDISCOVERED SF Block Parties, here are other Pinays who deserve time in the spotlight:
Leaders of the new school
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Pinays in Hip Hop
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Leaders of the new school ☆ Pinays in Hip Hop ☆
ALLISON HUEMAN
Allison Hueman is a multidisciplinary artist who has decorated the city with her stunning murals and dreamy art style. As a graffiti artist and muralist, Allison has created large scale pieces that reflect the deepest parts of being human. Her signature style “etherealism” or ethereal realism has adorned the homes of various celebrities like Usher, Ava Duvernay and Swizz Beats and has landed her collaborations with brands like Nike, Sony Music, and Google.
“I'm so proud to be filipino american and from a culture that is really rich in creativity. For other filipino american artists out there, go for what you want but never forget where you came from”
-Allison Hueman during an interview about her women’s empowerment jersey design for the Golden State Warriors.
Check out a recent podcast with Allison Hueman where she talks about her craft!
BETTINA FRANCISCO
Bettina Francisco is a Filipina musician, creative, and emcee based out of San Francisco, California. Her work has a focus on mental health, healing, and leaving space in your soul to really feel. Rapping with a soft power to chill reflective beats, Bettina Francisco chronicles the feelings of loss, love, and starting over in her album 2 Feed the Soul. She also had a recent feature on Bambu’s Diddybop ii where she talks about how the systemic violence and the pandemic had a human cost. She urges listeners to think critically about their role in changing the systems that we live in, which are the ones who harm the most vulnerable.
Currently Bettina also makes hand curated tea bags and has continued to create magazines sharing her wisdom for all those who are willing to open their hearts and listen.
Check out Bettina Franciscos zine with Balay Kreative where she goes deeper into her album and all the songs that helped her.
The Wave
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UNDISCOVERED SF
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October 21
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The Wave ☆ UNDISCOVERED SF ☆ October 21 ☆
To celebrate Hip Hop and Filipino-American culture, and uplift the many identities that are often pushed into the margins of the mainstream, we have a whole lineup of performers who will be on the UNDISCOVERED SF stage for the next three months. Join us for our upcoming UNDISCOVERED SF Block Parties to find out who else will be gracing the stage.
KQED has also published a series of works centering women in Hip Hop which we encourage our audience to learn from! Let’s celebrate the achievements and contributions of the many ladies of Hip Hop together.
Watch: How Women Shaped Bay Area Hip-Hop With D-Ray, Dime and CMG
Women Pioneers of Bay Area Hip-Hop Built a Sisterhood in the ’90s