If this song sounds familiar to you, well most likely we were born and raised on the same genre. It's a cut from the song "Girl Be Mine" out of the album Happy Battle by the late great Sir Francis Magalona. Tomorrow, April 15, 2009 will be the 40th day since the Master Rapper passed away due to leaukemia complications on March 7, 2009. It has been a tradition for Filipino Catholics to observe the 40th day since a relative passed away because of the belief that it is the time that the spirit of the person will enter the heavens. As my ode to the icon of my generation, I come up with this blog entry.
Many has been said and told about the Master Rapper. He is the one responsible for putting the Pilipinas on the map of the Rap Game. In his concerts, he bolstered iconic fashion styles from the Aguinaldo hairstyle, the sarong and malong trousers, and sporting a blazer made by the Ifugao. Truly a proud Filipino artist.
After his demise, accolades came in left and right. On December, he will be given his eternal place on the Philippines' version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, this time it will be in placed on the walkways of Eastwood City in Libis. GMA gave him the Presidential Medal of Merit for promoting Nationalism and Patriotism through music and arts. Another one is the proposition of elevating him to the ranks of Maestro Lucio San Pedro, Botong Francisco, Cecil Licad, and Fernando Poe Jr. as National Artist for Music and Arts by the National Commission for the Culture and Arts. But for him to be elevated he must pass the screenings and must observe the three-year rule.
I don't know Kiko personally but my younger days were influenced by his socially-relevant songs such as "Mga Kababayan Ko", "Mga Praning", "Nilamon ng Sistema", and "Three Stars and a Sun". His melodious rendition of "Cold Summer Nights", Girl Be Mine, and the ultrafamous "Kaleidoscope World". Most of the songs in my cellphone are Kiko's MP3 songs.
As a personal honor to his legacy, since September 2008, I have been acquiring Three Stars and a Sun Shirts, created and designed by the Master Rapper himself. I already have in my possession the famous Pride white, the rare Filipino Since Birth white and silver, the black Mic Gold Bling, the bold red I REP Pinas, the rare Black Defender, and his last designed, posthumously released Black One Love. I will continue to buy FMCC shirts in support to his cause of promoting patriotism.
Seeing him fighting for his borrowed time is as painful as with what I have experienced with the passing of my tatay and nanay in 2002. That's when I realized that death is insurmountable, immeasureable, and inevitable.And as the Master Rapper has returned to His master, we can only say that he has lived a short but very meaningful life. Life is really less ordinary, and in our hands lies the true meaning of our journey.
And to the Master Rapper, the Icon of my genre, the epitome of a Filipino...You have fought a Happy Battle and we will continue fighting for our Race.
Mabuhay ka Francis Durango Magalona (1964-2009)
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