Filipino rapper Francis Magalona passes away

Filipino rapper Francis Magalona died at 12 noon on March 6 from complications associated with leukemia. He was 44. 

Magalona, also known as FrancisM, succumbed to multiple organ failure a day after he was rushed to the Medical City in Pasig City. 

The acclaimed musician was diagnosed with leukemia in August last year and had gone through several chemotherapy sessions. He was set to undergo bone marrow transplant but was too weak to fight the infection. 

A sibling of nine brothers and sisters, Magalona was the son of late Philippine movie screen legends Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. The late Senator Enrique Magalona was his grandfather. 

Starting out as a breakdancer in the early 1980s, he followed in his parents’ footsteps and ventured out into acting, appearing in several Filipino movies. 

He branched out to emceeing and released the groundbreaking album Yo! in 1990 garnering the nationalistic hit Mga Kababayan (My Countrymen), making Yo! the first commercially released Pinoy rap album in the Philippines. 

While rapping politically conscious and thought-provoking rhymes in both English and Tagalog, the album was a big success and instantly helped catapult Filipino hip hop from underground to mainstream status, also marking the birth of Makabayang or Nationalistic rap in Filipino hip hop. 

In 1992, Magalona released Rap Is FrancisM , which was highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy Rap albums. 

He was the recipient of the coveted MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards Generations Award in 2006 “in recognition of his career that has spanned decades and broken boundaries, and for his music which continues to inspire generations of artists and music fans both here and abroad.” He is the second honoree, the first having been singer Gary Valenciano at the 2005 rites. 

Magalona is survived by his wife Pia, and children Maxene, Saab, Unna, Nicolo, Francis Jr., Elmo, Arkin, and Clara.