Fil-Ams made their mark in the underground with legendary DJs like the Piklz’ Q-Bert and mixed-blood (Filipino and German) Mix Master Mike, who’ve been on the grid since the ’80s. With the emergence of more high-profile music-biz players such as Chad Hugo (Grammy Award–winning producer and one half of the Neptunes), Apl.de.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas, and rappers like Roscoe Umali and 7S, they have entered the mainstream. Hip-hop helped put Filipino-American culture on the radar
Throngs of Filipino kids line up outside the big venues on Hollywood Boulevard, where three predominantly Fil-Am clubs are happening simultaneously on any given weekend night.
Always in the cut, or at least haunting the periphery, Gee Cee is lurking on the sidewalk in front of Cinespace at Hollywood and Ivar on a recent Thursday at 10 p.m. He looks a little better than he did last week around the corner at Forbidden City. The Fil-Am crowd there is a little older than the one at Cinespace. Promoter OZ from the original Legend Entertainment and Greg Ramos from Caged Monkeyz have managed to attract a good crowd for a while now. Tonight at Cinespace, they’re getting a little Ibizan rave circa ’98, with a company called Foamalicious sudsing up the back patio.
Fil-Am hip-hop. It’s become an integral part of a multiethnic experience uprise gave birth to the original scene has integrated into a broader landscape, and it’s eating Hollywood Boulevard alive.