After a successful run in their native Canada, Manila Grey is bringing their No Saints Tour to the United States. The five-city tour starts in New York on June 2nd with stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, before capping off in Seattle on June 23rd. Talk about a dope way to celebrate Filipino Independence Day!

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With the tour approaching in a few days, the Vancouver-based duo has just announced Guapdad4000 as a special guest for their California tour dates (Los Angeles, June 5th at The Roxy & San Francisco, June 9th at The Independent.) For more information about ticket sales, you can check out the tour’s official website.

If you're looking for more Manila Grey Content before the US leg of the tour kicks off, check out this BTS interview with the duo talking about their 2021 track "Island Baby (Maarte)" via Paradise Rising/88 Rising.

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Manila Grey recently announced their United States tour and now the Vancouver-based duo has just dropped a new music video. The black and white visuals accompany their single “No Mercy” from their No Saints On Knight Street project.

The music video, which features the usual Manila Grey themes of fast cars, baddies, and 1z collective crew shots also serves as a promotional piece for their upcoming tour. The cinematic clip includes high-energy footage from their Canadian tour, which will definitely have interested attendees in America excited for their tour leg stateside.

General admission tickets can be bought here and VIP tickets are now sold out. Watch the “No Mercy” music video below.

Cover Photo Courtesy of Manila Grey Instagram

PARADISE RISING'S second compilation EP, Semilucent 2, is out now with a whole new ensemble of artists on the project. With the goal of establishing a presence for Filipino artists in the West and globally through music distribution, music rights management, and artist development, PARADISE RISING has more than lived up to expectations since it was launched in July 2020.

Semilucent 2 is a 5-track EP that provides genre-blending acoustics, memorable melodies and high-energy 808s. In contrast to the dreamy and airy radiance of the songs from the debut project, Semilucent 2 draws inspiration from the darker mood that comes with the ending of summer, and a longing for memories past. The label mentioned that the artists would be both "homegrown and diasporic," so lyrically and sonically, we should be getting a great mix of vibes from this highly anticipated EP. The EP features Manila Grey, daze, Steven Peregrinam, Curtismith with CA Christian Alexander, and Manila Killa featuring Yuna.

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MANILA GREY is featured in this EP with “Island Baby (Maarte).” It brings a new vibe to the compilation project. “In this song, we show love to all the beautiful women in our lives, women who represent the vibrancy and class of our culture, both in our home city Vancouver. Maarte is slang for high maintenance in Filipino, but it actually means artsy. We just wanted to flip that narrative into something fun, while showcasing the art and the grace. All the strong women in our lives have high standards, sometimes you need that energy you know? Like go ahead, it’s all good, feel yourself."

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Also highlighted are hip-hop powerhouse from New York CA Christian Alexander, seasoned rapper and songwriter Curtismith; CA Christian Alexander said he and Curtismith “are excited to be a part of the semilucent 2 EP because we have an opportunity to represent the Philippines on 88rising’s global platform and inspire the next generation of artists to continue to keep pushing Filipino music culture forward.”

Philippine-native singer and instrumentalist Steven Peregrina and up-and-coming female R&B artist daze based out of Amsterdam give the EP a different style. Peregrina's track “All Night” is “all about good vibes, good times, and partying.” He adds, “I'm super excited and ecstatic to be a part of the semilucent 2 EP. I consider this song to be my "TakeOff" and y'all should be ready for me! So, Asia, here I come.” According to daze, his song “Situation” is “about a relationship between two people who are in between love and friendship, or a situationship. Neither really wants to admit how much they like each other, but the tension and passion keeps building until they both can’t deny it any longer. It’s a soulful song with layers and layers of melodies that express desire, connection, and taking a leap of faith,” daze revealed.

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For “Reminisce,” Manila Killa shares that he “started the instrumental track during quarantine when I felt no pressure to create a specific type of music. It was during a time where I felt artistically free - there were no shows coming up and everything was at a standstill so I took the opportunity to try some things out I haven't before. When I found out Yuna was interested in the track I was so excited to work with her as I've been a longtime fan. She totally understood the mood I was going for with the track and turned it from this fun disco demo into something raw, emotional, and reminiscent of better times."

“When I heard Manila Killa's instrumental track, I was at a place in my life where I had to start being creative in a new environment. I was at home with my family, it was so different from what I'm used to. But listening to ‘Reminisce’ just inspired me to write something emotional, about romanticizing the past or a memory that lives in your head forever.”

YUNA ON REMINISCE

88rising founder and CEO Sean Miyashiro took note of the "vibrancy in the way talented young artists are emerging, and such a massive audience in love with music. We want to support their voices, help them be heard, and bring music from the Philippines to a global audience."

Listen now to Semilucent 2 on Spotify and other major streaming platforms. Merchandise is also available.

About Paradise Rising

88rising’s mission of supporting and shining the spotlight on Asian talent around the world takes an exciting step forward with a new label dedicated to musicians from the Philippines. The pioneering media company has teamed up with the Philippines-based mobile provider Globe to launch PARADISE RISING, a localized label dedicated to establishing a presence for Filipino artists in the west and globally.

Source: Forbes

Cover Photo Courtesy of Manila Killa Instagram

Los Angeles' Universal CityWalk Hollywood is an open area plaza for Universal Studios Hollywood. CityWalk LA known for its shops, restaurants, and free shows is a great place to hang out. Different artists have taken the CityWalk stage to perform for fans and casual onlookers. James Reid recently posted that the collab project for Backhouse Ballin' with Fil-Canadian duo Manila Grey is featured on CityWalk. Watch our recent MYX interview with James Reid and Manila Grey below:

From the video, the Backhouse Ballin' music video is playing on the stage's jumbotron. He captions it with "We Out Heeere!" This is a huge step for Filipino artists crossing over globally as our music gains exposure. James and Manila Grey are geographically miles away, but their musical style draws them together.

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More about Backhouse Ballin' Dannieboi has both James and Manila Grey on a MYXclusive. It's the first time we've had these artists together as the call in from different locations.

Although James and Manila Grey formally met in 2019, they've been on each other's music before then. The track is a couple years in the making with Manila Grey recording it in 2018 and James' verse added in 2020. Soliven from Manila Grey said "it's a blessing to do that [release music] again... Feels like we lost a year and we're just now playing catch up." James expresses he's also happy to be part of the project and have it help shake off last year.

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We hope to see more collaborations between Manila Grey and James or even with Careless Music. James explains that Manila Grey is bringing their music to an international stage and took inspiration from that. It's what he also wants to do, help bring Filipino music to the forefront internationally. The natural camaraderie is set to bring more bangers and a new wave of Filipino music.

If you haven't heard Manila Grey's latest mixtape, you have to check it out! As Neeko said, it's not an official album, but the project that caps off the "No Saints" trilogy. No Saints On Knight Street is out now and features P-Lo, James Reid, and azel north. Check out below to see when you can hear Sometimes from the mixtape.

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Cover Photo Credit: Manila Grey Facebook