GRAMMY recognized artists Guapdad 4000 & !llmind are 2 of the most recognized artists in hip hop today working with artists like Kanye, Jay-Z, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Chance the Rapper & Wiz Khalifa to name a few. They have teamed up for a classic album called "1176," as an ode to Guap's Oakland address growing up. The album includes creative storytelling over dope beats about being raised by his Filipino Lola (grandma), going to church, his mom, teenage experiences, finding self love & more in the Bay Area.
Watch the interview above with DJ Marlino where they discuss !llmind's musician's father's advice, Jollibee, colorism, the Bay Area, Guapsilog & who would win an adobo cook off with Kuya P-Lo. The next 2 singles, "She Wanna" 3/10 & "Chicken Adobo" 3/19 will amplify Filipino culture, values & food to the mainstream world stage in the next few weeks, with the support of 120M+ Filipinos worldwide who have been a staple to helping launch social media platforms & music internationally.
The Philippines is the #4 country in 2020 who helped K-Pop trend on Twitter worldwide & is considered a trigger country for all record labels trying to launch their artist internationally. With more awareness of the culture's impact to global trends, you’ll see a rise in Fil talent as the community shifts that to support their own.
The next 2 singles, "She Wanna" 3/10 & "Chicken Adobo" 3/19 are about to amplify Filipino culture, values & food to the mainstream world stage in the next few weeks. The QuickMYX on Wave 89.1FM will launch soon Saturdays at 9P PHT.
The lead single off the album has already made waves (literally & figuratively) throughout the world, being added to iconic hip hop stations like Power 106 in Los Angeles, KMEL in San Francisco & now #1 on Manila's top station for hip hop, pop & R&B - Wave 89.1FM.
The official animated lyric video features not only the lyrics in English but Tagalog/Filipino as well:
The #HowManyChallenge kicks off today where artists, DJs, dancers, producers & all creatives are asked to post their videos on Instagram, Tik Tok & kumu klips using "How Many" as the backing track or instrumental. The top 10 videos will be available for voting here on www.myx.global & the top 3 will be judged by Guapdad 4000 & !llmind themselves. A $500 USD (24,000 PhP) prize will be given out alongside Guap & !llmind exclusive merch. Use the hashtag #HowManyChallenge tagging @guapdad4000, @illmindproducer & @MYXglobal on all social media. Deadline to enter is March 12, 2021 at 11:59 PST.
ABOUT !llmind:
Ramon Ibanga, Jr. was born on August 28 in New Jersey, where he was raised in the city of Newark, New Jersey before later moving with his family to Bloomfield, New Jersey. His family provided a strong musical background, as his father was a musician and his older brother Les-Paul was even named after the late Les Paul. !llmind started using his father's equipment to make beats around age 13, specifically learning MIDI and sequencing on a Roland KR-500 keyboard. In his early teens he developed an interest in hip hop, and started producing music in 1997.
Around 1999, he began to take production more seriously and he started sampling, using both hip hop vinyl and obscure records such as his father's old jazz and soul albums from the Philippines. He began using the program Cubase and an Akai S20 sampler around age 17. J Dilla and Pete Rock are influences, but he writes and produces a variety of genres. He's produced for countless of top hip hop artists like Little Brother, Boot Camp Clik, Drake, Kendrick, J Cole, Jay-Z & Beyoncé to name a few.
!llmind was recently inspired to return to working with Filipino artists like he did at the start of his multi-platinum producing career after he took a trip to the Philippines with comedian Jo Koy to film his Netflix special and produce the special's theme song, “Kayumanggi!” alongside Moro Beats. The official music video for Tanikala, A, & Fateeha on vocals feature the arena selling Jo Koy and America's Best Dance & successful crew, the Jabbawockeez.
About Guapdad 4000:
Growing up in West Oakland provided the Grammy Nominated, Platinum recording artist Guapdad 4000 (born Akeem Hayes) with a vast treasure chest of invaluable inspiration, encouraging him early on in life to explore his innate talents. Guapdad's profound sense of humor, paired with his aptitude for commanding attention, translated organically into his lighthearted freestyles and ignited his interest in developing his well-rounded capacities as a vocalist.
While navigating an upbringing challenged by both parents being in and out of jail at overlapping time frames, Guapdad 4000 began operating out of a necessity to both survive and take care of his siblings and grandmother. Driven by his greater desire to rise above such calamitous circumstances, he documented his ups and downs in his original content.
After releasing a slew of successful hits since in the summer of 2019, Guapdad 4000 released his highly anticipated debut album, “Dior Deposits” in October of 2019 in which he let his fans name for him. His album was later proclaimed a Top Ten Album of 2019 on New York Times. In addition to his singles setting the charts on fire and his solo album going viral, Guapdad also continues to build a buzz after his features on Dreamville’s RIAA Platinum “Revenge of the Dreamers 3” album by performing at prominent festivals nationwide, touring with P Lo, Earthgang (Dreamville) & Denzel Curry & being featured on songs within hop stars G-Eazy, Snoop Dogg & Chance the Rapper.
Guapdad got his nickname from his Lola, who always called him guapo or pogi which means “handsome” in Tagalog. Let’s welcome & raise our glasses to the only rapper to wear a Barong to NY fashion week. Guap has been known for unapologetically being himself - a perfect fusion of Black & Filipino culture working with artists like Chris Brown, Chance the Rapper, Bryson Tiller, Wiz Khalifa & many more. He credits his Lola for his inspiration and is excited to go back to the Philippines one day.
