Leila Alcasid, Frankie Pangilinan, and Jess Connelly weigh in on the controversial Twitter thread about artista children
Last week, social media was blowing up over Michael Pacquiao, the son of boxer-politician Sen. Manny Pacquiao. First published online on Aug. 5, Michael’s live performance on the Wish Bus of his original song “Hate” has garnered over seven million views on YouTube, as of writing. Despite the overwhelmingly positive response, like anything that gets put up online, or anywhere for that matter, there were varying opinions to be found and to be discussed. (Embed link of our previous article.)
Jason Dhakal, who was recently revealed to be one of the inaugural artists under 88rising’s new Philippine label Paradise Rising, seems to be one of those not impressed by the young Pacquiao’s performance.
“Shit like this makes me want to stop making music honestly,” writes Jason in a tweet with a video of Michael performing “Hate.” The tweet has over 1,400 retweets, has been quoted over 2,500 times, and has been liked by over 25,000 Twitter users.
The comment has been quite divisive among young Filipino netizens. Some have focused on the supposed “diss” on the aspiring rapper. Others, however, note that Jason’s comment was not a solo post, but rather part of a longer Twitter thread about the local music industry at large.
“It’s weird to me how people will automatically give a platform to rich artista kids with mediocre talent who already are financially set for life while local rappers here risk their livelihood to make music and get zero recognition,” Jason’s Twitter thread starts. “Like you know these people make music for capitalism because that’s the trending sound yet people who actually make music and risk their entire future for it get paid no attention. I’m kind of tired of having to work four times harder just because I don’t have an artista parent to depend on.”
The Filipino-Nepalese soul and R&B performer was born in Oman. Back in 2017, the then 16-year-old musician moved to the Philippines. Without ever having set foot in his motherland before, he slowly made a name for himself in the local music scene. His breakthrough EP Night In was released a year later. Since then, he has co-written and was featured in Claudia Barretto’s single “Head/Heart,” released the full-length album lovesound, and has a track on Paradise Rising’s semilucent EP.
In his Twitter thread, Jason recounts a personal experience in the local music industry that stung, saying, “I’ll never forget when I talked to one artista kid and they said, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make music so my parents connected me to Universal Records and they gave me a two-year contract’ like f*** man.”
Some local artists in the industry have vocally come to Jason’s defense, including fellow Paradise Rising musician Leila Alcasid, herself the daughter of veteran Filipino singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid.
“He isn’t saying kids of artistas (like myself) can’t make music,” Leila writes, “but you cannot pretend favoritism and bias doesn’t exist in the industry.”
Others who have given their support to Jason’s comments include Frankie Pangilinan, daughter of actress and singer Sharon Cuneta.
“I’m on the receiving end of that anak-ni culture too,” Frankie recognizes. “It’s not Michael’s fault either. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just a flaw in the cultural landscape we can hopefully repair one day soon.”
Frankie’s post was retweeted by musician Jess Connelly, who has collaborated with Jason multiple times in the past. Like Jason, Jess was born outside of the Philippines. From Australia, she moved to Manila to connect with her roots and pursue a music career.
She adds to the conversation hinting there is much more under the surface that would get lost in cancel culture. The "EXPECT" singer seems to echo Frankie’s remark that the issue Jason is frustrated with is about the system at large rather than any individual performer.
Ultimately, however, she gives these kind and supporting words to hopefuls: “If you’re a young, Filipino creative with dreams, don’t be disheartened by the current landscape you’re working with. Those same frustrations will bring you to the place that is meant for you. Without them there is no drive.”