Guddhist Gunatita performs with his girlfriend and fellow musician, Loir

Guddhist Gunatita is the rapper you'd like to bring home to your mother. Instead of mouthing bad words, he sings about positivity, gratitude, and redemption. Comments left by fans on his music videos are full of thank you's on how he has changed their perspectives about living.

The good feedback inspires Guddhist to make more  music. Just last week, he released his new MV and  single "Sana Lahat Gumaan" under the stewardship of Believe Music. In his latest anthem, Guddhist tells people to rise above their struggles and keep reaching for their goals in order to "win" in life.

Not all artists are blessed to go solo and be part of a group at the same time. When he's not  sharing his words of wisdom, Guddhist is busy jamming with his 1096 Gang. It's the same bunch behind the wildly successful hit "Pajama Party" which has 89 million streams to date. The 24-year old also proudly wears the hat of an entrepreneur, being a dog breeder and the owner of the streetwear fashion label, Gudds.

Guddhist revealed that his real name is Genesis Lago. He explained that he thought of Guddhist "in order to have a unique name with a good recall, that was also in line with what I stand for, which is conscious rap." Guddhist is actually taken from the word Buddhist, the religion where the singer shares some practices in common such as meditation, yoga, and vegetarianism.

It's hard to imagine that five years ago, Guddhist's existence was the complete opposite of his present clean living mantra. In fact, a highlight of his youth was spending time in rehab for using and peddling marijuana, an illegal drug substance.

"My vices before were drugs and alcohol. I was living away from home just doing my own thing, until an incident happened which landed me in rehab for nine months. I was supposed to be in jail, but I was still a minor then," the rapper recalled.

Rapper Guddhist Gunatita in the mountains of Tanay, Rizal

"The time in rehab compelled me to take stock of things and seek a new purpose in life. I was asking myself why I wasn't happy despite the fact that I was surrounded by material things and the high I felt from sniffing weed didn't really last.  Then, a friend who I was living with got killed because of his illegal trade, and that was the wake-up call for me to change my life," he intimated.

Guddhist credits Polo Pi, his fellow member in 1096 Gang, for bringing him to the mountains of Montalban, Rizal where he experienced spiritual rejuvenation.

"It looked like a campsite on the surface but there were monks who lived there too. Being in the mountains  appealed to me so much that I decided to stay there for one year. I cut off all communication with my family and turned off social media. I told myself that I will return to normal life once I'm strong enough to withstand all worldly temptations," he declared.

And so he did.  If there was a good thing that emerged out of that self-imposed isolation, it's the fact that Guddhist's approach to his music became more healing and positive; not to mention, a strong force in the world. The throng of fans who could relate to the message he was preaching soon followed. In 2021, Guddhist released his first album "Metamorphosis"  which contains some of his hit songs like "Sige," "Salamat G" and "Di Na Babalik."

"I was already doing music prior to my rehab but it was all about my sadness and frustrations in life.  I was even promoting illegal substances. Now, my music is all about peace and appreciating our time in this world.  Whenever I feel the need to strengthen and comfort myself, I express it through my music," Guddhist stated.

(Find Guddhist Gunatita's music in major streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and Amazon Music, among others.)