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Description
Francis Magalona (October 4, 1964 - March 6, 2009, also known as FrancisM, Master Rapper, and The Man From Manila, was a prominent Filipino rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, director, and photographer. Often hailed as the "King of Pinoy Rap", he was considered a legend in the Philippine music community. With the success of his earliest albums, he was the first Filipino rapper in the Philippines cross over to the mainstream. He is also credited for having pioneered the merging of rap with Pinoy rock, becoming a significant influence to artists in that genre as well. He was also a popular television host, notably on MTV Asia where he served as one of the channel's first Filipino VJs, and on noontime variety television show Eat Bulaga!. Magalona died on March 6, 2009 at the age of 44 due to acute myelogenous leukemia.

Magalona was one of the nine children of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, popular film stars of the 1950s and 1960s. His grandfather, Sen. Enrique Magalona served in the Philippine Senate from 1946 to 1955.

Starting out as a breakdancer in the early 1980s, Magalona followed in his parents' footsteps and ventured out into acting, appearing in several Filipino movies; he branched out to emceeing and released the groundbreaking album Yo! in 1990 garnering the nationalistic hit Mga Kababayan (My Countrymen), making Yo! the first commercially released Pinoy rap album in the Philippines.[4] While rapping politically conscious and thought-provoking rhymes in both English and Tagalog, the album was a big success and instantly helped catapult Filipino hip hop from underground to mainstream status, also marking the birth of Makabayang or Nationalistic rap in Filipino hip hop.

In 1992, Francis Magalona released Rap Is FrancisM (1992), which was highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy Rap albums. With tracks addressing the various cultural and social problems that plagued his country such as drug addiction in "Mga Praning" (Paranoids), political instability in "Halalan" (Elections) as well as the detrimental effects of a colonial mentality in "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy" (We Are Filipinos), the record's complexity and conscious message quickly earned it its classic status and became the standard by which future albums of the genre were to be compared.

The release of his third album, "Meron akong ano!" (I Got Some!) in 1993, followed by "FreeMan" in 1995 marked the beginning of Francis' experimentation with Pinoy rock, becoming an exceptional artist in both genres of music. He has frequently collaborated with other Pinoy music luminaries such as Joey Ayala, Heber Bartolome, Ryan Cayabyab, Mike Hanopol of the legendary Juan dela Cruz Band, Andrew E, Michael V and Denmark and of course, the Eraserheads. Even more recently he has been seen working side by side with Pikaso, Gloc 9, Stick Figgas and Parokya ni Edgar.

FrancisM at The Community Philippine Hip-Hop Summit 2007 held at The Basement in Eastwood CityFrancisM's contributions to the genre have been featured in several international hip hop publications including the All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop (2003) published by Backbeat Books; as well as the May 2004 issue of the U.S. based publication The Source. FrancisM was also given the Pioneer Hall of Fame Award by Empire Entertainment at the 1st Annual Philippine Hip-Hop Music Awards in 2005.

Magalona also hosted several television shows including the long-running daytime variety show Eat Bulaga!, as well as being a VJ for MTV Asia. Magalona was MTV Asia's first Filipino VJ along with Regine Tolentino and Donita Rose, and remained with MTV from 1997 up to 2000. He was also chosen by Fremantle Media, owners of American Idol as one of the judges of in the first Philippine Idol season that aired on ABC-5. Magalona and his fellow judges Ryan Cayabyab and Pilita Corrales were not retained by GMA Network when the franchise transferred to that network in 2008. Aside from television, he also hosted live events and presentations.

In 2002, with the assistance of then FUBU Philippines' management Carlo Maniquiz and Nick Tuazon(who is currently the Editor-In-Chief and CEO of Digital Photographer Philippines, Francis launched a compilation album of the same name, showcasing a basic who's who of local hip-hop talents in and around the islands. Later that year, Francis Magalona's greatest hits album, The Best of FrancisM was released by Musiko and Sony BMG Philippines.

FrancisM was the recipient of the coveted MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards Generations Award in 2006 "in recognition of his career that has spanned decades and broken boundaries, and for his music which continues to inspire generations of artists and music fans both here and abroad." He is the second honoree, the first having been singer Gary Valenciano at the 2005 rites.

He was able to launch a collaboration album with Ely Buendia and various OPM artists in 2009, dubbed as "The Sickos Project." It will be released posthumously. Both Francis M. and Ely Buendia were having health problems at that time.

Death
On March 6, 2009, Magalona succumbed to multiple organ failure after having been rushed to the hospital and intubated the night before. He had undergone several chemotherapy sessions since he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in August the previous year, and had been expected to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The announcement was first made on the television variety show Eat Bulaga!, which he had co-hosted. News of his death sparked a surge of web traffic to several Philippine news sites, causing a momentary slowdown in the operation of those sites.

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Description
Francis Magalona (October 4, 1964 - March 6, 2009, also known as FrancisM, Master Rapper, and The Man From Manila, was a prominent Filipino rapper, songwriter, producer, actor, director, and photographer. Often hailed as the "King of Pinoy Rap", he was considered a legend in the Philippine music community. With the success of his earliest albums, he was the first Filipino rapper in the Philippines cross over to the mainstream. He is also credited for having pioneered the merging of rap with Pinoy rock, becoming a significant influence to artists in that genre as well. He was also a popular television host, notably on MTV Asia where he served as one of the channel's first Filipino VJs, and on noontime variety television show Eat Bulaga!. Magalona died on March 6, 2009 at the age of 44 due to acute myelogenous leukemia.

Magalona was one of the nine children of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran, popular film stars of the 1950s and 1960s. His grandfather, Sen. Enrique Magalona served in the Philippine Senate from 1946 to 1955.

Starting out as a breakdancer in the early 1980s, Magalona followed in his parents' footsteps and ventured out into acting, appearing in several Filipino movies; he branched out to emceeing and released the groundbreaking album Yo! in 1990 garnering the nationalistic hit Mga Kababayan (My Countrymen), making Yo! the first commercially released Pinoy rap album in the Philippines.[4] While rapping politically conscious and thought-provoking rhymes in both English and Tagalog, the album was a big success and instantly helped catapult Filipino hip hop from underground to mainstream status, also marking the birth of Makabayang or Nationalistic rap in Filipino hip hop.

In 1992, Francis Magalona released Rap Is FrancisM (1992), which was highly regarded as one of the greatest Pinoy Rap albums. With tracks addressing the various cultural and social problems that plagued his country such as drug addiction in "Mga Praning" (Paranoids), political instability in "Halalan" (Elections) as well as the detrimental effects of a colonial mentality in "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy" (We Are Filipinos), the record's complexity and conscious message quickly earned it its classic status and became the standard by which future albums of the genre were to be compared.

The release of his third album, "Meron akong ano!" (I Got Some!) in 1993, followed by "FreeMan" in 1995 marked the beginning of Francis' experimentation with Pinoy rock, becoming an exceptional artist in both genres of music. He has frequently collaborated with other Pinoy music luminaries such as Joey Ayala, Heber Bartolome, Ryan Cayabyab, Mike Hanopol of the legendary Juan dela Cruz Band, Andrew E, Michael V and Denmark and of course, the Eraserheads. Even more recently he has been seen working side by side with Pikaso, Gloc 9, Stick Figgas and Parokya ni Edgar.

FrancisM at The Community Philippine Hip-Hop Summit 2007 held at The Basement in Eastwood CityFrancisM's contributions to the genre have been featured in several international hip hop publications including the All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop (2003) published by Backbeat Books; as well as the May 2004 issue of the U.S. based publication The Source. FrancisM was also given the Pioneer Hall of Fame Award by Empire Entertainment at the 1st Annual Philippine Hip-Hop Music Awards in 2005.

Magalona also hosted several television shows including the long-running daytime variety show Eat Bulaga!, as well as being a VJ for MTV Asia. Magalona was MTV Asia's first Filipino VJ along with Regine Tolentino and Donita Rose, and remained with MTV from 1997 up to 2000. He was also chosen by Fremantle Media, owners of American Idol as one of the judges of in the first Philippine Idol season that aired on ABC-5. Magalona and his fellow judges Ryan Cayabyab and Pilita Corrales were not retained by GMA Network when the franchise transferred to that network in 2008. Aside from television, he also hosted live events and presentations.

In 2002, with the assistance of then FUBU Philippines' management Carlo Maniquiz and Nick Tuazon(who is currently the Editor-In-Chief and CEO of Digital Photographer Philippines, Francis launched a compilation album of the same name, showcasing a basic who's who of local hip-hop talents in and around the islands. Later that year, Francis Magalona's greatest hits album, The Best of FrancisM was released by Musiko and Sony BMG Philippines.

FrancisM was the recipient of the coveted MTV Pilipinas Video Music Awards Generations Award in 2006 "in recognition of his career that has spanned decades and broken boundaries, and for his music which continues to inspire generations of artists and music fans both here and abroad." He is the second honoree, the first having been singer Gary Valenciano at the 2005 rites.

He was able to launch a collaboration album with Ely Buendia and various OPM artists in 2009, dubbed as "The Sickos Project." It will be released posthumously. Both Francis M. and Ely Buendia were having health problems at that time.

Death
On March 6, 2009, Magalona succumbed to multiple organ failure after having been rushed to the hospital and intubated the night before. He had undergone several chemotherapy sessions since he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in August the previous year, and had been expected to undergo a bone marrow transplant. The announcement was first made on the television variety show Eat Bulaga!, which he had co-hosted. News of his death sparked a surge of web traffic to several Philippine news sites, causing a momentary slowdown in the operation of those sites.

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