Artist database guide
Welcome to The Artists Database! Since 1997, this site have provided an online list of who’s who in The Philippine Hip-Hop scene. This site records and provides information on Pinoy Rap artists and groups including a general information, photo, and a discography list of studio albums they have recorded and released.
This site would like to cover every artists or group representing in The Pinoy Hip-Hop scene and try to make this database as complete as possible. If you are a rap artist here in The Philippines, or a group, or if you are a Pinoy rap artist or group based abroad and is not on this list, you can register here and be part of the database asap.
For corrections and any concern, you can also e-mail at webmasta@hiphop.ph.
Database Guide
Photo – If available, the artist database provides a photo of that specific artist or group. And while the older generation of Pinoy Rap artists have aged or have retired, the photo usually shown are during the peak of their career or during the time when they were highly active on the scene. Though some will show a recent picture if an older one is either unavailable or of a poor quality.
Artist data – The artist or group will have data that features a photo, information, discography, and more. Some group members will have a separate section limited to those who have released solo albums.
Group member list – As with Pinoy Rap groups, the artist database provides who’s who in that group. Active members are highlighted in black and former members are highlighted in gray.
Status – There are three categories when it comes to status, active, semi-active and inactive. Artists considered active are those who keep releasing material up to the current times. Those considered semi-active are artists who released material from time to time while artists considered inactive are those who have not released any material for some time.
As for rap groups, they get active status if every member is active in the scene. But the group can be considered inactive if a member remains active but is individually representing and not the group, especially when the group as a whole has not released any material for some time.
A special status is given to The Late King of Pinoy Rap, Francis M. due to the his impact on The Pinoy Hip-Hop scene.
Discography – The artist database provides a discography list of a specific artist or group if available. The list will concentrate on studio albums mainly LPs and EPs, plus both hard and digital copies including data of the album’s format during its release. Some artists will also have a list of compilation albums that were released in the market but due to the number of such produced, they are not added.
Categories
A specific artist or group will specialize on a specific style, with some having more than one styles that best fits their music. Due to the diversity of styles and themes in rap music, here is the list and description on the various styles mentioned in the database.
Avant-garde – An experimental and innovative type of music.
Battle Rap – Style given to rap artists involved in freestyle battles and competitions notably Flip-Top.
Boombap – The “boombap” sound is the most prominent style of East Coast Hip-Hop, particularly those coming from the culture’s mecca, New York City. This style is characterized by beats that contains hard-hitting elements of both bass and snare drum.
Dirty Rap – The term given to artists and groups who rap about sexually explicit themes and subjects or anything related to pornography.
Ethnic – This style contains elements plus sampling of traditional and folk music.
Fusion – The result of various musical styles and genres combined to create a new form of music.
Gangsta – Rap artists and groups branded with this style are highly influenced by gangsta rap including their music and the music they create. Gangsta rap mainly rap about about gang lifestyle and “inner-city” life plus criminality.
Hardcore – As the name itself, artists and groups under this category have a more serious and aggressive sound, lyrics and subject matter.
Horrorcore – Rap music that is themed on the supernatural and grime.
Lo-Fi / Chill – This style of hip-hop is characterized by slow-tempo and provides a relaxed mood.
Mainstream – The musical style that is considered conventional and accepted by the general public. In addition, this style is also the dominant trend especially when it comes to the music’s theme and subject matter.
Masa / Novelty – Artists who are branded with this style create music suited for a mass audience, not only hip-hop but also the average citizen. Tracks that are considered novelty are those with light and trendy subject matter. They also have an “upbeat” sound and tends to be humorous to some extent.
Rapid Flow– The style given to rap artists expressing fast flow and vocal delivery.
Street – Tracks with lyrics and subject matter that rap about everyday life in the streets, particularly those inner-city neighborhoods and areas.
Spoken Word – Rap artists and groups that highly focus on self-expression, especially in their lyrics.
Trap – A subgenre of rap music that originated in Southern United States particularly in Atlanta, Georgia. It is characterized by beats that focus on snare drums and double / triple hi-hat patterns.
Underground – The music style is considered underground especially if the artist is either, not signed under a major record label, signed under an independent label, or is unsigned. An artist is also considered underground if the music’s subject matter and style is catered for a specific audience and free of corporate censorship. Underground tracks tend to have a more socially conscious subject matter (while conscious is already a catergory in itself, many rap artists and groups around The Philippines have achieved mainstream status but still focus on conscious subject matter such as Gloc-9). Many tracks in this category also explore on “abstract” lyrics.