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-Manila Bulletin
Vanessa Hudgens, Nicole Scherzinger, Lou Diamond Phillips, Legaci, Martin Nievera and Ogie Alcasid are all performing with Apl.de.Ap in a once-in-a-lifetime concert on July 8 at the Hollywood Bowl together with other talented Fil-Am entertainers.
In an exclusive interview, we were able to catch Black Eyed Peas member and Fil-Am rapper Apl.de.Ap to talk more of his upcoming Hollywood Bowl concert with some of the country’s greatest Fil-Am entertainers on July 8 at 7 p.m.
Aptly dubbed, “Apl.de.Ap Takes You to the Philippines – A Celebration of Global Filipino Music,” the much-looked-forward-to event already has a line-up that keeps growing. Aside from the ones we have already mentioned, the concert will also showcase Kayamanan ng Lahi, Sandwich (a popular rock band in the Philippines), Dessa, Philippine Chamber Singers, Rondalla Club of Los Angeles, the Harana Kings with Florante Aguilar, Jeremy Passion, and Poreotics.
So what inspired award-winning Apl de Ap to come out with a concert like this, we asked.
“Actually, it was the Hollywood Bowl that contacted me,” Apl revealed. “Every year, the Hollywood Bowl features a different community that has a large presence in LA. For the first time ever, they are inviting the Filipino-American community to the Bowl. They called me to see if I’d curate the show. How could I resist? Yes, totally.”
Apl admitted that he did handpick the talents who will be performing that night. “Yes, I picked many of the artists myself, like Jeremy Passion, The Harana Kings, Ogie Alcasid, Martin Nievera and Nicole Scherzinger. Of course, the Peas have to be there too.”
He added, “Expect an awesome show! It will be one that takes you through different periods of Filipino music and artistry. From beautiful Spanish Filipino music to crowd rocking beats. If the Bowl had a roof on it, we would definitely blow it off.”
Born in Pampanga, the 37-year-old performer-record producer and philanthropist never forgot where he came from. He continues to do a lot for the underprivileged Filipinos in the Philippines through his Apl Foundation.
He shared with us his latest projects.
“I am doing mostly classroom building,” he said. “The Philippines lacks more than 60,000 classrooms nationwide. Kids are either packed like sardines in existing rooms or don’t have rooms at all – literally learning under trees. It makes learning very hard. In the next two years, the country has a target to build 10,000 classrooms. I’m doing everything I can to help raise as much funding as possible to build as many classrooms as I can. Right now, we’re getting ready to put up our first set in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao, Philippines. The area was devastated by floods this past December. Whatever we can do to help.”
Apl, who also has his own music company which is based in Silverlake, California called Jeepney Music, revealed that he has a lot of projects going on right now. “I’m working on my solo album right now,” he disclosed. “I’m actually involved in a number of creative projects. You’ll be hearing about some new stuff that I’m up to soon.”
For Apl, who was raised singlehandedly by his mom Cristina Pineda together with his six younger siblings after his African-American father left them, he has one dream for the Filipinos back home.
“I want them to compete with the world!” he said.
-For Tickets go to: http://hollywoodbowl.com | | | |
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