Death of an Icon: Francis Magalona

Friday last week was a gloomy day for the music and entertainment industry. Francis 'Kiko' Magalona, the 'master rapper', passed away. It came as a shock to all the people that came to know and love him. He was 44.

He came into the industry as a teenage actor, eventually developed a keen sense for rapping and singing. That's when he started to became famous.

He did not have a clean background, his story with substance abuse was well known. But he came out of it a better person, like a pheonix reborn from his ashes. Afterwhich he did his best to convey his message about the dangers and the negative impact of his former vice. His style of music also began to evolve from old school freestyle to rap with an alternative rock feel to it. His songs began to convey a message of hope. He made patriotism hip and encouraged the youth to bring pride to the brown race. Be optimistic and look brightly to the future.

I grew up listening to his songs. I even submitted one of his songs to our music subject in school as one of the songs that gave a big impact on me as a person.

He shall be greatly missed.