It has been a while since we’ve seen Grammy Award-winning hip hop group Black Eyed Peas perform onstage. All 4 members have been working relentlessly for their own solo career, including Filipino-American rapper Alp.de.ep, who recently teamed up with Honey Cocaine and Jessica Reynoso for his latest single, “Be“.
This May, Alp.de.ap is set to make his way back to his home country as MTV, a unit of Viacom Inc., announced that he is the final international hip hop act to complete the performers’ line-up for the MTV Music Evolution 2015. He will be bringing some of his own sounds to the free-music event that will take place at the historic Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park in Manila on 17th May 2015 (Sunday).
Other performers of the night will include Naughty by Nature, YG, DJ Mustard, Gloc-9, and Abra.
Born in Angeles City, Pampanga, Apl.de.ap is one of Philippines’ home-grown artistes who made it onto the international music scene. Through the support of a sponsor, he went to live in L.A., where he met William Adams aka will.i.am. Despite the language barrier, both of them bonded immediately through a shared love of dance. Their friendship spanned high school years and more as they started performing together in L.A. from 1988 and formed The Black Eyed Peas with Fergi and Taboo in 1995.
The group rose to fame in 2003 through “Shut Up” and “Where Is The Love?”, the hit singles from their 3rd album “Elephunk”. The latter topped the charts in over 10 countries globally. With 6 of The Black Eyed Peas albums under their belt, the group has been ranked as one of the world’s best-selling groups of all time, with more than 76 million records sold so far. They even gained 6 Grammy awards, 2 MTV EMAs, and numerous other accolades.
In 2010, another hit single “I Gotta Feeling” topped the Billboard single chart for an unprecedented 26 consecutive weeks and was nominated for “Record of the Year” at the Grammys. They were 12th on Billboard’s “Decade-End Chart Artiste of the Decade” and 7th in the “Hot 100 Artistes of the Decade” in 2010.
While remaining a key member of BEP, Apl.de.ap went solo in 2012 and founded BMBX Entertainment, a record label that aims to sign Southeast Asian artistes and give them exposure on the international stage. He continues to tour the world DJ-ing events and most recently, he served as one of the 4 coaches of the 1st and 2nd seasons of “The Voice of The Philippines”. He is also a devoted philanthropist through his Apl.de.ap Foundation and an ambassador of many others such as Pinoy Relief and The Happy Hearts Gala in 2014.
Apl.de.ap has been honoured by his home country as the biggest hit-makers in Philippines at the MYX Music Awards in 2008, “Global Achievement by a Filipino Artiste” at the GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards in 2012, and “The Spirit Award” from the Happy Hearts Foundation for his philanthropy work.
MTV Music Evolution 2015 is sponsored by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) of the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT), supported by media partners WhenInManila.com, Circuit Magazine and Play FM, and audio partner, Dolby.
Hosted by MTV Asia VJs Alan Wong and Hanli Hoefer, the main show premieres on-air on 30th May (Saturday) at 6pm (TH/WIB), 7pm (SG/PH), 8pm (MY). Viewers are advised to check local listings in other markets.
For more information, visit MTV Asia’s official Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter.