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Fil-Am rapper MBNel tells why he's proud to be Filipino

By Kristine Kang
Published January 25, 2024 6:41 PM PHT
Updated January 26, 2024 11:34 AM PHT

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Embracing his Filipino side, MBNel surely wants to discover more about his roots.

From his Filipino-inspired aspirations to getting a Baybayin tattoo, MBNel, or Jhonel Dongon in real life, surely is a proud Filipino as he mentioned everything about his ties and goals in an episode of Surprise Guest with Pia Arcangel.

The Filipino-American rapper was raised in a traditional household by his Filipino parents. His mother came from Cebu while his father was from Siquijor, which made MBNel learn how to speak the native language when he was a kid.

"Both my parents are very traditional Filipinos, old school. As the years go by, America really molded me mostly to who I am, which is why it was so exciting for me to come back to the motherland and get back to my roots," the guest rapper said.

As a Fil-am rapper, he also wanted to promote his career in the Philippines while discovering more about his identity as a Filipino.

He said, "I feel like it's dope to try to bridge that gap to try to get, you know, get back with my roots and tap in with this market that there's a huge market. I feel like it's just untouched for me because I haven't been exploring it too much."

MBNel also mentioned he wanted to try collaborating with other artists, especially big Filipino stars and Fil-Am singers like Bruno Mars.

Aside from that, the guest rapper also showed his face tattoos, including the one in Baybayin that read "Faith over fear," which he got from a friend who knows Baybayin.

"I had a friend who has a few Baybayin stuff talent and he's super familiar with it. He's an artist that knows it. So he kind of made it for me," he said.

Before the episode ended, the Filipino-American rapper also joined a mini rhyming game where he proved to all listeners that he still knows a bunch of Tagalog words like halal, Puto, and kababayan.

MEANWHILE, HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF FIL-AM ACTRESS VANESSA HUDGENS DURING HER PH VISIT: