Matthaios recommends listening to these 5 Pinoy hip-hop artists

Pinoy hip-hop is on the rise, Spotify noticed, with listenership in the streaming platform growing three times in the last two years.

The genre is vast and large, with a deep history and a strong underground culture. While Spotify has created four new playlists to help noobs get acquainted with Filipino hip-hop, we asked Pinoy hip-hop artist Matthaios for his listening recommendations during an exclusive interview with Spotify last week. 

Matthaios started in 2016 as a DJ and soon found his way singing and rapping on top of his beats a year later. In 2018, he began performing in Rekta sa Kalye gigs, where a group of up to 15 artists would take to the streets for an impromptu  fun.

In 2019, he broke into the mainstream with his song "Catriona" and has been at it ever since.

See his recommendations below:

1. Ex-Battalion. "They're doing a lot of stuff right now. Like, not all members will sing on this track, only three of them will sing on this one. Right now, I love listening to 'Titig.' I'm really amazed by their wish bus performance of that song."

2. JP Bacallan. "He's more of an R&B artist but I listen to him a lot. I love his collab with PriceTagg and with Sir Gloc 9, 'Pahina'."

3. Zae. "She's an upcoming talent, and I'm very excited to see her go beyond her limits, because i think she has a great potential I'm following her right now, and i always see her releasing new music. And I like that. I like that work ethic. I've been listening to her new song called "Zone."

4. Loonie. "I love listening to Kalmado Part 1, it's his new song with Rhyne and Omar Baliw. I love the vibe, pero andun pa rin po yung pagiging lyrcist talaga nila. Talagang punong-puno yng kanta because of their lyrics."

5. Quest. "His song 'Sige Lang' talaga. That's my go-to-song when I'm feeling down. It's still the vibes and the lyrics because it's like telling you to follow your dreams, like you can do it. It's really motivational."

In case you needed more guidance, Spotify just released four new playlists dedicated to Pinoy hip-hop. 

There is Kalye Hip-hop, the flagship Pinoy hip-hop playlist, where exclusive content from local artists will be launched.

Bago Sa Rap contains the latest and newest local hip-hop tracks.

Dugong Hip-Hop is essential Pinoy hip-hop listening and finally, Pinas Vibes highlights Pinoy R&B, which is a close relative to hip-hop and also showing promise on the charts. — LA, GMA News