9 Filipino American Artists on our Playlists Right Now

We’ve rounded up 9 Filipino American essential artists on our playlists right now and there’s one thing we can reaffirm: there’s no stopping a Filipino with a mic.

When we made this list we really took into account how these artists evolved and innovated when it came to how their music was released, how they connected with fans, and how each crafted their own unique storytelling through the both the physical and introspective ups and downs of the last pandemic years. Seeing how far these 9 artists have come and how their work evolved and impacted the world in such a short amount of time has been super exciting to watch.

1. ((( O ))) / June Marieezy

Photo courtesy of June Marieezy via Instagram

June Marieezy, also known as ((( O ))), is a singer and songwriter. Throughout her career, she has performed on stages across the globe, including Hong Kong, London and Malaysia. Off the bat, her artist moniker strikes curiosity as practically nobody knows how to pronounce it. Known for her unique sound and her unpronounceable symbolic moniker (which is said to symbolize the energetic force of a growing seed), her music has the ability to transcend you to another place.  ((( O ))) creates music from her solar-powered tree-house in a remote jungle in the Philippines.

If you are looking to vibe out, she is definitely one to check out. 

Listen to her on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

2. Ashley Mehta

Photo courtesy of Ashley Meta via Instagram

Ashley Mehta is a musical artist from the Bay Area. She enjoys paying homage to her Filipino and Indian roots through her unique sound and music- a mix between R&B, hip hop and electronic music. Ashley started sharing her craft at high school events and coffee shops. From performing for local audiences to raking in a total of 1.6 million streams and 369,000 listeners from 166 countries in 2021, it’s safe to say Ashley is on the rise and not stopping any time soon.

Check out her singles Feels Like That and our new weekend anthem aptly named, well, Weekend.

Listen to her on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

3. Mndsgn

Photo courtesy of Mndsgn via Instagram

Mndsgn, pronounced “Mind Design”, also known as Ringgo Ancheta, is a record producer and singer-songwriter. In 2011, he started self-releasing beat tapes and working on projects with Fresh Secrets, an independent record label in Oregon, and Leaving Records, an experimental record label in Los Angeles. Throughout his career, he has worked with a number of remarkable artists to produce their songs and albums, some of which include Tyler, the Creator for his song “Peach Fuzz” and Doja Cat for her song “Nunchucks”.  

Stop what you’re doing right now and stream Rare Pleasure- you’ll experience a full immersion in a vibe that’s equal parts R&B, jazz, ethereal and cosmic. And don’t worry, you can thank us later. 

Listen to him on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

4. Kiyomi

Photo courtesy of Kiyomi via Instagram

Kiyomi is a singer and songwriter from the Bay Area. Her first solo project, “Solara Sunsets” gained major popularity after it was released, collecting over one million streams across all digital platforms. This catapulted her into the spotlight and caught the attention of many respected label companies, such as Columbia Records, Empire, and Create Music Group. Check out Can’t Lose and You Got It-her smooth vocals got us wishing we had that 90’s R&B kinda love.

Listen to her music on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

5. Tim Atlas

Photo courtesy of Tim Atlas via Instagram

Tim Atlas is a singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Oakland, California. His journey into the music world started out in a recording studio where he worked as an engineer. Not too long after, he pursued his passion for music even further and went on to join April Chase, an alt-rock band. In 2015, Tim took a big leap and decided to join popular singing competition, The Voice, in its ninth season on air. He caught the attention of judge Gwen Stefani and went on to join her team, but seven episodes in, was picked up by Pharell Williams to join his team. After a 19 episode run, Tim was eliminated from the show. This, however, was not the end of his journey. He went on to release more original music and tour all over the US and UK.

His sound is in a league of it own, once described as “downtempo R&B, neo-soul, and bedroom pop” by Shirly Ju of Flaunt Magazine, we agree: his vibe is the positive recharge you need any time of day.

Listen to his music on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

6. Yeek

Photo Courtesy of Yeek via Instagram

Yeek is a singer, songwriter, and producer. New Jersey-born, he’s best known for his ability to “genre-bend”, combining different genres and coming up with a unique and creative sound that people across the globe enjoy. Throughout his career, his work has garnered recognition from music icons like Asap Rocky and allowed him to collaborate with artists such as Duckwrth and UMI.  Known for drawing inspo from lifestyles on both coasts, his sound melds pop, rock, rap and has cinematic influences.

Going for a drive? Play his songs and you won’t care your destination.

Listen to his music on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

7. Renee Dominique

Photo courtesy of Renee Dominique via Instagram

Renee Dominique is a singer, songwriter and content creator. She started sharing her passion for music on her Youtube Channel, featuring beautiful voice and ukulele playing skills through covers and a number of original songs. Renee is known worldwide for her collaboration with internationally acclaimed artist, Jason Mraz, in their song Could I Love You Any More. She went on to perform it live twice in concerts that took place in Singapore and Manila. 

Her songs are like a breath of fresh air. If you’re looking to relax, or daydream for that matter, Renee is definitely one to listen to. 

Listen to her music on: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

8. Ian Santillano    

Photo courtesy of Ian Santillano via Instagram

Ian Santillano is a singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Hayward, California. At 12 years old, he taught himself how to play the guitar, after finding a passion in playing Guitar Hero. He worked as a freelance musician for some time, playing at parties, weddings, and churches. After a while, he shifted his focus completely to creating his own music and being his own artist. In releasing his debut project, “1856”, Ian found major success. His release show was sold out. 

Self proclaimed, his music is “If John Mayer and Thundercat had a Filipino-American baby that listened to Yebba and Faye Webster.”

Listen to his music on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

9. Travis Atreo

Photo courtesy of Travis Atreo via Instagram

Philippines-born, Travis Atreo is a singer, songwriter, producer and engineer from Seattle, Washington. After eight years of being the lead singer of the band, “The New Heights”, he set off to make the big move back to California where he expanded his horizons in the industry as a music producer. In his free time, he enjoyed creating and singing covers of songs weekly. These covers quickly went viral, accumulating over 250 million streams to date and catching the attention of music icons like Grant Gustin and Taylor Swift. 

This year, Travis also co-founded and is CEO of Fanded, a licensed equity crowdfunding portal for musicians and artist to raise money through fan investment for their next creative venture.

Check out his soulful and melodic albums Digital Feels and Love Drunk, or catch his new covers weekly on YouTube. If you’re not a regular to his channel yet, you will be.

Listen to his music on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

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Written By Nico Belasco

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