No Bad Rap for Rap

Here's from a batang Mandaluyong to a batang Mandaluyong:

Francis Magalona, 44, has moved away from this kaleidoscope world.

We remember the man and the music, how he urged us not only to tolerate diversity, but to accept it and embrace it as well. 

Plus, lines like these: "You can’t talk peace and have a gun."

Coming from a showbiz family with a good name, he lent that image to a music form born and cultivated in the streets- music that did not have much respectability in these parts at the time. Music that was still considered a novelty by many in the early '90s.

Francis M made it hip to be patriotic while using that violently majestic form of American music: rap. He attached swagger to where it would have been corny to proclaim your nationality.

In the process, he gave rap a good name. He did not do it singlehandedly, but his approach, his path, was singular.