Are you looking for the best Filipino rappers who are currently taking the world by storm?
There are loads of great rappers from the Philipines, so it can be difficult to know where to begin.
This article will showcase some of the best Filipino rappers that you should know, and let you know about some of the trailblazers of the Pinoy hip-hop scene.
1. Shanti Dope
Sean Patrick Ramos is a Filipino rapper who goes by the stage name Shanti Dope.
He started writing his rap in 2013 and made his way onto the 2015 Smugglaz album Walking Distance.
From here his career took off, and he began working as a solo artist.
In 2019 he won the Best New Artist award at the MOR Pinoy Music Awards for his single “Nadarang”, which is his best-known song.
Since then he has collaborated with other great artists, including Gloc-9, Sabrina Carpenter, and Abra.
2. Gloc-9
Aristotle Condenuevo Pollisco is a Filipino rapper thought to be the best of his time.
He achieved great success and popularity, mainly due to his speed and flow.
Fellow rapper Francis Magalona describes him as “a blacksmith of words and letters.”
He is a pioneer of the Pinoy hip-hop world, with an impressive 63 award wins and 124 nominations!
In 2014 he won Album of the Year for his seventh studio album Liham at Lihim at the PMPC Stars Award for Music.
3. Al James
Filipino rapper Al James debuted as a member of the hip-hop collective Baryo Berde Atdp, before moving on to his strong solo career.
He has collaborated with several artists, including Shanti Dope, Gloc-9, Austin Lee, Ron Henley, and Lola Amour.
Al James has released a total of six singles, with his most successful being his latest 2022 hit “PSG” which reached number seven on the Hits of the World chart.
4. Francis Magalona
Francis Magalona, sometimes known as Francis M, is a rapper from Manila who greatly influence the rise of Pinoy hip hop.
He has released twenty studio albums, with many being collaborations with other Filipino rappers.
Magalona has won 22 awards, including Male Solo Artist of the Year in 1999, Best Rap Recording in 2001, Hall of Fame Inductee in 2009, and Producer of the Year in 2010.
5. Ron Henley
Ron Henley began his career by uploading his rap tunes to YouTube, and has so far amassed over 200 million streams!
He said he was mentored by Francis M and went on to become one of the best Filipino rappers out there.
His breakthrough song was titled “Biglang Liko”, which rose to popularity and led to the release of his debut 2013 EP Wala Pang Titulo.
6. Flow G
Archie Basilio dela Cruz, otherwise known as Flow G, rose to prominence as a part of the Filipino hip-hop crew Ex Battalion.
He broke onto the scene as a solo artist with the release of his 2018 debut single “Nandyan Agad Ako”.
Flow G is the holder of four awards: Wish Hip-hop Song of the Year for “Ibong Adarna”, Rap Artist of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Miss Flawless” with Bosx1ne featuring Sachzna, and Wishclusive Hip-Hop Performance of the Year for “Pauwi Nako”.
7. Shehyee
Christopher John Rosales Ongkiko, who adopted the stage name Shehyee, rose to fame when he participated in the FlipTop Battle League, becoming the most-watched artist in the history of FlipTop and being known as one of the most popular emcees of all time.
With over 100 million streams across his social media platforms, he released his debut studio album Shehyee in 2013, and his next studio album is due to be released.
8. Abra
Raymond Abracosa, best known by his stage name Abra, became popular upon the release of his single “Gayuma”, which amassed over 26 million views on YouTube, the highest view count of any Filipino rapper!
Abra began his career in the Pinoy Hip hop crew Lyrically Deranged Poets in 2010 before moving on to start his solo career.
His self-titled debut album was released in 2014 and he rose to mainstream prominence, leading him to win nine awards.
9. Young JV
Eduardo JV Arancillo Kapunan III, who goes by the stagename JV Kapunan or Young JV, is a popular Filipino rapper.
He has released four studio albums: Ready Or Not, Doin’ It Big, YJV, and Into the Darkness.
Ready Or Not and Doin’ It Big were his most popular, being awarded Platinum and Gold certifications respectively by the PARI, and allowed him to win a multitude of awards.
10. Skusta Clee
Daryl Jake Borja Ruiz, also known as Skusta Clee, is best known as a member of the hip-hop collective Ex Battalion and a huge influencer in Pinoy hip-hop.
He has collaborated on singles with lots of great rappers too!
His notable singles include “Karma” featuring Gloc-9 and “Paalam” with Future Thug.
Skusta Clee is the winner of two awards: Spotify’s Top OPM Hip-Hop Artist in 2020 and Wishclusive R&B Performance of the Year in 2019.
11. Kiyo
Kiyo has been rapping and songwriting ever since he was a teenager, and his career took off with his hit track “Ikaw Lang”.
The song has over 50 million views on YouTube and has amassed over 28 million plays on Spotify, making it one of his most successful.
Kiyo’s track “Eba”, which comes from his album HARANSA, has over 25 million streams on Spotify and helped his rise to fame and popularity.
12. Because
Filipino rapper Because is well known for his trailblazing rap in the sub-genre of trap soul.
His 2017 single “Malboro black” put him on the map as one of the next Pinoy rap stars, and led to other great singles such as “Direk” and “OTW”.
13. Bugoy Na Koykoy
Bugoy Na Koykoy is a popular Filipino rapper who has earned over 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify!
He is best known for his hit “Stig”, which has over 12 million streams!
His other hits include “Ganon Paren To” and “Benta Bounce” which each have 5 million and 7 million streams respectively.
His latest release is his studio album Guds Son which includes seven tracks.
14. Honchoo
Honchoo is a rapper from the Philipines and, while he hasn’t released much music, he has certainly made his mark!
He is best known for his hit “Puso at Diskarte” which has racked up over 1.2 million streams on Spotify.
He also features on Zargon Official’s 2022 album Unknown.
15. Nik Makino
Nik Makino is a rapper from Manila who has over one million monthly listeners on Spotify!
His most popular singles are “MOON” and “Neneng B”, which have over 34 million and 46 million streams respectively.
His 2022 studio album HYPE ONE’S proved very popular, with sixteen tracks that have amassed over one million listens to each.
Nik Makino is known as one of the hardest-working, fastest-evolving rappers in the Pinoy rap scene!
16. CLR
CLR is a Filipino rapper who shot to fame with his single “K & B”, which achieved over 12 million streams on Spotify.
His other popular singles include “Bat Ngayon?, Pt. 1” with 18 million streams and “lafls” with 5 million.
His 2019 debut studio album A Starving Artist was also a popular release and helped CLR amass over 300,000 monthly listeners.
17. Denise Barabacena
Denise Barabacena is a Filipino rapper who shot to fame on the series Protégé: The Battle For The Big Break and soon began releasing hit music.
Her hits include “Hari Ng Tondo”, “Damat Tama”, “Papel”, “My Jagiya”, and “Aking Tadhana”.
In 2019 she was nominated for the Aliw Award for Best New Female Artist!
18. Ghetto Gecko
Ghetto Gecko is a trailblazer in Pinoy hip hop, rising to fame with singles and tracks such as “Man!”, “Yeah U!”, “Alatut”, “Odnum”, and “Sploof Donkers”, with “Man!” achieving over 12 million streams on Spotify.
Ghetto Gecko has released one studio album, AHHH!!!, which features some other great rappers including Youngwise, Rabeast Cat, Illicit, Zae, Kidd Rascal, and Let Bu.
19. Omar Baliw
Omar Baliw is known for his nostalgic tunes with Jazz Funk elements.
He is loved for his storytelling rap style and takes us on a journey with each of his songs.
Some of his fan-favorite hits include “Inumaga”, “K & B II”, “Kalmado Part 1”, and “K & B III”.
He has released four albums, titled Banayad Mixtape, OBP 2, OBP 3, and Omar Baliw PO.
The latter three were all released in 2020, which was a big year for Omar Baliw!
20. Smugglaz
Filipino Smugglaz shot to fame upon the release of his single “Nakakamiss”, which has amassed an impressive 22 million streams on Spotify.
Some of his other popular works include “Samin”, “Hakuna Matata”, and “PML”.
His debut studio album Walking Distance shot his career into action in 2015, and he’s been unstoppable since.
21. Pricetagg
Pricetagg is a popular Filipino rapper who is best known for his singles “Pahina”, “Kontrabina”, “Barumbado”, “She Loves Me”, and “Amen”.
His two studio albums Barcode and Barcode 2 helped him rise to fame!
22. Raf Davis
Raf Davis has amassed over 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and made it to the top of his game with hits such as “Chinita”, “Solid so Lit”, “GTA”, “Safe”, and “BYAHE”.
The former has been listened to over one million times!
23. Guddhist Gunatita
Guddhist Gunatita is a great Filipino rapper who has brought us lots of hits from his only studio album Metamorphosis.
Some of these include “Dndn” and “Di Na Babalik” which reached over 1.2 million and 600,000 streams respectively.
24. Apekz
Filipino rapper Apekz shot to fame upon the release of his 2017 debut studio album Ala Una.
The album brought the hit single “Haring Araw”, which has been streamed over three million times.
Some of his other hits include “Meron Din Tayo”, “Arangkada”, “Mitsa”, and “Pasulyap Sulyap”.
25. GFAB
GFAB is a great Filipino rapper who has proved very popular and has brought us some great singles, including “Lahat So lyo Lamang”, “Para Sakin”, “R.B.M.S”, “Scandal”, and “Dito”, which have each been streamed over 100,000 times on Spotify.
Filipino Rappers You Should Know – Final Thoughts
The Pinoy hip-hop genre is growing into mainstream popularity and spreading across the world, and these Filipino rappers are making that happen!
The rappers in this list are artists that you should know, and we hope we’ve helped you in your search for the best Filipino rappers at the moment (and of all time!).
You may also like: Best Rappers of All Time
