AJ Rafael

AJ Rafael is a Filipino-American musician.  From the beginning, Rafael has always had the support of the Filipino community to be able to live his dream.  Posting videos online ranging from covers to his own original songs, Rafael has been recognized for his talent.  Recently, AJ Rafael has had the opportunity to be noticed in mainstream music.  These opportunities were competing in “Billboard’s Battle of the Bands” for the chance to perform at the Billboard’s Music Awards and The Glee Project.  Even though he did not win any of these competitions, he did not stop making music.  In the summer of 2010 he has released his first full-length album “Red Roses,” and this past month he has been on his first South East Asia tour, called “Red Roses Tour.”

Like most artists who want to be known, they all had their share of struggles, and AJ Rafael is no different.  While on his “Red Roses Tour” in South East Asia, Rafael and his team had planned to visit Australia, but had to postpone his performances due to unforeseen circumstances.  Of course, every celebrity will also have their share of haters.  In one cover video, he made his own jazz rendition of Bruno Mars' “Just the Way You Are.”  Comments from viewers ranged from full support to disagreement with his choice of making this song into a jazz song.  These comments included, “Better than the original” and one that said, “the jazz version really sucks.”  After a few weeks that the video has been posted, Rafael has said that if they still like the original song, they shouldn’t give him any hate on that video.  One comment that stood out to me from this video was, “wait…an Asian...that can sing…holy shit.”  Apparently to some it is a surprise to see an Asian-American to have musical talent.  After this comment has been posted, Rafael’s supports came to his side by saying this isn’t something new and that there are more Asian-American singers on YouTube.  One viewer even mentioned Charice, another Filipino singer who is internationally famous.

AJ Rafael is a perfect example of a person who is passionate about what he loves to do and is following his dream, even if it means having to confront haters and having to disappoint his fans when he has no power to change the circumstances.  He is not your typical YouTube artist, like Jeremy Passion or Alex Goot; he’s a Filipino-American who embraces his culture.  He has performed at Filipino events in California, one such as Kababayan Fest, and also appeared on local Asian-American cable TV (channel 18)..  His first tour was in South East Asia, the last stop being in Manila, Philippines.  One of his dreams came true while in the Philippines; he was featured in one of the country’s top television shows “ASAP,” and sang with one of his idols Gary Valenciano.  Rafael shows us that his talent and hard work can take him far, and the support he receives, whether from Asians or not, motivates him even more to follow his dreams.