GOD 3: A talk with Kartell’em, Hev Abi, O Side Mafia on hip-hop and thrifting

LAST October 29, Season Pass held its third installation of Good Old Days, a convention dedicated to highlighting the talents of both local sellers and artists. 

Held at the Metrotent Convention Center in Pasig City, this event was done in collaboration with TMP Industries and over 116 local merchants and resellers. 

Featured in this event were some of the current biggest names in the Philippine hip-hop scene such as Downtown Q Entertainment, Kartell’em, and O Side Mafia. 

Thrifting has always been a huge part of Philippine culture. From your typical ukay-ukay, this event has turned the act of thrifting into something entirely new, placing a spotlight on over a hundred sellers for buyers to be able to easily and conveniently access their wares for reasonable prices.

More than this, they have combined it with another huge staple in Philippine culture: that of the world of rap and hip-hop, via their talented lineup of artists who kept the crowd hyped throughout the night. 

For those who may have gotten their image of rappers misconstrued, thinking that you need millions of pesos to look good in this scene, the performers at this event are here to tell you otherwise. If anything, from republicasia’s talk with these talents, it seems that thrifting is at the heart of every Philippine performer trying to make it big in the industry. 

Amazingly enough, we at republicasia were able to sit down Hev Abi of Downtown Q Entertainment as well as some of the members of Kartell’em and O Side Mafia. 

Here’s how our talk with them went.

Bigger and better

Performing is nothing new to these groups, and performing at Good Old Days is no exception. All three interviewees had already experienced what it was like to witness the previous Good Old Days installations in person, and from what they’ve seen, the quality’s only ever stayed the same. 

“May nagbago, pero ganun pa rin, pero nagbago; hangga’t nagbabago lahat, nagiging ganun pa rin,” said Ruiijikun, a member of Kartell’em. 

“The more things change, the more [they stay] the same.” 

His fellow members Aftermatt and Ne7in also commented on how warm the energy of the crowd felt, adding that they felt that the audience at the event truly were their people.

“May mga crowd ang bawa’t grupo and I believe ito yung crowd talaga namin – they vibe with us, they know the lyrics,” added Ne7in.

Ruiijikun also noted that for them, Season Pass has always held a special place in his and his fellow members’ hearts. 

“Nakikita mo sa mga mata nila nage-enjoy sila, and nakikita rin namin yun as performers,” he said.

Hev Abi, on the other hand, was surprised at the turnout at the event, stating that there were a lot more people compared to the last one. 

“Masaya kasi ang daming tao,” he stated.

“Iba rin talaga pag nagpe-perform ka sa mas madaming tao, nakaka-fulfill [siya] as an artist.” 

Costa Cashman and Madman Stan of O Side Mafia also noted that the stage and production at the event were better than that of the previous installation of Good Old Days. 

They also loved that the event had several thrift shops that people could visit, and felt that doing so nurtured the culture of thrifting that’s been growing in popularity in the country over the last few years. 

Madman Stan even said that he hoped to go shopping following his group’s performance.

Costa Cashman said: “Mas mukha [rin] siyang professional, kasi madalas kami sa mga fiesta, sa mga club.”

The importance of thrifting to local hip-hop

Thrifting is something that just hits differently for these performers. For Kartell’em, for example, they’ve been doing it even before they came together as a group. Before they started to grow popular, it was a big help for them when it came to making money. 

Aside from a source of income, they also shared that it played a huge part in the way that they expressed themselves. 

For Troy Jamero, another member of the group, through hip-hop, they managed to express themselves through their words, while being able to do the same with the clothing they’d get from thrift stores.

“Kadalasan [sa] hip-hop, angas porma, so kung gusto mo ng mura tsaka maganda, may mga ges sa ukay kung alam mo [yung] mga brands,” he shared.

Ruiijikun likened the act of thrifting to treasure hunting as well as an avenue for sustainability; why buy new clothing when you can help save the earth, after all, by reusing what’s already there?

And what’s beautiful about events like those of Season Pass is that they bring together two wonderful parts of our culture that meld together in many ways. 

For Madman Stan and Costa Cashman, they feel that doing so helps to strengthen both cultures, allowing people from the two worlds to garner connections with one another, all while enjoying themselves through fashion and music.

“It goes hand in hand,” says IDSG of Kartell’em about thrifting and hip-hop.

“Kung gusto mong maangas yung porma mo, pero on a tight budget [ka,] pwede ka pa rin maging maangas. Depende yan sa pagdala. [At] dito sa hip-hop industry, kailangan mo talagang mag-invest sa clothes, [so] kung gusto mong budget [lang,] ukay ka.” 

Ne7in notes that even in the international scene, thrifting makes up a huge part of what the rappers and artists we listen to daily wear. He cites as an example the likes of rappers Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert, who sometimes get their clothes from Gray Matter, a thrift shop here in the Philippines. 

He explained: “May stylists sa ibang bansa na katropa ng katropa. Isipin mo: galing sa Pilipinas yung gamit pero umaabot yun kina Lil Uzi Vert, kela Travis Scott. That’s something to be proud of.” 

Improvements

There are sure to be more installations of Good Old Days to come in the future. And while our interviewees have no problem with how these events have been organized thus far, there are some things that they do hope to see more of in the future. 

Costa Cashman hopes to see more clothing, while Madman Stan feels that it would be great to add a separate lineup for upcoming artists.

“Mayroon nang mga kilala na hindi pa ganun kakilala, so malaking tiyansa yung mga ganitong bagay para sa mga artists [na] ganun.” 

Meanwhile, the members of Kartell’em, hope to see more elements of hip-hop integrated into events like these. 

Jamero says that activities like graffiti, dancing, and b-boying are some things he hopes to see in future events, given that they’ve all long been such huge parts of hip-hop from then until now. 

To this, Ruiijikun said: “[Yung] thrifting, parang siyang culture. Yung hip-hop, culture din siya. HIndi lang sya music. Music is just part of hip-hop.” 

In adding more aspects of hip-hop culture to these events, Ruiijikun feels that it’ll help to make them more inclusive, though the achievements of Good Old Days thus far have been a pretty good start.

“Laging masaya pag pinagsasama natin yung mga community na iba-iba tapos magti-tipon tipon sa isang lugar. Laging may bagong nangyayari pag nagsasama. I think yun yung special sa event na ‘to,” he added.