Francis Magalona, better known as Francis M, was an iconic hip hop artist from the Philippines. His 1990 major debut album "Yo!" was the first
commercially released album by a Filipino hip hop artist, and was a smash. He would go on to cement his status as one of the main Filipino hip hop
pioneers for the next decade-and-a-half up until being struck with leukemia in early 2008. He would pass away from multiple organ failure in March of
2009 at the age of 44. Magalona has since remained an icon in Filipino music and a figurehead in Filipino hip hop, and was posthumously awarded a
Presidential Medal of Merit by the Philippine government.
