Nadine Lustre, Belle Mariano, BINI, Ylona Garcia: these Filipino musicians and more got their faces featured in one of the most popular locations in the world.
One of the great things about music is how global it is. Even if you don’t understand the language the song is in, it won’t stop you from enjoying it. Just look at the success of K-Pop around the world and its millions of fans, even those who don’t speak Korean. Musicians can release music in one part of the world, and then find success with their music being listened to all over the world.
This global popularity is also seen in the fact that quite a few Filipino artists got featured on Spotify’s billboard in Times Square, New York City. It isn’t every day that people can get their face plastered on a billboard in one of the most famous and most photographed places in the world. So, it truly is an honor to be featured in this space, lighting up one of the most popular spots in the city. Here then are some Filipino musicians who got featured on the Spotify Billboard in Times Square.
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BEABADOOBEE
When Filipino-British musician beabadoobee’s song, death bed, became a massive hit in 2020, she established herself as one of the next generation of artists to watch out for. But aside from getting tens of millions of streams for her songs, she also got featured on the Spotify billboard in Times Square. The Iloilo city-born artist dropped her album Fake It Flowers in 2020, the Spotify billboard promoted her new project.
BELLE MARIANO
Belle Mariano is no stranger to having billboards about her being erected in cities all over the world. A few months ago, DonBelle fans set up billboards in different cities to celebrate the breakthrough love team. But this one feels just a bit more special as it’s just Belle alone in the iconic Times Square in NYC. The billboard was part of Spotify’s EQUAL campaign and Belle was promoted along with her new debut album, Daylight.
BINI
BINI’s 1st anniversary week will definitely be one to be remembered by the group. Among other things, they dropped the music video for Na Na Na, announced that some of their songs were going to the moon, and got featured in Rolling Stone. And as a nice little surprise, the group also got themselves on a billboard in Times Square. The effort was connected to their feature in Rolling Stone which was for Spotify’s RADAR Program. BINI was the only Filipino and SEA artist featured on the list so their billboard in NYC feels correct.
CLARA BENIN
It’s clear that Indie darling Clara Benin music isn’t just loved in the Philippines, but all over the world as well. Case and point, she became the latest Pinoy artist to grace Spotify’s Times Square Billboard as part of their EQUAL Campaign. “I feel really humbled to be featured on a Times Square billboard in New York and to have my songs be part of Spotify’s EQUAL playlist alongside these lovely and talented women. I really hope our music reaches and inspires more people from all over the world,” shared the folk-pop singer.
DENISE JULIA
Denise Julia’s 2022 has been phenomenal to say the least. After being an underground artist for the past couple of years, the Pinay singer blew up this year thanks to the viral success of NVMD. And now, she can add being on a billboard in Times Square in her achievements list as she got featured in Spotfiy’s EQUAL billboard ad. And that’s on breakthrough artist behavior.
JULIE ANNE SAN JOSE
Musician and actress Julie Ann San Jose is no stranger to topping the charts and scoring number one hits. But being featured on Spotify’s billboard in Times Square may just be one of her biggest career achievements to date. Back in July of this year, she got featured on a billboard as part of Spotify’s EQUAL campaign, which aims to empower and highlight female musicians around the world. At the time, her song Free was also included in the EQUAL global playlist.
JANINE TENOSO
Back in August of this year, Janine Tenoso joined the list of Filipino acts who made it to Times Square. Once again as part of the Spotify EQUAL campaign, Janine was featured on their billboard at the iconic city spot.
KEIKO NECESARIO
OPM musician Keiko Necesario dropped her new EP called Obra in March 2022. And to celebrate this achievement, she was made placed on the cover of Spotify’s EQUAL playlist Philippines. And to top it all off, she made her debut on the Times Square Spotify billboard as part of the music streaming service’s global EQUAL campaign which seeks to increase the visibility of female musicians around the world.
KIANA V
Kiana V has been making moves in the US as of late as she promotes her brand of sensual and soothing OPM. And it’s clear that she is being recognized for her talents as she was featured on Spotify’s Times Square billboard as part of their EQUAL campaign. The best part about it was that Kiana actually got to see it happen there in person. Kiana was also recently included in the lineup for SXSW 2022 so expect to see more of her in the future.
KZ TANDINGAN
Ever since she won season one of The X Factor Philippines in 2012, KZ Tandingan has proven herself to be not only a talented singer but a world-class musician. The singer has been lauded for her soulful vocals and even invited to perform in international music shows. This year alone, she had the honor of being the first Filipino to sing an original Filipino song for a Disney animated movie. It’s no surprise then that she got featured on Spotify’s Times Square billboard.
LESHA
Lesha really went from making beats in her bedroom (something she still does to this day) to appearing on a billboard in Times Square. We love to see it. As part of Spotify’s EQUAL campaign, the OPM musician got featured on their billboard to promote her banger of a debut album, 3RD EYE. It just goes to show that as long as you continue to work hard on your dreams, you will get there.
MARIS RACAL
Can you imagine, Maris Racal really went from guitar covers on PBB to having her face splashed all across a billboard in Times Square. She recently dropped a new album and Spotify helped celebrate that by including her in their EQUAL billboard in NYC. It definitely was one of those go little rock star moments and her reaction to seeing it was priceless.
NADINE LUSTRE
From releasing groundbreaking albums to giving award-winning performances, Nadine Lustre has done it all. And that includes being featured on Spotify’s billboard in NYC. In April of this year, Nadine made it to Times Square with her billboard as part of Spotify’s EQUAL campaign. “This is some Bella Hadid sh*t,” she told NYLON Manila when asked her reaction to the billboard.
REESE LANSANGAN
Indie pop artist Reese Lansangan can proudly include herself in the list of Filipino musicians who got featured on Spotify’s Times Square billboard. Shortly after the release of her second studio album, Time Well Spent, at the end of May, Reese was seen on Spotify’s Times Square billboard for their EQUAL campaign. Considering that this year also saw Reese get noticed by her NCT bias TEN for her song cover of his solo song, she truly is living the life.
YLONA GARCIA
Ylona Garcia is another Filipino musician who made it on Spotify’s Time Square billboard. This past October, the Don’t Go Changing singer marveled at her billboard as part of Spotify’s EQUAL campaign. “IS THIS REALLY ME?!?!! IS THIS FOR REAL??” she wrote on social media. As part of 88rising, Ylona is already making a name for herself abroad with her music. Her billboard is further validation of her hard work. By the way, her latest song is also currently part of the EQUAL Global playlist if you want to check it out.
ZACK TABUDLO
It’s safe to say that 2021 has been a great year for Zack Tabudlo. His hit single Binibini helped push him to be one of the top OPM artists right now. He also dropped his debut studio album, Episodes, in October and got included in a feature for Rolling Stone magazine as one of 10 international hitmakers that should be on your radar. Zack can also add being on Spotify’s Time Square billboard to his list of achievements. As part of Spotify’s RADAR Program, Zack got included in the Spotify billboard.
BONUS: JAMES REID
While James never got on Spotify’s Times Square billboard, he did get featured in a billboard in Times Square and it’s worth mentioning. After the release of his latest song Crazy, the single was promoted by Amazon Music in a billboard promoting their Mixtape Asia playlist. Crazy was part of that playlist and the billboard showed James right at the heart of NYC.
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