Remembering the Master Rapper

Mga kababayan ko, dapat na malaman niyo, bilib ako sa kulay ko ako ay Pilipinooooooo!

Remember these lyrics? I can only think of one person and one person alone who's been proud of his roots from day one. Who?

Francis Michael Durango Magalona or simply known as Francis M.

He would have been 52 yesterday. Born on October 4, 1964, Kiko, as known to his friends, was the eighth of the nine children of actors Pancho Magalona and Tita Duran. Magalona was introduced by co-actor Richard Gomez to Pia Arroyo at a party in a disco owned by film director Ishmael Bernal, and the couple got married in 1985. The couple had eight children, two of whom were Magalona's stepchildren: Unna, Nicolo, Clara, and television personalities Maxene (Max) (1986), Francis Jr. (Frank) (1987), Saab (1988), Elmo (1994) and Arkin Magalona, who entered showbiz to follow their father's footsteps.

On August 8, 2008, he was diagnosed with with acute myeloid leukemia. This is a type of cancer that is characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells.

He still returned to Eat Bulaga despite the fact that he is battling cancer. He even managed the time to post some pictures as well as his daily blogs on his Multiply account to inform his fans of his situation.

On March 6, 2009, at 12 noon, Kiko succumbed to multiple organ failure secondary to septic shock News of his death was first announce on Eat Bulaga and made it to the interweb which temporarily caused traffic.

Magalona would ultimately be cited not just the "King of Philippine rap" but also "The Father of Pinoy Hip Hop"

Thank you Francis M. Thank you.

An Instagram post of his daughter, Saab, has been posted online as well. Click here for that post.