Viral jeepney rapper now has upcoming musical projects

The street child who has gone viral for his heart-tugging rap performance to jeepney passengers in exchange for coins now has upcoming musical projects.

When the boy’s story aired on “24 Oras” Wednesday, the musical group MP Harmony thanked him as their rap song became an instant hit and they expressed their desire to include him in their projects. However, the boy’s identity was unknown.

On Thursday, however, Oscar Oida reported on “24 Oras” that the GMA News team found him collecting garbage in Dasmariñas, Cavite. His name is Prince John Candelaria and he is 18 years old.

The GMA News team immediately arranged a video call between Candelaria and MP Harmony, where the group was finally able to thank him and share their plans.

According to MP Harmony’s leader Symon Ortiz Bambao, they will be releasing a song featuring Prince and maybe a music video too.

“Dahil din sa kanya, malayo narating ng kanta. Bilang pasasalamat, ’yon po yung mababalik namin,” said Bambao.

As of Wednesday, the video uploaded by Jomar Dungo, also known as Gelo Teng, had 2.2 million views.

For being able to finally express himself and be known for his talent, Candelaria said he felt nothing but happiness.

“’Yung talento na ang tagal ko nang tinatago, nailabas ko rin. Sobrang saya ko rin po talaga,” he said.

He said he was happy because he had been a longtime fan of the group and dreamt of performing with them, which was finally going to happen.

Candelaria said he always had a hard life, so he could relate to the MP Harmony song that he rapped: “Ako si Joselito, isang batang basurero na nangarap balang araw maging isang piloto ngunit ako’y bigo dahil ’di nakapag-aral.”

“Yung kanta, parang nangyari na rin sa buhay ko kasi nangangalakal din po ako nung bata ako, kumakain din po ako sa basura ng natirang pagkain,” he said.

“Naranasan ko rin pong magutom, walang matuluyan. Sa kalsada rin po ako natutulog dati,” he added. – Franchesca Viernes/RC, GMA News