i loves me some chicken adobo

with a side o' black eyed peas.... :)

i remember the first time i heard about these guys - BF (before fergie, aka stacy ferguson from kids incorporated. who knew she and fellow KI alumnus, Martika would go so far...). it was either '98 or '99. my stepbrother gave me their first cd, "behind the front", and told me to "listen to it because one of the guys is part filipino". i was skeptical but after i heard the first song, i knew i'd love the cd and BEP. later, i even managed to see them when they played a small venue in SF's lower haight, on divisadero, whose marquee escapes me now... anyway, since the introduction of fergie into the band, i've been a little leery of them.

but then i heard apl's biographical song, "the apl song" , and saw the video -



once again, i was a mosquito to their bug light (despite fergie). and then, i heard "bebot". (i know, you have an auntie bebot too.)

i have to admit. as proud as i am to be filipino, i can't talk tagalog for sh*t. and i blame my parents because moms is bisayan and papa is ilocano. and neither of them were remotely interested in teaching me tagalog or their dialects so, when i do talk "my native tongue" it'll come out a hybrid of all three. at the very least, i can understand enough to know when someone is talking smack about me. it's so embarassing. it's one thing to look like an idiot to the general public. it's a whole other enormous vat of sticky badness to look like an idiot to my own pinoy peeps. so, lucky for me and the rest of the world, "bebot" which is rapped entirely in tagalog, is translated here.

but, where the f*ck was i when they were casting for the "generation one" video!? hoy, monkeysteez, i officially blame you for missing my five seconds of video girl fame.

"bebot" generation one



"bebot" generation two



well, i hope this has got all y'all dancing to BEP. and if this doesn't maybe the collaboration called "timeless" between sergio mendes and wil.i.am (from BEP) will.



and btw - just recently, they got a presidential medal of merit from the philippines. yay!

so, i raise my bag of sarsi to you, BEP! mahal kita!