This Filipino Rapper Made History When Eminem Signed Him—What’s Next?

DU4LI7Y: REDUX represents more than just a proper introduction to Ez Mil. When you press play on his songs, you hear the dedication and time he puts into his mixes as a self-taught producer and how he pens his lyrics, making sure he perfects every detail so fans get the best experience. Ez Mil has done a multitude of genres in his young career, coming from metal before transitioning into hip-hop because those songs sounded more natural to him. When he’s not doing death metal screamo songs (“Rapture”) or rapping with a purpose (“27 Bodies”), he’ll venture into acoustic songs like “Into It All,” where he sings dramatically. It’s why DU4LI7Y: REDUX is the best appetizer for what he can do stylistically, made even more impressive by the fact that he switches effortlessly between English and Tagalog.

Ez Mil has a promising future as an artist who isn’t confined to a box, leaning into his interests in music, skateboarding, and video games as vehicles to expand his brand. In the days after the release of DU4LI7Y: REDUX, we spoke over Zoom about growing up in Olongapo, his hip-hop influences, meeting Eminem for the first time, the importance of Pinoy Pride, and more.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Eric Diep: Can you tell me about growing up in Olongapo? What was the music scene at the time?
Ez Mil: I would say growing up in Olongapo City has its fair share of things, like bittersweet or whatnot. But to me, it is straight-up home. [I have] a lot of tolerance for [what] I would say happens around here in the States when it comes to really tragic stuff, like we’ve seen that tenfold growing up over here. Going to school was kind of its own thing as well in terms of struggle, and I had to make the good times worthwhile. So it had to come from my own efforts to make sure I would be okay out there and the friends that I made at that time.

I would say the music [scene] earlier in Olongapo would just be a part of me. I would just be a straight-up fan, a listener. I was still too young to even think, "Oh, what am I going to do with the future of my life?" Nah. At the time, I was trying to make it city-wise, trying to go to different cities for a band or a skate crew. In terms of the culture, that’s where it kind of melded, like Thrasher mixed with trap rappers. That’s just like the fold of where I was at. But not necessarily making the product that we would hear [from the States].

For Ez Mil, listening to music helped him escaped what was going on around him, growing up in Olongapo, Philippines.

Jayar Tolentino

ED: Was music your way of escaping what was going on around you?
EM: Completely. I’m not going to lie, I would walk a lot when my skateboard got stolen or confiscated. I had to work in some ways to get a skateboard back. In terms of those other jobs, I had to walk or skate. That would be really frustrating for me because there was a lot of noise going around in the city that I didn’t want to hear. I would just keep headphones on and that would make walking or skating so much fun, ‘cause you’re in your own universe. But it has come with this difficulty because you’re skating, but you are not hearing your surroundings.

For me, I became such a visual driver in the streets of Olongapo, having to really keep my head on a swivel at all times. Because I was listening to music, I was sacrificing my safety to have a good time. That’s what I would say how Olongapo was.

ED: You started doing music after high school. Did you take it seriously in college?
EM: I wasn’t in Olongapo anymore, [but] I would go there sometimes. I went to this other city, this mountain province called Baguio. That’s where I went to college. Saint Louis University for architecture. Just as a freshman on my second semester in my course, I started fucking it up. I started not caring. For me, I feel like the ends didn't justify the means in terms of how I would express myself, ‘cause in all honesty, there were a lot of problems that we were going through just innately with family and stuff. So for me, every time I tried to express myself, I felt like I always got shut out, and I rebelled in different ways. I took it to the streets. Y'all don't want me to say any of my piece or [speak on] my existence, aight I'ma head out. It just went on a spree and I dropped out. I really focused on my computer. That's all, I treated it as an equal.

ED: Who are some of your hip-hop influences? Who are the people that encouraged you to write lyrics?
EM: A$AP Rocky. Eminem. Kendrick Lamar. I would even say Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre. Hopsin. Tech N9ne.

ED: Are you a fan of Hopsin’s “Ill Mind of Hopsin” series?
EM: When I first heard those…I was not a good kid. But in that sense of it, the way he was talking about stuff in his raps, like in the “Ill Minds,” is like you're hearing the innermost righteousness from someone who you could see as a mirror to yourself, as a flawed human. But the realization that comes from Hop with his words on the “Ill Minds” is just plain perspective, straight to the point. It just came in the light of being an Em fan as well because [*raps lyrics to “Criminal”*] “You motherfuckin' chickens ain't brave enough/To say the stuff I say, so just tape it shut!” So it is that. I’ma say whatever I feel in this moment.

ED: No censorship. Tech N9ne is like that too.
EM: Oh, I almost forgot! Royce da 5'9". Bad Meets Evil.

When Ez Mil and his friends first heard Eminem's "Not Afraid," they thought the rapper gave the Philippines a shoutout in one of his lines.

Jayar Tolentino

ED: Why is Eminem’s “Not Afraid” a significant song for you?
EM: Me and my clique were E.K.C. in high school. E.K.C. is me and the homies' abbreviation of us. This one dude that was tagging along with us, his name was Ezekiel Isidro. I think we were listening to some Eminem. I think it had just come out, “Not Afraid,” and it was everywhere. Recovery went big in Olongapo, if I would say so myself. I don’t know about the other cities ‘cause it was playing in mini-stops. We would go to SM [supermalls], and there would be “Not Afraid” playing. We got some real ones saying some real spill up in these speakers! I was happy about that.

Isidro had thought when Eminem said, “Feed it beans, it’s gassed up if it think it’s stoppin’ me,” he thought it was the Philippines. We thought he shouted us out. And I told Em that! We thought it was the Philippines in “Not Afraid,” “Philippines! It’s gassed up if it think it’s stoppin’ me.” And then he laughed. That was real, real. We had thought he said the Philippines.

ED: One of your biggest songs “Panalo” samples a traditional Filipino folk dance song. Why is displaying Pinoy pride important to you? 
EM: Well, it just comes down to the point where I am Filipino. Born and raised and everything. So for me, it's important [for] just anyone in general to represent where you are from and to be proud of where you came from. Not just keep going forward and not look back. People keep saying that’s the way to go in life. But I feel like the look back, it can greatly benefit your mental health and to just stay grounded.