DAVAOE?A rapper Angel Josol, a.k.a. Angel01, is teaming up with boxing champ Manny Pacquaio for an anti-illegal drug drive.
Angel01 , the People?s Choice for Best Hip-Hop Artist in Muzika del Sur?s Mindanao Music Awards (MDS-MMA) 2008, is flying to Manila today to meet with officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for the project. ?It?s gonna be my biggest break,? Angel01 told the Times yesterday. ?Working with Kuya Manny is very inspiring.? In the campaign, Angel01 is set to do a music video for her song Druga ay Iwasan, which has been the anthem of the local PDEA office in Davao region. The music video, she said, is initially targeted to be played in theaters. A campaign plug is also planned. ?I still don?t know the details,? said 21-year-old Angel, a teacher of Holy Cross Academy of Sasa. ?We will still discuss it in Manila.? Manny will not to be in initial meet since he is still set to return in the country in the second week of January. He is in California where his wife Jinkee gave birth to their fourth Child. Angel01 also hopes that the recent ?Alabang Boys? bribery scandal that hit PDEA would not affect her Manila trip. Three suspected top drug peddlers arrested by PDEA were recently released after the Department of Justice (DOJ) junked the charges. PDEA officials said somebody from justice department could have taken the bribe from the suspects. Angel01 said she was recommended by the Davao region office, under director Glenn Dela Torre, to PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago for the project. The lady rapper has been an advocate partner of PDEA since 2007 following the culmination of the three-day biggest youth congress in Davao City held on October 19-21. She and her group Diplomatic Old School (D.O.S.) performed their inspiriting rap originals that caught the attention of the PDEA officers. The voice of the then education student of University of Southeastern Philippines was first heard on the radio via the song Haler sa Mga Drayber with D.O.S. in 2005. D.O.S. was among the pioneering rap groups that emerged during the rap explosion in Davao. They are with the Wadab Playaz, the posse fronted by Thavawenyoz, the very first rap group in Davao to break in the national market with the single Hubag. But Angel took a temporary break from D.O.S., and pursued a solo career. In 2007, she was nominated for Best Solo Artist in the MDS-MMA for the song Ang Buhay. That song was also a finalist in the Global Cooling: the 1st Mothers for Peace Singout and Songwriting Competition in which it was included in the CD that was released last year. Also in 2007, she was recognized as Rap Idol by Monkayo, Compostela Valley led by Mayor Manuel Brillantes Jr. and named by the Sangguniang Kabataan of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur as the Favorite Local Artist in Davao. Last year, she was nominated in the MDS-MMA, and got the listeners? support for best hip-hop artist of the year. You can hear Angel01?s songs on http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandid=819842.
