In the last year or so, the local hip-hop scene has made leaps and bounds, thanks to a bunch of young artists who are passionate about pushing the genre forward.

Aldrin Paulo Golding Perez—who goes by the stage name King Promdi—is one of those artists, and his new single “Prom Date” will surely sustain Filipinos’ deep and growing interest in hip-hop. King Promdi composed and produced the song by himself, and he describes it as a typical high school love story.

“It’s about that moment when you’re asking a girl to go to the prom with you,” King Promdi says of the track, which he adds has an emo/punk rap vibe. “Nasulat ko siya kahit hindi ako nakapag-attend ng prom noong high school pa ako. Yung gusto ko kasing maka-date noon, may date na.”

Even if he never got to slow dance with his dream girl on prom night, he doesn’t feel like he missed out on anything. He had bigger fish to fry. At that age, he already knew what he wanted out of life. He would never have given up on his dreams, not even for all the prom dates in the world.

King Promdi was all of 14 years old when he saw a Lil Wayne music video on MTV. Seeing the Grammy Award-winning rapper do his thing inspired the youngster from Pampanga to get into hip-hop.

He ended up in the group VVS Collective, which dropped a hit single titled “Walwal” in 2019. They followed it up with “Alon,” which dropped at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite that, it earned streams and views at a rapid pace. Their latest single “Follow Me” is set to follow in the footsteps of their previous releases.

But their success didn’t come without a price. King Promdi and the other three members of VVS Collective—beat specialists, rappers, and singers Gabrang, Max Dylan, and Tommy Wave—received tons of hate mail after their music went viral. A lesser artist would’ve quit music in the face of such relentless bashing, but not King Promdi.

“Some people hate us because our style is different. Hindi sila sanay sa ganun, eh. Hindi nila masakyan yung ginagawa namin. Only time will tell if and when our music will be fully accepted. But eventually, I’m sure those who hate us will change their minds. Kailangan lang namin ipakita sa kanila na meron naman kaming mabubuga,” he says.

“Prom Date” isn’t King Promdi’s first solo effort. On his EP My Emo Chick, he eschewed his group’s trap bangers for a different sound. Aside from Lil Wayne, he says Lil Peep is one of his biggest influences when it comes to music.

He used guitar samples on three of My Emo Chick’s four tracks, which is something Lil Peep is known for. But King Promdi’s songs (“Eighteen,” “Tik Tok,” “Sleeping Pills,” and “Sorry Mama”) are less melancholic and sound much lighter than anything in his idol’s discography.

He describes his own sound as hip-hop with emo and punk elements. King Promdi enjoys working with VVS Collective, but he welcomed the chance to go solo. He had plenty of ideas he couldn’t share with the rest of his group because they didn’t fit VVS Collective, so he struck out on his own.

“Marami akong nasusulat ngayon. I feel so motivated. Gusto ko maglabas ng mga songs na iba yung genre, iba yung vibe, pero hip-hop feels pa din,” he shares.

Despite the current situation, he’s looking forward to spending the rest of the year churning out more new material while following the standard health and safety protocols.

“I want to work with other artists. Local, foreign, it doesn’t matter basta maayos sila katrabaho and may matutunan kami sa isa’t-isa. Pero honestly, if I were to collaborate with a foreign artist, gusto ko sana unahin yung mga kapitbahay natin sa Southeast Asia. Napaka-talented ng mga artists from this region, sobra. Gusto ko makita kung ano’ng magagawa namin sa studio.”

“Prom Date” is now out on all digital music platforms.