FILIPINO R&B ARTISTS | 100K AND BELOW

BY BRENESSA ROACH | AUGUST 12 2023

In this article, we will share 6 Filipino R&B artists that have below 100K monthly listeners on Spotify. Despite all these artists creating music in the R&B genre, they all have their own unique sound. We hope you find yourself supporting some or all of these artists.

Let’s get started!

1. Russell Groovy

Current Monthly Listeners: 5.6K

Russell Dimaano, known by his artist name Russell Groovy is a singer, songwriter and producer from San Fernando Valley. His music is a blend of ‘90s and early 2000s Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul. He made his debut on July 4th, 2017 with the single “Lift Off” which was in collaboration with LaynoProd. Followed by his debut single, he released “End This Way” in November 2018 and two singles in 2019; “Deeper” and “No One” – which was in collaboration with Stract.

One of Russell’s most popular songs is titled “Westside Slide”. It was released on January 28th, 2021 and currently has a little over 15.3K streams. He continued to release singles throughout 2021. On September 21st, 2021, he released an album titled Space Kids which was in collaboration with Garret Rouleau and featured Krislette and Massa.Sol. Additionally, he released his 6 single debut EP Head n Heart on November 11th, 2021.

With the new year of 2022, Russell started to release a lot more music. He also released his second EP ENCOUNTER on July 29th, 2022. This EP was in collaboration with Jonum – who is also in the boyband Townewest. Russell is also part of Townewest, as they are a rotational boyband depending on the comeback (you can read more about Townewest in our interview with them).One of our favourite releases from 2022 is Russell’s album Spooky Class of 22’. This 11 track album released on October 28th, 2022. Our favourite song on the album is “VAMPIRE” which is in collaboration with Sicsad (Bouquet from Townewest) and Riccy DeLeon.

As for 2023, Russell’s first release of 2023 was on February 3rd for the single “Close To You” which was in collaboration with Josiah Nichols and Garret Rouleau. This is Russell’s most popular song with over 139K streams on Spotify. Followed by the release of “Close To You”, Russell released the album Ultra Night Drive – which is his best album yet (in our opinion). This album consists of 13 songs and includes “Positions”, which is our favourite single on the album.

His latest release is from April 28th and is titled “Circles”. This song is another collaboration with Josiah Nichols and Garret Rouleau and is also another popular song of his with almost 39K streams. Russell is currently working on new music. Simultaneously, he is also hosting a podcast/radio show called The Groovy Hour, you can listen on Spotify here. We cannot wait to see what else Russell has in store for the near future.

Listen to “Positions” by Russell Groovy on Spotify

Check out Russell Groovy on Instagram: @russellgroovy

2. gabby parafina

Current Monthly Listeners: 9.7K

Gabe, known by his artist name gabby parafina is a singer and songwriter. His music has a indie-R&B style to it, similar to the kind of music keshi makes. gabby made his debut on June 14th, 2020 with the release of two singles; “sometimes” and “fate”. On October 29th, 2021, he released his debut EP CONTRAST. This 6 track EP garnered a over 18K streams on Spotify.

In February 2022, gabby released two singles; “proximity” and “ur boyfriend”. “ur boyfriend” is his second most popular song with over 180K streams on Spotify. Both of these singles were pre-release tracks for his first album THERAPY which came out on August 19th, 2022.

He started off 2023 with the release of “TRAUMA” on January 6th. This is his most popular song with 274K streams on Spotify. Followed by the release of “TRAUMA”, he released “no rush” on March 10th. His latest release is. from last week on August 4th with the single “kleins”.

Listen to “TRAUMA” by gabby parafina on Spotify:

Check out gabby parafina on Instagram: @gabbyparafina

3. Lara Andallo

Current Monthly Listeners: 28K

Lara Andallo is an R&B/Pop singer and songwriter from Australia who is signed to Warner Music Australia. She debuted on August 7th, 2019 with the single “Confidential” – which has over 250K streams on Spotify. Followed by the release of “Confidential”, she released a collaboration song with Lil Spacely titled “180”. This is one of her most popular songs with over 450K streams. Both of these songs were pre-release tracks for her debut EP For Her which released on January 31st, 2020.

On April 23rd, 2020, she released the single “when the lights go out” which is her second most popular song with over 1.3 million streams on Spotify alone. Followed by that, she released “On My Mind” on October 15th, 2020.

She didn’t release any music throughout the pandemic, but came back on June 2nd, 2022 with the single “Head To Toe”. This is one of our favourite songs from her discography and also is the song that made us discover her through TikTok. In 2022, she also released “Diamond In The Rough” in August and “What U Want” in October.

All three of these songs were pre-release tracks for her second EP DIAMONDS & DEJAVU which came out on February 23rd of this year, This EP is her first release of 2023 and is also her latest release.

Listen to “Head To Toe” by Lara Andallo on Spotify:

Check out Lara Andallo on Instagram: @laraandallo

4. mica yui

Current Monthly Listeners: 1K

mica yui is a 17 year old singer, songwriter and producer from Manila, Philippines, but currently based in Baltimore, Maryland. He debuted on January 28th, 2022 with the single “girlfriend”. Followed by that release, he released “be with u” in April and “if i can’t have you” in June. “if i can’t have you” is his most popular song with over 24K streams on Spotify. All three of these songs were pre-release tracks for his debut album NEVER LASTING SUMMER which came out on June 24th, 2022.

He ended off 2022 with the release of his EP WHEN YOU LOVED ME on December 16th. This EP includes our favourite song from his discography titled “like a lover”.

His first single of 2023 titled “u & i” was a collaboration with NICHIMI and it came out on February 14th. Followed by that, he released “FALLBACK” on May 5th which was in collaboration with drmfy. He has a new single coming out on August 17th titled “RUNNING ON EMPTY” so, make sure to pre-save.

Listen to “like a lover” by mica yui on Spotify:

Check out mica yui on Instagram: @mica_yui

5. momohaii

Current Monthly Listeners: 9.4K

momohaii is a Filipino-Chinese singer, songwriter and producer from Texas and currently based in Los Angeles. On December 16th, 2022, momohaii made his debut with the single “last line”.

In 2023, he released the single “telephone” on January 13th and “626” on April 21st. Both of these singles were pre-release tracks for his debut EP im momo, hi which came out on June 28th. Our personal favourite on the EP is track number 1 titled “smokes and mirrors”. We are really excited to see what the future holds for momohaii.

Listen to “smokes and mirrors” by momohaii on Spotify: