AJ Rafael

AJ Rafael (far right) at Pin@yPalooza in 2010

Rafael created a Myspace account in 2003.[3] He wrote his first song titled "How's San Diego Pauli" in 2004 when he was 16 years old and uploaded it to Myspace.[4][5] He composed the song for a girl whom he had connected with on the Internet for her birthday.[4][6] Since Myspace did not support posting videos at that time, Rafael wrote JavaScript and HTML to showcase his songs through the RealPlayer media player plugin.[6] He posted a Myspace video of himself performing a Meg & Dia medley which attracted the band's attention.[7] The band shared his video on its Myspace page which led to the video's getting 30,000 views.[7] Shortly after, Rafael performed in a Filipino festival in San Diego.[4] He was a contestant in 2005 on season 4 of American Idol but was eliminated by three judges.[3]

Rafael uploaded his initial YouTube video in 2006, a medley of Meg & Dia songs.[3] On YouTube, he uploads covers of existing songs and composes original songs.[8] Rafael established the MoVal Concert Chorale in 2006.[9] Rafael became a YouTube partner in 2008, which allowed him to receive a portion of the advertising income when people watch his videos.[6] Following several years of uploading videos, his music career began flourishing in 2009 and at the peak of his recognition, he was making in the low six figures.[10] Since he attributed his success to forging a rapport with his fans, he routinely used Facebook and Twitter to tell his viewers about his day-to-day experiences.[11] In his YouTube videos, filmed mostly with his MacBook in his living room, he shared with viewers how he connected with the songs he sang.[3][12] To stay connected with his viewers, he made posts on Twitter frequently and sought advice from them about the tempo and key for his piano playing when he livestreamed his performances.[3] Rafael released his songs on iTunes and Amazon and did livestreams through Ustream.[13] In a 2009 article in the Inland Empire Weekly, journalist Lilledeshan Bose wrote, "Rafael's songs, whether on the ukulele, guitar or piano, are made in the same vein: sweet pop ballads. His voice is crystal-clear, with never a sour note in the mix."[13] That year, Rafael was an unsuccessful contestant with his band at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in the singing competition Kollaboration Acoustic III which seeks to raise awareness about Asian Americans in the performing arts.[14] By 2010, he had uploaded over 150 videos that collectively accrued 80 million views.[3] In 2010, Rafael with 178,117 YouTube subscribers was among the "50 most subscribed music channels".[15]

AJ Rafael in 2010

In April 2010, Rafael released his first extended play, Juicebox, copies of which people purchased online. He performed songs from the EP during in-person concerts.[3] OC Weekly characterized his music as "pop in the vein of Jason Mraz or John Mayer with a slightly dancier, more-bubblegum-y feel".[3] That year, Rafael routinely performed in various venues in the United States and the Philippines and landed a contract with a music management company.[3] In 2011, he was a member of the AJ Rafael Band with Noah Bartfield on bass, Jesse Barrera on guitar, and Danny Morledge on drums.[9] In 2011, Rafael, charted in Billboard's recently created "Uncharted" chart.[12] That year, Billboard chose his band to compete with five others in "Battle of the Bands" with the winner performing in the Billboard Music Awards.[12] Rafael's band was defeated by the band Gentlemen Hall.[16]

To raise money for his first album, Rafael started a Kickstarter campaign requesting $6,000 and received $11,000 from contributors.[11] He recorded the album in the San Diego home of a friend.[11] Rafael released the debut album titled Red Roses on June 7, 2011.[12][7] Distributed by Select-O-Hits, the album was sold on iTunes and at unaffiliated music retailers, Target Corporation, Best Buy, and FYE.[11] It reached seventh on the iTunes "Top 10 pop albums" chart and 13th on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.[4] The album has 11 original songs that are all based on Rafael's past relationships and experiences: Here, Tonight; Emma Watson; Red Roses; We Could Happen; Without You; Mess We've Made; Five-Hundred Days; She Was Mine; When We Say; Starlit Nights; and Here All Alone PT 3.[17] The Philippine Daily Inquirer said "We Could Happen" and "When We Say" had "catchy beats" that "have made fans out of casual viewers".[4] After being selected to vie for nominations for Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, he did not receive either of the nominations.[4][18] Along with a band that included Andrew Rhim on guitar, Noah Bartfield on bass, and Danny Morledge on drums, Rafael performed songs from the album in Southeast Asia and Australia.[19][4] For their first show on the tour, they played live at the Music Museum in the Philippines on January 18, 2012.[4][20] The attendees were primarily teenage girls.[19] The Philippine Daily Inquirer reviewer Pocholo Concepcion found that Rafael "exuded charm and confidence as he played keyboards and sang tunes that were so honest, you had to listen and believe what he was saying" and the songs "hewed close to pop-rock with catchy mid-tempo beats, at times shifting gears to allow lead guitar solos".[19] Rafael "engag[ed] in a fantasy conversation" in the song "Emma Watson", "wax[ed] poetic" in the song "Starlit Nights", "fe[lt] miserable" in "Red Roses", and "relish[ed] the past" in "Five Hundred Days".[19] He worked with the actor Dante Basco and the production company Kinetic Films to create Red Roses The Movie, a musical that would have been inspired by his album with the same name and would have starred himself.[5] After Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, they stopped work on the musical to concentrate on helping the storm's victims.[5]

Rafael performed "We Could Happen" on the ABS-CBN morning show Umagang Kay Ganda in January 2012.[21] On January 8, 2012, he sang live on the ABS-CBN variety show ASAP 2012 with Gary Valenciano.[22] At the end of 2012, he joined Maker Studios, an independent network of YouTube channels.[6] In a 2012 interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rafael said his music was influenced by Jason Mraz, John Mayer, and Christina Perri, as well as the Filipino artists Kitchie Nadal, South Border, Ice Seguerra, and Gary Valenciano.[4] In 2013, he spoke at NextDayBetter, a conference featuring Filipino Americans that is similar to the TED Talks.[23] That year, Rafael did a collaboration with The Fung Brothers for a video titled "Asians Eat Weird Things" in which they rapped at a 99 Ranch Market about how Asians ate century egg, balut, chicken feet, pig intestines, and tripe.[24]

In June 2014, Rafael penned an open letter to his viewers announcing his indefinite pause from performing at live shows in August 2014.[25] Noting that he had over a half million YouTube subscribers and 113 million video views, he said he had difficulty attracting audiences to in-person shows.[25] In an interview with the news website Rappler, Rafael said, "it's looking at these numbers and being like, 'How am I gonna turn this into financial support for me and my family?' That's the struggle as well. ... I have to be selfish for a little bit, I think, and kinda take it back, take a few steps back."[25] It was challenging for Rafael to make money from writing and performing original songs that were not released by a record label and he had personal justifications for his hiatus.[26] His last show before his break was in Guam on August 29, 2014, at Father Dueñas Memorial School's Phoenix Center.[27] He performed songs from his album Red Roses as well as a Disney medley.[27] Pacific Daily News reviewer Rocky Daleno said it "was a truly incredible experience and one of the best performances from a stateside artist Guam has had in several years".[27]

Around 2015, he started a Bounded, a clothing brand influenced by Disney.[7] In 2016, Rafael inked an agreement with Disney Digital Network.[10][28] In 2017, Rafael performed at VidCon at the Anaheim Convention Center.[10] In an interview with the Orange County Register for the event, Rafael, who said he never received a recording contract, said, "I tried, but I never had the opportunity. I felt like they weren't looking for people like me – an Asian-American singer".[10] On an October 21, 2018, episode of the music TV show Coke Studio Philippines, Rafael performed with Moira Dela Torre.[29]

Rafael has been an actor, music director, and dancer in local musical theater shows including Tarzan.[8] He performed in Spring Awakening in a show produced by Riverside Repertory Theater in 2016.[7] Rafael assumed the role of Terk in a Riverside City College production of the musical Tarzan in January 2019.[30] He performed as Pepper in East West Players's presentation of Mamma Mia! in May 2019.[31][32] In February 2020, he had 933,000 YouTube subscribers.[8] On February 1, 2020, he posted an original song called "Waking Up Sucks (Sometimes)" to YouTube.[8] The previous time he had released an original song was in 2014.[8]

Influenced by the film Crazy Rich Asians, Rafael in September 2018 started Crazy Talented Asians, a live variety show that showcases Asians in the performing arts community.[33] The event, which had poetry readings, singing, and dancing, originally was hosted at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood.[33] Crazy Talented Asians subsequently was relocated to the David Henry Hwang Theatre after East West Players began co-hosting it.[33] Rafael co-hosted the ninth installment of the show, which was virtual, with Alyssa Navarro in December 2020.[33] After surpassing one million subscribers on December 28, 2020,[2] Rafael received a Gold Creator Award from YouTube in early 2021.[34][35] When he received the award, he had 567 videos on his channel.[34]