RAFAEL CENTENERA is very happy about the progress of his music career and, thus, has no regrets about having come back from Malaysia where he lived a safe, secure, happy but not a quite fulfilled life for some 20 years.
“My self-titled album is doing well. It’s selling, it’s heavily requested on the radio, and I get booked into a lot of shows in the malls, in private functions, and in corporate events. I’m really happy singing for my countrymen,” reveals Rafael.
His songs are of the romantic kind, in varying beats and moods. He sings them so touchingly that the radio disc jockeys have dubbed him “Mr. Romantico”–a title he certainly enjoys. He has guested in the most popular radio stations in the country, including DZMM tele-radio, DWLS-FM, and Bombo Radio. He even sang live some cuts from his album in some radio programs.
“Do you know that I’ve even sang some of the cuts in my album to the justices of the Supreme Court? Yes, I did, at the Supreme Court Centennial Celebration last June at the Supreme Court building itself. I felt very much honoured singing for the most respected citizens of our country, including Chief Justice Lourdes Serreno herself,” he recalls.
Rafael sang in the clubs and lounges of Malaysia, as well as recorded albums there. He earned well and lived well in that foreign country. “But at some point, I felt I would be more fulfilled if I sang to my countrymen in the Philippines.
So I came back about a year ago and resumed my singing career here,” he confides. Most of the songs in the album were composed by Vehnee Saturno, so the album as a whole has mass appeal. “I am almost extremely surprised that even the young like the songs in the album.
They request for particular cuts on some radio programs and in the mall shows that Viva Records (the album’s distributor) book me in. Some teens and yuppies even scream my name as if I were a young heartthrob,” shares the good-looking singer who also plays the guitar professionally.
So warm is the reception to his album that he is now planning a second one. “Filipinos love Spanish love songs, specially those that can be adapted to contemporary arrangements–including hip-hop in Tagalog and English.
Well, I am toying with the idea of doing covers of several Spanish songs that Filipinos love by infusing into them contemporary elements– like including a stanza or two in English or Tagalog,” Rafael hints.
Rafael has Spanish blood- -and can speak Spanish. He has become among the favorite vocal partner in private functions and corporate events of Pilita Corrales, the most popular chanteuse of Spanish songs in the Philippines.
“Whatever kind of songs I will come up with in my next album, I will certainly sing them with all my love for my fellow Filipinos in this country,” promises the romantic and nationalistic Rafael Centenera.
