Up and coming artist, Rafi, has officially launched her heartfelt debut EP titled before me. The 20-year-old Filipina singer-songwriter’s debut EP features 4 tracks: “i stay silent,” “unpaid debt,” “fine wine,” and “anything for you,” all focusing on her real-life experiences including heartbreak and finding self-love. Impressively, Rafi grew up in the industry, beginning her musical journey at the age of 5 through theater and attending the music school of Ryan Cayabyab for her vocal studies, and is currently a student at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. before me was created in collaboration with her friends from Berklee – Edward Bjorkman on guitar, Toby Dorfman on bass, Jacob Singson on drums, and co-writer and co-producer on the EP, Ameer Corro who also plays the keys.

On July 19th, Rafi’s family and friends gathered at The Frazzled Cook to celebrate the launch and support Rafi as she answered questions from the press. Arambulo Live attended the album launch via Zoom to ask Rafi about her songwriting process to which she answered, “I think, as a songwriter, it is important to know that there is no correct way to go about things. There isn’t one way to write a song. Sometimes the melody will come first, sometimes the lyrics will come first. In terms of personal experience, yes po, I go through things and a lot of the time it takes a lot of time for me to process everything. But for example, for ‘i stay silent,’ inspiration just struck me and I wrote the song in less than 30 minutes because it has such big emotional baggage, but other songs took a little bit longer. I love the art of songwriting, it allows us to capture a specific moment in time.” For the listeners who get a chance to experience before me, it takes you on a journey and helps you visualize a movie-like story. If before me was the soundtrack to a film, who would Rafi want to star in it? Julia Roberts and Ryan Reynolds! Rafi also stated that seeing mega-popular Filipino love-team, DonBelle, which is comprised of Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano, would be a really great choice too.

Not only is Rafi a Star Magic artist, a singer-songwriter, and Berklee student, she is also a content creator who shares lifestyle videos and vlogs on TikTok and YouTube, earning her a following of over 275k! before me is a stunning piece of some of Rafi’s personal stories merged into one body of work with each track finding relatability to the listeners – the soundtrack to her life.

before me is now available on all music streaming platforms worldwide! Keep an eye out for Rafi, we expect her to be the next big thing!