Portland’s Talilo Marfil is a Filipino-American hip-hop recording artist and two-time RACC Grant Award Winner.
His latest video single, 122nd, was made with a sense of urgency after a year that saw a record 92 homicides here in the Rose City and the recent loss of one of his 18-year-old mentees.
“The track is a candle for those lost and a light to those continuing to hold on,” Marfil says.
122nd Ave. is a side of Portland often described as “forgotten” and the video, directed by Aeon Visuals, takes the viewer on a first-person journey down the street to a mural that tells a story of the people that make this place.
As a Pacific Islander in poverty, Marfil ended up making decisions that put him on the streets, in jail, and eventually, prison. Released at age 21 and guided by spiritual values and a hunger to reclaim his culture, he inspires those with similar challenges.
See the video for 122nd at TaliloMusic.com.
Photo: Talilo Marfil