&FRIENDS Festival is upon us. Set to turn up the heat on May 30 and 31 at the Okada Manila in Paranaque City, the festival brings together global acts across pop, hip-hop, and EDM alongside some of the Internet’s biggest personalities. Festival headliners include Zedd, BBNO$, and Illenium, and the lineup is stacked with local and global gamers, musicians, Twitch streamers, DJs, and viral meme gods. The first of its kind in the Philippines, &FRIENDS collides music, gaming, rave culture, and peak Internet brain rot into one unmissable party.
“People of Manila, get set to turn it up,” Vietnamese-Canadian DJ and producer Hoang told Rolling Stone Philippines. Hoang started his musical journey back in 2018 with his first single “Don’t Say.” Hoang shot to viral fame in 2020 with his collaboration “Million Days” alongside SABAI and Olivia Ridgely, racking up nearly 57 million Spotify streams to date. “Get ready to hear all our classics, and maybe a few surprises just for you.”
“We definitely will be throwing in some Filipino references into our sets,” echoed multi-hyphenate artist MVSE. As a DJ, producer, and songwriter, MVSE has also achieved viral fame with his tracks, which blend electronic beats with earworm-level pop melodies. His 2021 EP UNI VERSE features some of his most viral tracks, such as “Die in Your Arms.” “Moments” (feat. Rynn), another major track in MVSE’s discography, was mixed in collaboration with Hoang.
“Before the start of any festival, we always try to set the precedent that we’re bringing the party to our fans,” MVSE told Rolling Stone Philippines. “We always do our best to include inside references, jokes, and sounds that only specific audiences can get. We’ve only been in the Philippines for half a day, but after listening to some of your big OPM hits, we’re excited to see what we can add to our sets.” When asked what OPM acts they’re most drawn to, both MVSE and Hoang were quick to answer in unison: “BINI!”
Beyond music, &FRIENDS doubles as a global showcase of Internet culture. From inviting some of the most popular Twitch streamers to date, like Antony Chen and BTMC, to having a giant headliner like BBNO$, whose infectious streaming hits “edamame” and “Lalala” have taken TikTok by storm, &FRIENDS is redefining the boundaries between digital communities and live experiences. “We’re ready to do a lot of livestreams of the event on Twitch,” BTMC told Rolling Stone Philippines. BTMC rose to Internet stardom playing Osu!, a freeware rhythm game that challenges players to rapidly hit circles, sliders, and spinners in time with music.
BTMC took home the 2020 Osu! World Cup, cementing his reputation as one of the game’s top competitors. At &FRIENDS, BTMC will lead one of the festival panels on online creators and contribute to promoting the festival online. “The audiences live streaming [&FRIENDS] on Twitch will definitely bring their own kind of energy,” said BTMC. “People come to these streams to be entertained, and it really opens the door in terms of accessibility, because a lot of people don’t have the means or just aren’t able to come out to these things.”
