In a scene buzzing with great minds and talented creatives, authenticity is sure to shine through. With Costa Cashman, he isn’t afraid to air out his raw thoughts and spit them out into bars that reflect the truth to his life’s experiences.
In this CLAVEL feature, we sit down and talk some shit with one of today’s hip-hop artists to look out for.
Mining for Gold Bars
The story started with a fork in the road: choosing between illegal hustles for cash or sticking with legal means with little to show for. Confronted with this choice, a young Cashman dove headfirst into the realm of rap and hip-hop, seeing money and fame as his ticket out of this life.
“Nainspire ako dahil halos same lifestyles lang kami ng mga idol ko. Kapag trinanslate mo sa Tagalog mga lyrics nila, halos same lang din mga sinasabi nila tungkol sa pag rap sa araw-araw na buhay.”
Influenced by the likes of Shordie Shordie and Shoreline Mafia, whose tracks he admired at an early age, he found the inspiration to pen his own verses, delving into his personal journey – similar to what his idols and peers usually do for a living.
Raking in the Cash with O-Side Mafia
Simple childhood connections turned into an explosive collaboration between Costa Cashman, Gee Exclsv, and Madman Stan of O-Side Mafia which led them to eventually pursue music and rapping together.
“Tatlong ulo kami na nagbabatuhan ng mga ideya, kaya unique yung nagiging kalalabasan niya.”
Unbridled energy from the trio who are known for tracks such as MY THANG and SMD would result in making them a must see act whenever they get together for a gig; a mosh pit being bound to form among a sea of their fans clanging and banging along to their bars and intense energies.
With all the success from the group’s projects, breaking out as a solo act seemed out of question given the tight bond of the trio. Cashman however wanted a way to give back to his roots by helping out some old friends.
Turning Cash to CHEKE
Being signed to CHEKE record label as a solo act, he has managed to level up his own art whilst still maintaining that signature O-Side Mafia style of him screaming all of his energy out into the bars of his songs, albeit of a controlled frenzy.
He credits household artist/producer Fern for this development, with touches of his R&B flavor bleeding into how Cashman approaches the creation of his songs, citing a more mature approach.
“Naglevel up ang tunog ko dahil nakalink ko si Fern. Andun parin ung signature na pagsigaw ko; andun parin yung tunog ng O-Side.”
With Cashman dropping his debut single TALKSHIT, he claps back on all the noise being directed at him and his peers. Being as real as he is, he continues to draw the ire of his opps, which he further expounds on with his freestyle-turned-track TUMESTING KA – a warning shot to say that he has no haters, just fans that have too much to say.
With more in store for Costa Cashman in the future, he’s only getting started in making it rain.
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