Jelo The Weirdo
Angelo Acosta (born December 15, 2001), known professionally as Jelo The Weirdo, is a Filipino singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and occasional actor.[1][2]
Jelo The Weirdo | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Angelo Acosta |
| Also known as | Jelo Acosta |
| Born | December 15, 2001 Quezon City, Philippines |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2022–present |
| Website | www |
Early and personal life
Acosta was born on December 15, 2001, in Quezon City, Philippines. He has an older sibling; their father, who was a cop in Manila was murdered on duty when they were kids and their mother had to raise them on her own.[3] At age 12, he began recording in different studios from time to time.[3][4] He transferred schools[5] because they moved out of apartments almost every year,[5]partly the reason behind his stage name, "“I decided to go with it because people called me a weirdo when I was in high school", he said.[5][6][3][4]
Career
From 2013 to 2016, Acosta recorded hundreds of unreleased songs in his native language, but the hard drive containing his tracks were lost when a fire broke besides their house when he was 15 in a densely-populated area with informal settlers in Navotas. [7] In 2017, he rode a bus by himself to audition for "Sinong Nanay Mo?" (lit. Who's Your Mother?), a quiz bee contest in TV for intellectual kids aired on ABS-CBN's It's Showtime. He made the segment marking his first national TV appearance but lost. He was then persuaded by an agent to work as a commercial model while studying, he was paid $10 for his first job as an acting extra and $200 when he was first cast as a lead in a Grab advertisement.[8] In hopes of eventually starting a music career and to pay for studio time, he continued to try his luck on every opportunity and met countless rejections. "I can't count how many times I was ridiculed for trying in every reality show & every acting role for film & TV, because the ratio of acceptance was like 6 out of 200 tries, it was far from my goal of being a musician but I just needed to move towards it in any way possible.", Acosta said on an interview.
In 2018, he uploaded his first music video via Facebook entitled "Swerte" (lit. Lucky Guy). [9]After hearing about Benny Blanco's similar story of sending unsolicited demos to executives pretending to be Jay Z's lawyer on the phone,[10] Acosta tried cold-calling labels on his aunt's landline, a move that led him to being discovered by Ely Buendia's label "Curve Ent.", he signed a five-year deal that was terminated shortly because of undisclosed reasons.
In 2020, Acosta participated in the blind auditions of the second season of The Voice Teens and sang Shanti Dope's hit "Nadarang", he managed to make Bamboo Mañalac and apl.de.ap turn. He picked the latter as his coach.[11][12] He became the first hip-hop artist to be a finalist across all seasons of The Voice Philippines.[13] He got eliminated in the Battles after performing "Imposible" by KZ Tandingan.
In February 2022, Acosta independently released "Amen", his first single as Jelo The Weirdo, the track garnered local acclaim with 300,000 streams on Spotify. In May 2022, he released "Semi Colon" and the track's music video.
Influences
On a radio interview, Acosta said that he "grew up listening" to Bruno Mars, Gloc-9, and the Black Eyed Peas as an eight-year-old[14][4] before discovering his main musical influences that include Frank Ocean, Ed Sheeran, Childish Gambino and Drake. Other artists Acosta has said inspired his work include The Weeknd, Juice WRLD, Mac Miller, XXXTentacion, and Post Malone.[4]
Discography
Singles
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Film Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Finding You | Friend of Nel & Grace (Credited) | Regal Films | First film appearance (also on Netflix) |
Television
| Year | Title | Network | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017; 2019 | It's Showtime | ABS-CBN | Contestant (Sinong Nanay Mo?, Mr. Q&A) | Episode: "January 19, 2017" Episode: "October 10, 2019" |
| 2018 | Magandang Buhay | McDo Segment Guest | Episode: July 3, 2018 | |
| 2018 | Kadenang Ginto | Ser | Appeared on three episodes[19] | |
| 2018 | Since I Found You | Adrian | Brother of lead character Dani (Arci Muñoz) | |
| 2018 | Home Sweetie Home | Angry Customer | Episode: June 30, 2018 | |
| 2018 | Imbestigador | GMA Network | Roy | Episode: "July 21, 2018"; First lead role |
| 2019 | iJuander | Himself | Episode: February 3, 2019 | |
| 2019 | Wish Ko Lang! | JM | Episode: "November 3, 2019" | |
| 2020 | The Voice Teens | ABS-CBN | Teen Artist | Under Team APL |
| 2021 | It's Showtime | Kapamilya Channel | Himself/Guest | Episode: "September 23, 2021" |
See also
References
- ^ "Meet Jelo Acosta, Pinoy Rap's Newest Prodigy". One Music PH.
- ^ "Angelo Acosta promotes 2 of his original rap songs "Swerte" & 'Abaniko" (NET25 LETTERS AND MUSIC)".
- ^ a b c "Meet Jelo Acosta from Quezon City".
- ^ a b c d Subaria, Abrah Ann. "ANGELO ACOSTA SA PINAS FM 95.5". pinasfm.com.
- ^ a b c "Jelo the Weirdo displays his unique charm on debut single 'Amen'". Village Pipol. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ "Video on Facebook".
- ^ "Ciar: Fast-rising OPM artists sa Curve Entertainment".
- ^ "Video on Facebook".
- ^ "Video on Facebook".
- ^ "Benny Blanco Quote on Wordpress".
- ^ "'The Voice Teens 2': Aspiring rapper charms Bamboo, Apl.de.ap with 'Nadarang'". ABS-CBN News.
- ^ "Voice Teens 2: Team Apl's Jelo goes against CZ in battle round". ABS-CBN News.
- ^ "Mga fans nagulantang JK biglang nagpaalam". Abante.
- ^ "Jelo Acosta, Pinoy Rap's newest prodigy". www.manilatimes.net.
- ^ "Jelo The Weirdo Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard.
- ^ "Jelo The Weirdo Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard.
- ^ "Discographie Jelo The Weirdo". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "Jelo The Weirdo | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Kadenang Ginto Recap: Cassie and Marga get drunk in a party".