Crash Adams and the story behind ‘Can you rap in public?’ series
MANILA, Philippines — The viral “Can you rap in public?” series of the Canadian pop music duo Crash Adams happened “by accident.” Little did they know that it would earn a cult following online and become a hit.
Rafaele Massarelli and Vince Sasso of Crash Adams, who gained popularity on social media with their viral music content, recalled to The STAR how their “Can you rap in public?” came to be.
The concept behind the series was that the two would approach random strangers on the street and challenge them to do rap on the spot.
A year ago, while performing their song Caroline in public, Jaree, a random rapper, carrying his son on his hand, hopped on the song and did a freestyle rap. The video blew up on YouTube with over 50 million views. They went on to record Caroline featuring Jaree with his freestyle remix in a studio.
“Basically, we said, ‘You wanna be in a video?’ Basically, he was just supposed to be listening to our song and say if he liked it or not. He wasn’t supposed to rap,” shared Vince to this paper in an exclusive interview before their Manila show, presented by Warner Music Philippines, at the Ayala Malls TriNoma held recently.
“After the song was done, he told me to keep playing on the guitar and he took the mic from Raf and rapped with his son on his hand… And the thing is, people loved it,” continued Vince.
Jaree was supposed to be there to stand and just be part of the video. As Raf recounted, “He said, ‘Keep going, keep going.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ So, he kept playing the guitar and he started rapping. And we posted it on YouTube and it got like a hundred million views. And we did that. We were like, ‘Crap, we should do more.’”
With how things turned out, unexpectedly, they carried on with their “Can you rap in public?” series and eventually got to feature other rising artists on their online show.
The “cool thing” about it was they got to go to different countries with such series. Vince offered, “It started in America and now we’ve gone to so many different countries, in Singapore, in Dubai, here in Philippines, with Filipino artists. And being able to share our platform with those artists. It kinda gives them a platform as well. It’s something that we really believe in.”
The first two episodes that they did for the show were random, revealed Vince. “And people loved it so much and we decided to continue the series and now we reached out to artists that we think are great.”
Raf echoed, “Like some of the ones now are not random. We know the artists. We reached out to them and said, ‘Hey, you want to be on this.’ For us, it’s more of a showcase of great talent.”
Crash Adams, who was named after the 1998 flick “Patch Adams,” energetically played their feel-good tunes, such as Caroline, Destination, and the fan-favorite Give Me A Kiss during their recent gig in Manila.
Filipino band Sugarcane opened the show for the duo, while Lola Amour got to share the stage with Crash Adams.
The visiting music act was named among the top artists on TikTok Canada in 2022 and 2023, and was nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024.
They, of course, were grateful for their Filipino supporters who came to see them at their event. “Thank you so much. You, guys, are amazing. You, guys, are hardcore fans and we’re so thankful to be playing here, for you and to be visiting your country,” Raf told their Pinoy fans.
Meanwhile, here’s the rest of the interview where the pop musicians talked about their experience in the Philippines and their dynamics as a duo.
How was it meeting Filipino artists?
Raf: “Everybody is so good in their own way. I think like in the Philippines, we had PLAYERTWO, jikamarie, and we had one surprise that we don’t wanna say yet until it comes out (referring to Lola Amour). And all three artists were fantastic. (They have) great energy. Everybody here is so nice, the Filipino hospitality is real.”
Vince: “So many great singers here, too.”
What stories have you heard about the Philippines prior to coming here?
Raf: “I really heard that we’re gonna love the people. That’s the first thing that we heard. We didn’t know much. We just knew that our fans really wanted us to come. I heard it was really hot. But it has been an amazing experience.”
You were childhood friends before becoming a music duo. How did you venture into music together?
Vince: “So, basically, I grew up with my guitar. He was a DJ pretty much and he said, ‘Hey, you wanna play guitar on some of my tracks?’ I said yes and we kept doing it over and over again. Eventually, I got moved from college, got in a studio and it’s been like that ever since.”
Raf: “I think it was pretty easy to kind of (do music together) because I only got in the studio and it was just like, we’ve been doing it for 10 years together because we know each other for so long.”
How would you describe each other as a co-artist?
Raf: “I would describe him as (someone who has) a great ear. He knows what sounds good in the right moments. That’s what I would say.”
Vince: “I would say he has a terrible ear (laughs). No, I would say lyrics, melodies, it’s top of the line. The best.”
What’s your creative process in recording a song?
Raf: “It changes every time. Sometimes, he will send me something, sometimes, he’ll say, ‘Don’t come in the room. Let me be by myself. I wanna make something.’
“And then I won’t come in the room and let him do his thing. And then I’ll come in and I’ll write some lyrics. But sometimes, we’re in the room together. Sometimes, I’ll start with an idea and then I’ll say, ‘Hey these ideas (are) OK. I need you to make it better.’ And he’ll come in and he’ll make it better. I feel like that’s how we do our thing.”
What makes you, guys, click as a duo?
Raf: “I think that we’re opposites. I think that’s what helps because he’s good at what I’m not good at. Sometimes, when I’m feeling great, he’s not feeling great and I pull him up. When I’m not feeling great, he’s always feeling great and he pulls me up. And I think that really works together.”
Did you also have some disagreements of some sort?
Vince: “Every day. We have to deal and figure out disagreements otherwise Crash Adams would not exist.”
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