CEBU, Philippines – Gab Valenciano said on Sunday he left the Philippines to try his luck in the U.S. because he felt rejected by local showbiz and it “made me feel like one of the most worthless artists in the history of artists.”
The multi-talented son of singer Gary Valenciano and talent manager Angeli, who is now based in Los Angeles after studying music industry and recording arts at Full Sail University in Florida from 2012 to 2014, said he was “judged, ridiculed and hated for some of the dumbest reasons, ever.”
“Before I left for the States, I was secretly hiding under an umbrella of depression for a good four years, drowning in an industry I was never really accepted in and masking it by going out almost every night and making the worst decisions in life,” he said in a lengthy and eloquent post to his Facebook page.
He slammed the industry for valuing good looks and “being light-skinned” over talent.
“When I left, I decided to maximize myself by getting out of a system that mocks the very core of what it means to be an artist,” he explained.
He confessed that he felt suicidal in his first three months in the U.S. in 2012. “I was alone and had close to nothing to my name. But I stuck with it. I persevered and pushed on,” he recalled.
Three years later, he said, “I am the happiest I have ever been.” He credited much of that to his marriage to model-blogger Tricia Centenera, who became his wife in March.
Last year, Gab gained social media fame for his “Super Selfie” video series on YouTube, which led to a collaboration with Beyonce in her “7/11” music video.
The low-budget, homemade vibe and the funky frenetic dance moves spliced together that Gab has employed in his videos are very evident in Beyonce’s video, which recently won Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Earlier this year, he also showed off his dancing skills in the music video for Ester Dean’s “Crazy Youngsters,” from the “Pitch Perfect 2” soundtrack.
“And so if you ask me why I love where I am with everything I’ve got, it’s probably because despite my obsession with rainbow colored spandex, afros, rad 80's music and dancing like a complete idiot, I was accepted and appreciated beyond what I could have ever imagined, ultimately propelling me to my dream career and profession, professional filmmaking,” he said.
“I have recently been given the opportunity to open my own production company and finally do the thing I have always dreamed of,” he added.
“I am happy now yes, but I still have a very, very long way to go. I have given myself a 10 to 15-year life blueprint filled with dreams, goals, plans and ambitions.” —InterAksyon.com