The Nurse Rapper
Han Han is a Filipina-Canadian artist and operating room nurse. At the hospital, she saves lives. Onstage, she inspires audiences. Her kinetic, high-energy performances offer unique perspectives. Her songs grapple with social issues and her experiences as a woman and an immigrant.
Han Han can broadly be described as an emcee, using rap and spoken word techniques to deliver her vocals. Her approach is melodic, and she chooses to sing almost exclusively in Filipino languages — Tagalog and Cebuano — rather than shoehorning her ideas into translation in order to cater to English-speaking audiences. Her songs combine contemporary, 808-hip-hop beats with traditional Filipino rhythms and cadences, yielding fresh sounds that tend to spur dancing wherever they’re heard.
After immigrating to Toronto in 2006, she took part in an ongoing poetry workshop. This experience organically drew her into the city’s music and arts communities, as she joined collectives and performed at local events. In 2014, she self-released her debut album, Han Han, which was praised by NOW Magazine, the Huffington Post, and the CBC. Single ‘World Gong Crazy’ was nominated for "Best Song" in Berlin Music Video Awards 2017, where she also performed. The record also led to a publishing deal with EMI, high-quality film / television placements (Nurses, Mad Dogs, The Indefinites, Tattoo Age: Season 2), and international radio play in Germany, France, New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines, to name a few. Her fist album was also acquired by the Library and Archives Canada in 2017.
She released her sophomore album, URDUJA, and was considered one of the sounds setting the tone of 2020 in Toronto. She was also featured in CBC Q studio. Furthermore, her music collaborations with Lex Junior namely, "Spicy Tunaz" and "Driftin' have landed in various commercial sync placements. She also collaborated with KONQISTADOR for their album NAFADA, and was featured in the song, "Visaya".
Han Han has performed in several festivals both locally (Toronto, Brampton, Guelph, Vancouver) and internationally (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, Manila). In 2018, she opened up for Anoushka Shankar for Stern Grove festival.
Her projects were generously supported and funded by Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and FACTOR.