Ez Mil’s live performance of “Panalo” on Wish Bus USA is currently tearing it up on the internet, amassing 10 million views in just three days as of this writing.
But who is Ez Mil?
In real life, the rapper, who goes by the Instagram handle “Ezekiel Miller”, is a Fil-Caucasian born in Olongapo City in 1998. His father is Paul Sapiera, lead singer of the band RockStar, who came out with a hit of their own with 1993’s “Mahal Pa Rin Kita” and “Parting Time.” His mother is also active in the music industry.
“I was really surrounded by rock music,” he told Wish USA in a December 29 interview. Still, his musical tastes swam against the family tide, and he started dipping his toes into hip hop and R&B and “all of those other genres that are not rock because [...] this is something that is different, like, Imma check it out myself.”
In this “rebellion from overexposure,” as he called it, he became a big fan of Chris Brown, according to a profile on Myx, before branching out to more diverse musical influences, all of which reflect in his tunes today. He counts Gloc-9’s “Hari ng Tondo” as one of his key influences.
“The storytelling in that, he’s like my dream collab,” he said. “His perfect flow, his strictness with flow patterns, his voice character… when I heard ‘Hari ng Tondo’, and even if you saw your video or even if you closed your eyes listening to that song, he the GOAT.”
Ez Mil grew up in the Philippines, but recently moved to the US, living there for four years. (In the December 29 Wish Bus USA interview, it seemed he went home, at least briefly, to Olongapo.) Ez Mil lived in California for that first year, and it was there that his patriotic feeling began to stir, eventually culminating in the very charged lyrics of his viral song “Panalo.” His rock-tinged, English song “Far Away From Home” also contains similar themes.
Aside from rapping and laying down beats, Ez Mil plays both guitar and piano.
He also loves anime, and he tried to incorporate some classic ending theme song vibes into his ballad “Easy-Going Millions.”
“Panalo (Trap Cariñosa)” is his biggest hit to date.
“The idea of using ‘Cariñosa’, the Philippine folk song, was an idea by my mom,” Ez Mil explained. “It has nostalgic memories to me in high school, when I would dance it. My teacher back then would actually praise me because I got the steps right.” He incorporated the song as an actual loop, and he laid down “super patriotic” bars over the production.
“It was more like a savage patriotism, where empowerment is the main focus,” he said.
He released two albums in 2020, Act I (which contains “Panalo”, “Easy-Going Millions”, and “Far Away From Home”) as well as Resonances. Filipino rapper Loonie reviewed Act I, and according to Ez Mil, said that “he lost his mind” while listening to the LP. Cong TV even praised his song in an episode of their talk show last weekend, with the Ilocano members of Team Payaman giving their translation and take on the song's Ilocano lyrics.
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