AJ Rafael

Arthur Joseph Rafael (born March 12, 1989), known professionally as AJ Rafael, is a Filipino-American singer-songwriter, YouTuber, and TikToker. Born in Moreno Valley, California, he attended the Berklee College of Music but did not graduate.

Rafael started a Myspace account in 2003 and uploaded a song he wrote for a girl he met on the Internet. He also uploaded a Meg & Dia medley which garnered him attention from the band and received 30,000 views. He competed on season 4 of American Idol and was eliminated. In 2006, he posted his first YouTube video which was a Meg & Dia medley. In 2010, Rafael released an extended play titled Juicebox. Early the next year, he appeared on Billboards recently created "Uncharted" chart. He released his debut album Red Roses in 2011 and went on tours in Southeast Asia and Australia to promote it. Rafael took an indefinite hiatus from touring in 2014 after he had difficulty filling seats at his concerts despite his having a half million YouTube subscribers and millions of video views.

Inspired by the film Crazy Rich Asians, he started the Crazy Talented Asians variety show in 2018 to showcase Asians in the performing arts community. He has organized charity concerts for Autism Speaks since 2006 and started Music Speaks, an annual charity concert that informs people about autism. In 2020, Rafael released "Waking Up Sucks (Sometimes)", his first original song since 2014. He posted to TikTok an impromptu duet he did with his girlfriend, Alyssa Navarro, of the Mulan song "Reflection". Filmed while they were in quarantine in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in California, the video went viral, accruing over 10million views.

Career Early career (2003–2010)

Rafael created a Myspace account in 2003. He wrote his first song titled "How's San Diego Pauli" in 2004 when he was 16 years old and uploaded it to Myspace. He composed the song for a girl whom he had connected with on the Internet for her birthday. Since Myspace did not support posting videos at that time, Rafael wrote JavaScript and HTML to showcase his songs through the RealPlayer media player plugin. The band shared his video on its Myspace page which led to the video's getting 30,000 views. Rafael became a YouTube partner in 2008, which allowed him to receive a portion of the advertising income when people watch his videos. Since he attributed his success to forging a rapport with his fans, he routinely used Facebook and Twitter to tell his viewers about his day-to-day experiences. In a 2009 article in the Inland Empire Weekly, journalist Lilledeshan Bose wrote, "Rafael's songs, whether on the ukulele, guitar or piano, are made in the same vein: sweet pop ballads. His voice is crystal-clear, with never a sour note in the mix." By 2010, he had uploaded over 150videos that collectively accrued 80million views.

Juicebox, Red Roses, and tours (2010–2014)

In April 2010, Rafael released his first extended play, Juicebox, copies of which people purchased online. He performed songs from the EP during in-person concerts. That year, Billboard chose his band to compete with five others in "Battle of the Bands" with the winner performing in the Billboard Music Awards.

To raise money for his first album, Rafael started a Kickstarter campaign requesting $6,000 and received $11,000 from contributors. The Philippine Daily Inquirer said "We Could Happen" and "When We Say" had "catchy beats" that "have made fans out of casual viewers". Along with a band that included Andrew Rhim on guitar, Noah Bartfield on bass, and Danny Morledge on drums, Rafael performed songs from the album in Southeast Asia and Australia. The attendees were primarily teenage girls. On January 8, 2012, he sang live on the ABS-CBN variety show ASAP 2012 with Gary Valenciano. At the end of 2012, he joined Maker Studios, an independent network of YouTube channels. That year, Rafael did a collaboration with The Fung Brothers for a video titled "Asians Eat Weird Things" in which they rapped at a 99 Ranch Market about how Asians ate century egg, balut, chicken feet, pig intestines, and tripe.

Hiatus from tours, Crazy Talented Asians, and one million subscribers (2014–present) In June 2014, Rafael penned an open letter to his viewers announcing his indefinite pause from performing at live shows in August 2014. Noting that he had over a half million YouTube subscribers and 113 million video views, he said he had difficulty attracting audiences to in-person shows. He performed songs from his album Red Roses as well as a Disney medley. In 2017, Rafael performed at VidCon at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Rafael has been an actor, music director, and dancer in local musical theater shows including Tarzan. He performed as Pepper in East West Players's presentation of Mamma Mia! in May 2019. In February 2020, he had 933,000 YouTube subscribers. The event, which had poetry readings, singing, and dancing, originally was hosted at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood. Rafael received a Gold Creator Award from YouTube in early 2021. When he received the award, he had 567videos on his channel.

Charity and activism Before 2010, Rafael performed his music on YouTube and Ustream for multiple charity events, including securing $8,000 that went to his church, $6,800 for a "Walk for Autism", and $4,000 for Typhoon Ketsana victims.

Rafael was one of the leaders of the "#WashTheHate" social media campaign launched on March 18, 2020, to bring attention to the racism against Asian Americans related to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, Rafael said Asian Americans needed to "do better" in supporting people of color who are discriminated against. On May 27, 2020, he wrote on Instagram, "We can call out the injustices happening to us as we are being blamed for the coronavirus AND call out White Supremacy [and] racism happening towards the Black community by all other races (including ours)."

Personal life Arthur Joseph Rafael was born to Arturo "Jun" Rafael and Shirley Rafael, a nurse, in Moreno Valley, California, on March 12, 1989. Rafael's parents met singing in the same choir. His parents came from Tondo, Manila, in the Philippines. He has three sisters: Justine, Jasmine, and Aileen. Able to comprehend Tagalog, Rafael in his youth consumed Filipino cuisine and attended Filipino parties.

While in seventh grade at Vista Heights Middle School in Moreno Valley, California, Rafael performed in his first musical Bugsy Malone Jr.

In mid-2016, Rafael began dating Alyssa Navarro who in 2020 was a Walt Disney Studio employee in its "Multicultural Audience Engagement" organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic in California, Rafael sheltered in place with Navarro in their Glendale, California, apartment. While Navarro worked, Rafael frequently played the piano, prompting Navarro to sing along. The couple's music subsequently was played on ABS-CBN and Good Morning America. They have two dogs, Kitchie and Bean. They married in August 2022, with Dante Basco officiating.

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