Indie RnB meets Grunge-Pop. : Musings on the Rocco + Tobey Lynn Concert in LA
Meet two Gen-Z Fil-Am Singer-Songwriters blazing a trail. Fil-Am Jam writer Jammin muses about the indie music scene.
There’s a small play on the words of a French reflexive verb to say “I’m having fun”, or “Je m’amuse”. Wherein the articles of Fil-Am Jam news, where Jammin’s use of je m’amuse is to say Jamin’s amused, or Jam is to muse and mosh through musical makings, motions, and movements - but more on that in a moment.
(Maybe to find meaning - mga muni muni mula sa museo ng maynila - I digress, musika muna)
Wordplay aside, today’s article covers a brief speculation into the ever-budding indie scene amongst Gen Z’s Fil-Ams through a recap of the Rocco / Tobey Lynn show at the Moroccan Lounge.
If perhaps unbeknownst to the reader, there exists a diverse string of young Fil-Am singers and songwriters deep within the wells of social media and they are absolutely crushing the content game. This generation is no stranger to online digital communities and collaborations - they are stacking their fanbases, selling out shows, taking 0.5x forehead pics, and re-releasing singles at 1.5x playback speed (why??). These indies are maximizing KPIs and algorithmic targets more efficiently than any label team could ever dream of. They’re answering questions of “How do you move 100 units of merch pre-show with little to no promo other than a handful of Reels?” or “How do you sell 250 tickets in two weeks off a feed post without boosting through Meta ads?” Whether it’s the post-pandemic university Zoom course accord or the relentless mycorrhizal network of Tik Tok and reels that keeps them so tapped in - it’s undeniable that Gen-Z’s connection to each other is one of support and stitching, reposting, and remixing, boosting and even gatekeeping.
Through a natural association (that being a Dodge/Chapman IRL mutual), the show at Los Angeles’ arts district adjacent Moroccan Lounge was an ideal match between Rocco’s lover boy Indie-RnB style and Tobey Lynn’s grunge and glitter Indie-Pop anthems. Both icons genuinely linked with the audience’s heartstrings -Tobey digging in on dalagang pilipina and the growing pains of relationships; Rocco speaking to the Fil-Am SoundCloud rapper to RnB pipeline with love songs for all. Other key moments of the night included Rocco’s D’angelo-esque stage entrance to the Soulquarian back-beat of his song “l-o-v-e” to D’angelo-esque swoons from his fans; and the powerful unison of Tobey Lynn’s tagline lyric in “he’s nothing like u” had the ladies in the room screaming “HE WOULD NEVER DO THE SHIT THAT YOU DO”.
It’s no doubt that Rocco rocking the Moroccan and Tobey Lynn lighting up the Lounge is proof of their talented storytelling and cognizant success as artists, but it also shows how down the Fil-Am community is to link up and collaborate to really impressive heights. I have strong confidence that this generation will continue to engender a supportive space for their narratives and that we can expect to see a lot coming from this budding digital and physical community of creatives, musicians, designers, fashionistas, videographers et al.
Don’t just take my millennial “have to finish the show by 9 pm bc I worked today and I’m tired” word for it, take a look into their world through their show recap/vlog and get to know the artists and the immense support from their team and fans for yourself.
Check out Rocco’s IG for more information about his upcoming tour and follow Tobey Lynn for more insight on her songwriting process and personality.
If you want to listen to more coming from this generation check out these artists below!
Gen Z Fil-Am: Rocco, Jazelle, asumuh, Tobey Lynn
Gen Z overseas: Zild, Frank Ely, Blaster Silonga, Beabadoobee
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