The Swedish company drew international ire for participating in the US government-sponsored campaign, and eventually stopped airing ICE ads<\/a> in late 2025.<\/p>\n But the unsolicited, algorithm-fed listening experience was enough to disillusion Deocampo, who was already skeptical<\/a> about for-profit streaming companies and their questionable allegiances.<\/p>\n It led him to revisit an idea he\u2019d had since 2016: what would it take to develop a streaming player for his own music?<\/p>\n \u201cBefore the bullshit about the commercials with ICE recruitment, these DSP have always thrived on independent art,\u201d Deocampo said of commercial digital streaming platforms. \u201cTheir platforms are held up by independent artists, not by corporate labels. But independent artists only get a fraction of a fraction of a cent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to remove [myself] from that,\u201d he told The Oaklandside. \u201cI formulated an idea of a co-op model, where artists contribute regularly. We can all share it: equal voting, equal paycheck, something sustainable. I wanted to explore that.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Deocampo said, he was quoted around $40,000 to develop such an app; he didn\u2019t have the funding, so he holstered the idea.<\/p>\n But now, a decade later, the recording of his latest album coincides with the increased availability of DIY app development software. Earlier this month, the Filipino American artist launched a new album and streaming project, both with the same name: \u201cBass Building.\u201d<\/p>\n His innovation? The rap album will be sold as its own streaming app. It\u2019s the first in what he hopes will be a series of records to be released using the technology. The experimental approach will include liner notes, behind-the-scenes content, and other forms of digital exclusives that are meant to immerse fans in ways that Democampo recalled experiencing as a hip-hop head growing up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. In those days, albums and CDs included physical media and collectible perks to build loyal listeners. According to Deocampo, the Bass Building app will allow fans to have greater access to the artist, as the app will allow artists to add more music and content over time, making each album a living artwork rather than a static artifact.<\/p>\n The Bass Building app was developed by George Walters Jr. and coordinated by Sheppi Soliven exclusively for Deocampo and Beatrock Music<\/a> \u2014 the gritty, underground hip-hop label that Deocampo has overseen as the label\u2019s chairman since 2010. Deocampo said he doesn\u2019t plan to \u201cgatekeep\u201d the tech; instead, he wants to subvert the streaming monopolies and spread the wealth by providing others with the tool.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to help young artists realize that we can go back to the old school selling CDs out of the trunk model with technology, we just need to harness it for us,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t get away from it completely, but ultimately we\u2019re trying to disrupt the way music is put out.\u201d He said if he sells a few hundred records on the app, he\u2019ll get paid more than a million spins on Spotify. \u201cThat\u2019s a no brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n Named in homage to hip-hop\u2019s heavy bassline riffs and the base-building approach of grassroots activists that centers working-class communities, Deocampo is once again bucking against the corporate music industry while embracing his creative arc as a father, activist and neighborhood OG.<\/p>\n Revolutionary-minded rap and activism<\/p>\n In 2002, he co-founded the rap group Native Guns<\/a> with Los Angeles emcee Kiwi and Bay Area turntablist DJ Phatrick. The group made waves in the conscious rap sphere with their unapologetic, revolutionary-minded politics and sharp-tongued lyrics. Around that time, Bambu adopted community activism as a lifestyle by participating in youth- and student-led organizations. At one point, in the early 2010s, his music was tapped by activists combating a gang injunction in Ventura during a time of increased criminalization of low-income communities in Southern California, and he recalled that protesters borrowed rhymes from his music and printed lyrics on t-shirts to raise awareness. Activists brought the artist to meet with organizers, and their resident-led mobilization ultimately pushed back the gang injunctions. Deocampo\u2019s mission has never been to top record charts, but to affect real-world living conditions. Having worked with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee\u2019s ROOTS program in San Quentin, Kabataang Maka-Bayan Pro-People Youth in Los Angeles, and other California organizations in the past decade, Deocampo is well-versed in community-initiated social reform.<\/p>\n Though Deocampo is no longer on the community frontlines\u00a0 \u2014 he now works for a local cannabis company while making music in his spare time \u2014 he told The Oaklandside that the album is rooted in his long-time involvement as an organizer and is centered on his faith in progress for future generations.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this shit for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cBase-building is still a very vital, core part of organizing, and now my son is doing that work. That all built the climate for this album.\u201d<\/p>\n True to form, \u201cBass Building,\u201d the album, features cameos from established and up-and-coming West Coasters, who each align with Deocampo\u2019s radical approach and his desire for social change through art, music and labor rights advocacy. Their presence lends the album a panoply of stylistic variations and an intergenerational pedigree.<\/p>\n Ruby Ibarra<\/a>, a San Franciscan Pinay who went viral in 2025 when she was selected for NPR\u2019s Tiny Desk, appears on the track \u201cJesus Piece.\u201d Ibarra, who is herself with the label Beatrock, is joined on the song by Miss A<\/a>, a fiery representative of the Philippines-based record label MoroBeats<\/a>. Prometheus Brown<\/a>, a veteran Seattle rapper formerly known as Geologic of the Blue Scholars, hops on \u201cFukkaround.\u201d And Mistah Lefty<\/a>, an emerging battle rapper from Mandaue City, rounds out the all-Filipino cast of spitters with his appearances on \u201cIt\u2019s Called Imperialism\u201d and \u201cRight Wing, Left Hook.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Faith Santilla<\/a> \u2014 a prominent Los Angeles political organizer and poet who Deocampo said galvanized his political consciousness early on \u2014 who serves as the album\u2019s master of ceremonies, appearing all over the project in the form of a spoken word rabble-rouser.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s the godmother of that movement for my generation,\u201d Deocampo said of Santilla, who opens \u201cBass Building\u201d with a spirited poem. Her poems on the album, he said, are \u201cmeant to feel like you\u2019re in an organizational meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n California roots and Filipino instruments<\/p>\n The album\u2019s energy is insurgent, political and conceptual. The production \u2014 handled by a trio of Deocampo\u2019s FilAm co-conspirators in ET IV<\/a>, DJ Phatrick<\/a> and Fatgums<\/a> \u2014 incorporates the kulintang, an indigenous gong-chime instrument from the Visayas region of the Philippine islands, where Deocampo\u2019s mother hails from, blended with old school Memphis rap-influenced drum patterns. It\u2019s an audio mosaic that reflects Deocampo\u2019s \u201980s and \u201990s upbringing and honors the first-generation tapestry of being raised as a Filipino American in predominantly Black and Brown communities.<\/p>\n \u201cHip-hop was political in its inception,\u201d Deocampo told The Oaklandside. \u201cIt was combating the lack of music and art programs. During the Reagan era, things were getting defunded. Hip-hop was the jet fuel to get shit going for the youth: \u2018What is going on and what can we do to solve these problems?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For Deocampo, music as a form of connection, storytelling and identity-building \u2014 separate from the corporate aspects of the music industry \u2014 has been life-altering. Before he launched what would become a decades-long rap career, Deocampo was on a path toward incarceration. At age 16, he committed an armed robbery and was sentenced to two years in Los Angeles\u2019 Central Juvenile Hall. Upon his release, a judge advised him to join the military, and he wound up serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. Throughout it all, hip-hop \u2014 especially its origins in struggle and collective empowerment \u2014 provided him with a sonic blueprint for transformation.<\/p>\n The \u201cBass Building\u201d album and app is Deocampo\u2019s most tech-savvy form of resistance yet. It\u2019s a way to gain agency, to imagine solutions that directly serve artists-as-laborers in an ever-shifting digital and corporate context.\u00a0<\/p>\n In celebratory fashion, Deocampo and a slew of his collaborators from the album \u2014 including his 8-year-old daughter, Izzy, who delivered a bilingual freestyle in English and Tagalog \u2014\u00a0 performed at The Ford<\/a>, a historic Hollywood venue, on Oct. 10. The message throughout the night was clear: artists want and deserve what they are owed.<\/p>\n Of course, his efforts haven\u2019t gone without resistance. While the project debuted on Android as scheduled, it has been \u201cheld hostage\u201d by Apple<\/a>, as Democampo shared in a recent Instagram post. Still, he said, he\u2019s fighting the fight, refusing to back down from any industry goliaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dream. With the app, you can support your people more directly,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how it goes. It\u2019s ballsy. People might not be hip to it. But this gives us that opportunity. This is that first step.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBass Building\u201d was released on Oct. 1 through an app of the same name. It is currently available for download on Android phones and via Bandcamp.<\/p>\n “*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n \t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8503_theford_beauryan-1600x1195.jpeg\")
Jonah Deocampo, who performs as Bambu DePistola, at The Ford in Hollywood, Oct. 10, 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8641_theford_beauryan-1-1600x1126.jpeg\")
Spoken word artist Faith Santilla performs at part of Bambu DePistola\u2019s set at The Ford in Hollywood, Oct. 10. 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8734_theford_beauryan-1600x1183.jpeg\")
Prometheus Brown, a Filipino American rapper from Seattle, takes the stage as part of Bambu DePistola\u2019s set at The Ford in Hollywood, Oct. 10, 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8584_theford_beauryan-1600x1108.jpeg\")
Bambu DePistola performs with his 8-year-old daughter Izzy at The Ford in Hollywood, Oct. 10, 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8810_theford_beauryan-1-1600x1062.jpeg\")
Bambu DePistola, far right, and his array of poetry and music collaborators onstage at The Ford, Oct. 10. 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/250A8850_theford_beauryan-1600x1204.jpeg\")
Deocampo, center rear in the black cap, and his band of collaborators backstage at The Ford, Oct. 10, 2026. Credit: Beau Ryan<\/p>\n