You Got Something, Work on it!

AXE, the renowned male fragrance brand has just launched their newest campaign and scent and variant called AXE You. Bold and fiery, this new scent encourages men to embrace their new style. Igniting passions and inspiring men to work on something they've got. May it be music, film, art or food, Axe believes that success is achieved by working hard. 

This year, they are teaming up with a new breed of Axe guys, men of style and substance. The new Axe men are Nicco Santos of Your Local and Hey Handsome, rapper Curtismith, street artist Jappy Agoncillo, and film director Gino Santos. Together, they launched Axe’s newest campaign: Project You at the different bars in Poblacion, Makati. Oto Bar, Polilya, Pura Vida & Bucky's was the four detination where the new Axe guys was located. I was lucky enough that the location I went to, Oto Bar (aside from their epic cocktails), Curtismith was there and I am fan of his music.

Giving a tease of his new music that is soon to drop, Mito also shared about the series of classes that will be happening led by the Axe guys. Project You is a series of four masterclasses, each hosted by an Axe guy, wherein he will share his knowledge in his field and invite participants to take part in a challenge. Each challenge winner will then get a rare opportunity to work with and for the Axe guys. 

See those writings on the wall? Well mine is "Create Something Today" & "Work Harder" something that I try to incorporate in my everyday life.

Innovating Traditions with Chef Nicco Santos (March 17) 

Apart from learning culinary basics from school, Chef Nicco Santos says that a lot of the things he knows today were gained from experience. In his masterclass, he will talk about the different ways of modernizing traditional dishes, and giving it a unique twist. He will then challenge his students to innovate a traditional dish, and the winner will get to be Chef Nicco’s sous chef for a month, joining his team for the much anticipated Madrid Fusion. 

“Who knows, if all goes well, I may even absorb the winner and put them in charge of future restaurants,” he says. 

Word Shop with Curtismith (April 21) 

For Mito Fabie, most commonly known as Curtismith, rapping is a form of expression. “I started writing as a form of therapy. It was a way for me to express my feelings growing up. And then I just didn’t stop. Eventually, I started writing about other things I was passionate about, like my advocacies,” he explained. 

His masterclass will touch on creativity, getting his students to rid of things that hinder their creativity, in order to focus on writing about what truly matters to them. He will also be providing them with beats to accompany their lyrics, so they can each create a full song. The best tune will be co-produced by Curtismith, and the winner will also get to perform the song in future Curtismith gigs. 

Art Wars with Jappy Agoncillo (May 19) 

Jappy Agoncillo always thought that his love for art and drawing would just be a hobby. Learning from his comic book artist uncle, he never stopped drawing growing up. Through the years, his peers recognized his talent, and would ask him to draw on walls. Eventually, Jappy started posting his works online, which led him to get corporate offers. 

“I was supposed to go to law school, but because this whole art thing took off, here I am. This is what I chose to do,” he says. 

His masterclass, Art Wars, will mimic the life of a “corporate artist.” He will challenge his students with a brief and a limited amount of time to complete the artwork, much like what he does on a daily basis. The winning artist will then collaborate with Jappy on his next big project. 

Beyond Cinema with Gino Santos (June 23) 

“I was always the artistic type, growing up,” recalls Gino Santos. Once a culinary student, Gino discovered at 14, that his love was actually for film. His mother enrolled him in a filmmaking workshop, where he was able to learn more about the craft. While first doing it for fun and making home videos of his vacations on Windows Movie Maker, he eventually decided to really pursue it, taking it up as his major in school. He then started creating short films with his best friend, and entered them into various film festivals. 

“I kept getting rejected. But eventually, I got the hang of it. I began to understand the concepts that would get in and the concepts that wouldn’t,” he explains. 

His masterclass will delve into the world of film, where being a director is not the end all and be all of the industry. According to Gino, he wants his students to see the many different roles they could play on a film, and the many different types of films there are. He will then challenge his students to come up with their own synopsis for a short film, from which he will choose one to co-produce and help enter into a film festival. 

After the launch, I headed over to the other venues to meet up with other blogger friends to... well... drink basically. Ha ha! Pura Vida had Jappy Agoncillo and they also had a band performing there.

Polilya had Gino Santos and some influencers as well, That's where I met up with the #NotSoberGang.

These opportunities offered by the Axe ambassadors will give each masterclass winner a shot in the real world. What they do with it will be up to them. Are you up for the challenge? If you’ve got something, work on it. #YouGotSomething 

To sign up for Project You, log on to http://bit.ly/YouGotSomething.