Josephine "Yeng" Eusebio Constantino-Asuncion (born December 4, 1988) is a Filipino singer, songwriter, composer and guitarist. She is referred to as the Philippines Pop Rock Royalty[1][2][3] and is regarded as one of the biggest hitmakers in Philippine music industry. In 2006, she won the title "Grand Star Dreamer" in the inaugural season of Pinoy Dream Academy, the Philippine edition of Endemol's reality TV show Star Academy.
Constantino is among the most critically acclaimed and best-selling Filipino artists of all time. Throughout her career, she was honored with around 70 accolades and recognitions including a FAMAS Award,[4] 7 Awit Awards, 9 Myx Music Awards and 5 PMPC Star Awards for Music among many others.[5] In 2020, Ikaw reached the 100 million mark on YouTube, becoming the second most viewed OPM music video by a female artist in the Philippines.[6] In 2023, Constantino signed with Republic Records.[7][8] The same year, she was named as the global ambassadress of Academy of Rock, the only music school in Singapore devoted to teaching rock and popular music.[9]
Salamat, her debut album, was released in January 2007 under Star Records. It was a commercial success, being triple Platinum in the Philippines and produced five #1 hits and six top 10 hits, the most by any female artist.[10] It peaked at number-one and spent nine months inside the Top 10 on the Odyssey album charts.[11] The following year, her sophomore album Journey was released. It was certified Gold by PARI and peaked at number-eight on the Odyssey album charts and spent 3 months inside the Top 20.[11] In the next five years, Constantino released the self-written album Lapit (2009) and Metamorphosis (2013) where the latter reached Gold status and produced the hit song "Chinito".[12] In November 2014, All About Love was released. It peaked at No. 5 on Astrovisions Albums Chart and became the first-full Filipino album to be released on Spotify. It was certified Gold and produced the hit song "Ikaw".[13] In 2018, she released her latest album Synesthesia.
CNN Philippines listed "Hawak Kamay" at number 12 in their list of the Best Filipino Love Songs of the last 25 years.[14] As an occasional actress, Constantino has starred in a film Write About Love and took home the Best Supporting Actress Award in MMFF 2019, an affirmation of her acting prowess.[15] As of May 2023, Constantino has more than 350 million career streams on Spotify, becoming one of the most streamed Filipino artists of all time.[16]
By June 2013, Constantino began a relationship with Victor "Yan" Asuncion, a fellow musician and worship director at Victory Christian Fellowship.[19] In March 2014, after nine months of dating, Constantino announced her engagement to Asuncion through an Instagram post.[20] On February 14, 2015, the couple married at a resort in Tagaytay, Cavite.[21][22] Since September 2015, both Constantino and Asuncion went on vegan diets.[23]
In 2022, it was revealed that Constantino was romantically linked to Korean-born Filipino television personality Ryan Bang in 2010.[24]
Career
2006–07: Pinoy Dream Academy, career beginnings and Hawak Kamay
On August 27, 2006, Yeng Constantino auditioned for the inaugural season of the singing competition Pinoy Dream Academy. In December, Constantino won the competition after garnering 697,648 votes (37.32%), becoming the first "Grand Star Dreamer", followed by Jay-R Siaboc as the first runner-up.[25]
After winning, Star Music launched Constantino's debut album entitled Salamat, containing 10 songs, seven of which were original compositions by Constantino. Her album reached Gold Record status two weeks after its release and then later went Platinum after a month, followed by a "3× Platinum Record" certification several months later.[26]
After the success of her multi-platinum debut album, Star Music produced Constantino's second album. On February 28, 2008, her second album, Journey was launched. The carrier single is "Ikaw Lang Talaga". The album contains 12 tracks, some of which were written by Yeng herself. The album reached Gold status after several months.[citation needed]
Sometime in November 2008, Constantino became a member of the all-female group Y.R.S., a group composed of Constantino, Rachelle Ann Go and Sarah Geronimo that was a segment of ASAP '08 until its disbandment in March/April 2010 following Go's transfer to GMA Network.
2009–12: Lapit and Yeng Versions Live
Lapit, her third studio album, was released digitally via Star Records' official website on October 9, 2009, then later released in physical format in music stores in the Philippines; a week later, the album was pulled due to some technical errors in the album tracklisting and was re-released before its grand album launch on November 1, 2009. Lapit went on to receive Platinum status.[citation needed]
In March 2010, Constantino began her first regular television hosting stint as co-host of Music Uplate Live, a late-night musical variety show, along with Tutti Caringal, Gee Canlas, and Martin Concio.[27] The show aired on ABS-CBN until September 2011.
On October 5, 2011, Star Records released her first live album, entitled Yeng Versions Live, on which she sings 80's and 90's OPM hits. It was commercially successful and achieved Platinum status shortly after its release.[28]
2013: Transformation and Metamorphosis
She released her fourth studio album entitled Metamorphosis on January 28, 2013. Its first single, "B.A.B.A.Y", was released to radio stations on January 9. The music video for the second single, "Chinito", premiered on May 24 on Myx Channel. It features Filipino actor Enchong Dee as Constantino's love interest. The third single, "Sandata", was released on July 3, 2013.[citation needed]
In November 2013, Yeng released her international single "Better Than Yesterday," a pop song featuring prominent drums and rap courtesy of Singaporean rapper, actor and radio personality Sheikh Haikel. The track was produced and written by Shorya Sharma.[29]
She released her fifth album, All About Love, which was her attempt to tackle new genres beyond her pop-rock image.[30] It was released on iTunes on October 30, 2014, and on CD on November 27, 2014.[31] The music video for the first single, "Ikaw" (which also served as a prenuptial with her then-fiancé Yan Asuncion), premiered on August 30 on Myx Channel.[32] On December 13, 2015, the album was awarded with Gold and Platinum awards on ASAP for reaching 15,000 sold copies.
In 2016, Constantino was announced to be one of the mentors of the reality show We Love OPM: The Celebrity Sing-Offs, which ran from May 14 – July 17, 2016. Her team is named Oh My Girls, which was composed of Ylona Garcia, Krissha Viaje and Alexa Ilacad. Oh My Girls placed second overall throughout the entire show's run.[citation needed]
In May 2015, Constantino announced plans to release a musical in 2016 that would feature her discography from the past years to celebrate her tenth year in the music industry.[34] It was titled Ako Si Josephine.
On April 27, 2016, Constantino was announced to be part of the DIVAS Live in Manila concert, along with Kyla, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto (Rachelle Ann Go was originally going to also be part of the concert lineup, but had to withdraw due to international commitments).[36] The concert was held on November 11, 2016,
On December 15, 2018, Constantino, Tandingan, Quinto and Kyla teamed up again at the Smart Araneta Coliseum for another concert, this time with Boyz II Men, titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.[37]
From July-August 2023, Kyla, Yeng and KZ, toured in the United States and Canada following the Cornerstone All Star Concert for another tour, titled Vocal Champs, with Jason Dy as their special guest for the tour. [38]
2018 - Synesthesia
In 2018, Constantino released her sixth studio album titled Synesthesia. The album spawned four singles "Pinipigil" and the hit single "Ako Muna" the song is a pop ballad and an emotional and self-empowering anthem. Constantino performed the song live on Wish 107.5 bus and it earned 7.2 million views on YouTube and she also performed the song in It's Showtime,[39][40] the song became a radio hit in the Philippines and peaked at number six on the Myx Daily Top Ten music videos chart, and number ten on the MOR Pinoy Biga10 radio chart, the song also played in the radio in the United Kingdom with six spin and in the Sweden, the music video of "Ako Muna" was released in March 2018 on YouTube the music video was directed by Miguel Alomajan, it earned 9.8 million views on YouTube.[41][42] Two more singles on the album released:"Tahimik" and "Dasal."
2023 - New Record Label
In 2023, Constantino was named as the global ambassadress of Academy of Rock, a musical school in Singapore devoted to teaching rock and popular music.[43]
