Lloyd Cafe Cadena (September 23, 1993 – September 4, 2020) was a Filipino

vlogger A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

, radio personality, and author. He was one of the most popular

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

s in his native Philippines, with over 5.86 million subscribers on the platform at the time of his death.

Biography

Lloyd Cafe Cadena was born on September 22, 1993, in

Parañaque Parañaque, officially the City of Parañaque ( fil, Lungsod ng Parañaque, ), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to t ...

. He majored in

financial management Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;" the latter often defined as maximizin ...

at the

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

and formerly studied at

Olivarez College The Olivarez College ( Filipino: ''Dalubhasaang Olivarez'', also known as simply Olivarez or OC) is a private, nonsectarian college along Dr. A. Santos Avenue, Parañaque, Philippines that offers academic programs in the basic education, junior ...

. As a student, he worked in Alyansa Letranista and the Letran Student Council alongside fellow YouTube vlogger and social media personality-activist Mark "MacoyDubs" Averilla. Cadena has two older sisters and one older brother. His parents, Saturnino Cadena and Lorita Cafe are Filipino migrant workers in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Upon Lloyd's newfound fame, he was able to bring his mother home, who in turn has succeeded him in the social media world as "Mother Kween".

Career

Vlogging

Cadena started his main channel back in 2011 with parodies and started uploading videos for his infamous "LC Learns" series. His first video on his main channel was a parody of

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

's " Rabiosa", uploaded on June 3, 2011. Before this, Cadena's first video was his parody of

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

's "

Telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

", on his separate channel "Kween LC Updates" in 2010. Cadena rose to prominence on YouTube by documenting his travel, adventures, and "all other crazy random things he'll get into as he curiously explores the world," according to his YouTube bio. His content featured cooking,

unboxing Unboxing is the unpacking of products, especially high tech consumer products, where the process is captured on video and uploaded to the internet. The item is then also explained in detail and also can sometimes be demonstrated as well. Yah ...

, challenge videos, pranks, and many more. One of his vlogs reached 3 million subscribers; other videos on his YouTube channel have received millions of views and more than 252 million total views on his channel. He is considered one of the pioneers of YouTube vlogging in the Philippines. His videos racked up millions of views, including a 'last to leave the pool' challenge posted in June 2020 and various cooking videos.

Publishing

To further entice the youth to read, Cadena, together with six other authors Bryan Olano, Albert Apolonio, Marco Pile, Mark Anicas, Rhadson Mendoza, Sic Santos, and Angelo Nabor formed a boy band called The Bookmarks in 2013, then managed by PSICOM and Viva. The Bookmarks were more into making book signing events a fun destination for the youth. He also signed with

ABS-CBN Publishing This is a list of subsidiaries owned by ABS-CBN Corporation, a Philippine media and entertainment conglomerate based in Quezon City. This also includes business segments that are owned and operated by the company including its blocktime agreeme ...

and authored books such as ''Eng Serep Megwele'' (2014), ''Hopia'' (2015), ''Mahal Ko Na Siya...Rak Na Itu!!!'' (2016) and ''Ex-Rated'' in 2017.

Broadcasting

Alongside being a YouTuber, he also worked as a

radio DJ A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

on 93.9 iFM hosting a program called ''Gabi Ng Hanash'' () in 2014. Cadena later moved to 90.7 Love Radio in 2017, hosting "KarLloyd" alongside fellow vlogger and DJ Kara Karinyosa.

Death

On September 1, 2020, Cadena was hospitalized due to a high fever and dry cough; he later tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He died three days later on September 4, after suffering a cardiac arrest. His death occurred nineteen days before what would have been his 27th birthday. He was later

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

. Following the announcement of his death, known close friends, fellow vloggers, and celebrities expressed their condolences to Cadena's family, including American pop singer

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

, of whom Cadena was a fan. On October 11, 2020, Cadena was posthumously honored alongside fellow YouTuber

Emman Nimedez Emmanuel Luis Dolores Nimedez (April 3, 1999 – August 16, 2020), also known as Emman Nimedez or Emman, was a Filipino YouTuber, director, singer, actor, and filmmaker known for his short film, covers, and parody videos. He also appeared in sho ...

(who died on August 16) in the Philippine segment of YouTube FanFest 2020.

Philanthropy and legacy

Cadena was a known philanthropist and used his platform for charitable aid or donations. An August 21, 2020, video on his main channel followed Cadena as he went around his neighborhood in the Philippines and distributed tablets to students from his former school La Huerta Elementary for distance learning. That wasn't the first time Cadena reached out to La Huerta students – through the years, he had given them food packs, school supplies, and toys, helping pack the goods himself and delivering them personally as shown in his vlogs. Cadena also went out onto the streets of

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

and gave random strangers cash. Additionally, he encouraged everyone to donate to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are working for the relief operations and rehabilitation of areas in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

that were badly hit by an earthquake in 2019. In 2020, during the Taal Volcano eruption, he gave away relief packs to the community amid the lockdown and also extended help to

frontliners by donating

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...

to a hospital in Parañaque, Philippines.

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadena, Lloyd 1993 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines Colegio de San Juan de Letran alumni Filipino male comedians Filipino Internet celebrities Filipino radio personalities 21st-century Filipino writers Filipino YouTubers Gay entertainers LGBT people from the Philippines LGBT YouTubers Male YouTubers People from Muntinlupa People from Parañaque Tagalog people 21st-century comedians 21st-century Filipino people 21st-century LGBT people