Pinoy rap icon Francis Magalona, who died on March 6 of leukemia at the age of 44, was cremated at about 1 a.m. Wednesday at the Funeraria Paz crematorium on Araneta Avenue, Quezon City.

After the cremation was completed at around 5 a.m., his ashes were to be brought back to Christ the King memorial chapel in Green Meadows subdivision, Quezon City, where a Mass was scheduled at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

His ashes would be placed at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

Tuesday night, a necrological Mass was held at 9 p.m. at Christ the King memorial chapel.

Songs were performed by popular singers Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Ciara Sotto (Magalona?s cohost in ?Eat...Bulaga!?), who sang ?Amazing Grace,? and Gary Valenciano who sang ?Goodbye, My Friend? at the end of the Mass.

Eulogies were delivered by his wife Pia Arroyo-Magalona and their children Unna, Nick, Maxene, Frank Jr., Saab, Elmo, Arkin and Clara; his sisters; his friends Leo Riingen and Gerry Sabado from the Camera Club of the Philippines where Magalona was a member; his best friend Michael V; and executive Malou Choa-Fagar of Television and Production Exponents Inc.

Magalona, who adopted the stage name FrancisM and dubbed the ?Master Rapper? and ?Man From Manila,? was considered a pioneering artist who successfully put rap music into the national consciousness?with his hit single ?Mga Kababayan.?

Starting out as a dancer on TV, Magalona moved onto acting in films but pursued a burning passion for music by writing and recording songs which wound up in his debut album ?Yo!?

Released in 1990, it contained midtempo love tunes, assorted dance tracks and ?Mga Kababayan??whose driving beats and heartfelt lyrics about racial pride, love of country and homegrown values captured the mood of the times.

Two years later, Magalona released a follow-up album, ?Rap is FrancisM,? which yielded songs about his personal experience with drug use (?Mga Praning?) and cynical views on political exercises (?Halalan?). Edited by INQUIRER.net