Breaking barriers, the 24-year-old media personality celebrates identity by challenging prejudice.

PHOTOGRAPHER JASON KIM

STYLIST BRIAN MELLER

INTERVIEWER RACHEL CHEUNG

Audacious and daring, Bretman Rock is a trailblazer. From makeup tutorials to mukbang videos and a MTV reality show, Bretman, at 24 years old, is a successful media personality, activist, “singer, songwriter, actor, actress, athlete, activist, a scientist on the muthaf *ckin’ side,” as his intro goes. He is a inﬂuential member of a digital generation working to challenge conversations surrounding masculinity, beauty, and culture.

Bretman ﬁrst rose to fame on Vine, where his contouring videos went viral. It was his playful, hilarious energy paired with educational beauty tips and tricks that skyrocketed him to the social media limelight in 2015. As an early pioneer of the male makeup inﬂuencer community, it was this comedic nature and authenticity that garnered a large, supportive following. He became one of the ﬁrst male beauty gurus to make his mark in the rapid growing world of digital content creators and continues to create content for over 14 million followers on TikTok, as well as a successful YouTube channel with nearly nine million subscribers. He oﬀers a range of content, from activism to ﬁtness, to humorous anecdotes on life’s relatable messes, and of course all the latest on glam makeup. From challenging gender deﬁnitions to advocating for underrepresented communities, Bretman helps unravel the complexity of a multi-layered identity in today’s culture.

Moving from the Philippines to Hawaii at eight years old, Bretman has always called the islands home. He comes from close-knit kin, which remained true even when his family moved to Hawaii. Bretman built close relationships with his aunties and grandma, a common occurrence in Asian culture. “I grew up with my cousins being my best friends, we’d dance in the backyard and have dance parties,” Bretman shared, noting his family never once made him feel any less of himself.

When it came to his experience in school and around peers, Bretman was always the bubbly kid, easy to approach: “To be honest with you, I was always Mr. Aloha. I was friends with all the kids; I was known for being a fast kid, so a lot of the boys put respect on my name because I was really good at playing tag,” he joked. “And a lot of the girls gravitated towards me because I was also very feminine and ﬂamboyant. I was really smart in school and I was friends with everybody – a perfect student.” While being Filipino-American is one piece of Bretman’s identity, he clariﬁes that the whole of one’s character goes several layers beyond these simpliﬁed deﬁnitions: “Identity, to me, is everything that makes up you. Whether it is your nationality, your race, your sexual preferences, it can even go as far as what kind of food you enjoy or the hair texture that grows out of your head.”

Bretman was destined to entertain. Being in middle school when YouTube fame was conceptualised, Bretman was inspired by the beauty gurus and Asian makeup artists he watched. “I just picked up my mom’s old ass camera, started recording videos, I posted them, and the world found them. I grew very quickly from there,” he explained. Being a natural in the spotlight, Bretman jokes, “Not to quote Lady Gaga, but I was always living for the applause.” While he knows who he is and what his values are, Bretman shares that being under constant critique can make him insecure, particularly when people can have an opinion about his work. He notes that it can be overwhelming how easy it is to source constant feedback about himself at any moment. “Sometimes it’s hard to navigate people’s opinions or criticisms and not have that ruin your day or the way you see your content,” Bretman shares. “Cause, girl, if a bitch says I’m not funny, even if the video has ﬁve million views…if one bitch says it’s a ﬂop, I am tumbling down.” Bretman admits that this is one of the biggest lessons he has had to learn since growing his digital audience, but now it is second nature. “People are going to say whatever they’re going to say and sometimes it’s not about you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it’s not a reﬂection of me unless I make it one.”

Considering his multi-layered background, Bretman delves into how diﬀerent cultural practices have aﬀected his identity. When it comes to how he presents himself in diﬀerent circumstances, Bretman believes everyone should act accordingly based on their environment. “I would talk to you diﬀerently than how I would talk to my auntie who I see at Target. I’m always myself at the end of the day, but I think that’s human nature – to vibe oﬀ your surroundings.” Being Asian-American and living in Hawaii while not being from there “is the gift of knowing how a visitor is and should be,” Bretman said. He describes how coming from a native land and going to another native land makes you appreciate other people’s cultures more: “Take your shoes oﬀ when you’re going into someone’s house. Leave your pride at the door and remember you’re a guest in someone else’s home. Respect their rules and requests,” he says. Celebrating identity happens in a lot of diﬀerent ways across cultures, and Bretman says it’s not necessarily about going to a Pride week, but how you celebrate people’s identities in big and small ways every single day. “Whether it’s using their pronouns or letting people dress however they want, the biggest way to celebrate is through respect.”

Sweater *GUCCI,*
skirt *DIESEL,*
boots *ASICS*

Although Bretman grew up in a very stereotypical Asian household, he also grew up in a very supportive one. While he has seen how Asian-Americans struggle with their identity and life choices because of their family’s beliefs, Bretman shares that was not the case for him because he grew up with such accepting souls. “I’ve had a lot of queer Asian-Americans come up to me about how sometimes their family is a part of their struggle because they lack support from them. All I can say is that my family has always been supportive of me, my identity, gender expression, dreams and aspirations in life. If I told my mom I wanted to be a pilot or stripper she would have my back,” Bretman says.

Bretman was always aware of what he calls “the third gen-der.” He recalls how…

A longer version interview will be published in the print issue The WOW N° 7.

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PHOTOGRAPHER: JASON KIM

STYLIST: BRIAN MELLER @ THE WALL GROUP

HAIR: AYANO JINNOUCHI @ MANE ADDICTS

MAKE-UP: DAPHNE CHANTELL @ EXCLUSIVE ARTIST using DIOR BEAUTY

CASTING DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN MESHESHA @ C.M. CASTING

TALENT: BRETMAN ROCK

DIGITAL TECH: GRAY HAMNER

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS: ROBERT KOZEK & VICTOR HERNANDEZ

STYLIST ASSISTANT: VANESSA POWEL

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: LINDSAY SIPE

BRETMAN ROCK

US, BEHIND THE MASK

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