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Showing posts with label Malaysian hip-hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malaysian hip-hop. Show all posts
I wrote this article for a hip-hop event held in kuching a few months ago. It was a bit challenging to put certain pieces together (Mostly the Malaysian hip-hop scene) especially under the time constraints and a demanding dateline but it is finished with a few grammatical mistakes here and there i think. Judge for yourself. i give you....
By Norman “Son of Age” Shane
stereomanic@gmail.com
"when I was 18, would you asked me what rap is, I would had what they say now...I am just representing the street, keeping it real, it's all about flows, you know what I am saying? Making money and all of that...but now, rap to me, is what singing is to Celine Dion...you know, I want to be able to be 55, 60 years old, still rapping, we're going out like Frank Sinatra"-DMC, Run DMC
Que pasa
amigos?
Some would
believe that the state of hip-hop is in disarray but to most, it’s stronger
than it ever was before. Hip-Hop has travelled on a long winding road and has
risen from the underground to be one of the biggest genres in music history.
HISTORY OF HIP-HOP SO FAR
Hip-Hop
roots can be traced back to the 1970s New York- South Bronx to be precise.
South Bronx was a notorious borough, marked by the worse unemployment,
dereliction and violent crime but that didn’t stop a generation from
experimenting with turntablism, graffiti, breakdancing and MCing.
The infectious
culture quickly spawned a unique style of music based on rapping over samples
and later drum-machine patterns. In
1971, at the edge of the South Bronx inconspicuous housing projects, Hip-Hop’s
founding father “DJ Kool Herc” first built his sound system.
He took a
technique from the discotheques, playing with two turntables and only sampled
funk music like James Brown and Miles Davis and avoided disco music. Even in the early stages of hip-hop, the news
of DJ Kool Herc’s music started to spread like wildfire across the South Bronx.
Later on, DJ
Kool Herc took notice of the crowd’s energy at its peak whenever there was a
break in the record he was spinning, so he started looping the breaks which he
coined as the “merry-go-round”. The instrumentals became known as “Break
Beats”.
This created
a new dance move called b-boying, later known as breakdancing.
By the
mid-70s, a young notorious gang leader named “Afrika Bambaataa” rebranded his
street gang, known at the time as “The Black Spades” to Zulu Nation, a cultural
juggernaut in hip-hop’s lucrative history.
DJ Kool Herc
started doing shout-outs in his breaks, gradually evolving into phrases and
schoolyard rhymes. Even employing the first hip-hop group when he got his
friends, “Coke LA Rock” and “Clark Kent” to rhyme on the beat. This was the
first early signs of rapping coming into play, at the time, it was known as
MCing.
Nearing the
end of the 70s, a mix-tape found its way to a small indie label in New Jersey,
the label’s head, Silvia Robinson was impressed by its originality quickly when
on search for an emcee, coincidentally ending her quest at a local pizza eatery
when she overheard one of the employees rapping to himself.
In 1979,
rapper’s delight was the first hip-hop commercial hit by the “Sugarhill gang”,
lead by Big Bank Hank. Although it was a massive commercial success, it was
received with scorn by the hip-hop community, calling it soft and the lyrics
were plagiarized from a Bronx emcee named “Casanova Fly” even to the extent
that the words were not even changed and his name was spelled out in the song.
Planet Rock
By Afrika Bambaataa & the soulsonic force released under Tommy Boy Records
in 1982 and was the fastest selling 12-inch single ever, establishing a new
platform for hip-hop and was the first establish hip-hop album to win crossover
pop success and grass-root credibility.
Subsequently,
the commercial success of Zulu Nation helped other hip-hop bands like
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to release their hit single “the
message”. The most Notable part of the song was the chorus “Don’t push me cause
I’m close to the edge, I’m trying not to lose my head” which was different at
the time since everything was more party music than anything edgy.
In 1983, Run
DMC was the first rap group to be featured on MTV, their claim to fame “King of
Rock” video had all the rebelliousness nature of Rock at the time, this form of
hip-hop captured the young minds of that generation.
Nearing the
end of the 80s, hip-hop would be a regular on the American Music Billboard, and
no label that made that more clear than Def Jam Records, signing big names like
LL Cool J and Public Enemy.
Public Enemy
brought an ideology about black power and African American rights. This was
something fresh and was missing in the hip-hop scene. The music was raw and
provocative, especially with their on-stage bodyguards in combat fatigues, S1Ws
(Security of the First World).
In the late
1980s, the west coast was struggling to make their own sound away from the east
coast beats, and one man changed that, Ice-T. Ice T created something more
hard-edge in comparison to the east coast scene.
“I think the
biggest breakthrough with us, was getting our own identity…I think that’s the
key to any hip-hop, you have to be about where you’re from, you cannot be in
the south and rapping about New York” Ice T commented.
Hip-hop also
had its fair share of controversy like N.W.A with their gangster-theme album
“straight out of Compton” that help paved the way for gangsta rap and Tone
Loc’s “Wild Things”, released in 1989, which was a contrast of the N.W.A, with
its pop-glossy rap song about just having fun, chasing girls and parties. Tone
Loc’s album would eclipse any hip-hop album up to that point.
2 live crew
“As nasty as they want to be” was considered one of the most controversial
hip-hop albums in the industry especially after the group’s publicized court
cases. Hip-hop was gradually breaking into the white middle and upper-class
demographic.
Cop Killer,
a song by Body Count, a fusion punk band with lead vocalist, Ice T, was a
direct response to the police brutality that the black community was facing,
especially after the unprovoked attack of Rodney King.
In the early
90s, capital records signed MC Hammer to cultivate the very fresh hip-hop
market, his album stayed on the US Pop charts for 21 weeks, an unprecedented
achievement for hip-hop. Later on, a white rapper by the name of Vanilla Ice
also took the stage with his one hit wonder “Ice, Ice, baby”.
By 1991,
gangsta rap was the highest money making machine in regards to hip-hop’s array
of genres.
This
subgenre spewed one of the most controversial histories in hip-hop, the war
between the east coast and the west coast, the war was lead by two unwilling
individuals as leaders of each opposing sides, Tupac Shakur for the west coast
and Notorious B.I.G for the east coast.
The two have
stated in interviews that they were fighting over personal reasons but their
fight were escalated to new heights by the media as a East coast Vs West Coast
On 7th
September 1996, the war led to the gunning of Tupac Shakur, resulting to his
death followed by Biggie Smalls a year later also due to gun violence.
Hip-hop lost
two of its biggest stars and all seem to be at a lost but post-gangsta rap saw
the rise of other rappers like Eminem, Mase, Ludacris, Nelly and many more. The
rest as they would say is history.
WHAT ABOUT MALAYSIA?
When hip-hop
was introduced to a wide-eyed audience in the US around the 70s, hip-hop only
reach our ears closing to the end of the 80s.
Based on my research, Malaysia’s first official hip-hop album was “Pump
It Up”, released in 1989 by the hip-hop group Krash Kozz, comprising of Najee,
Jakeman, DJ Gabriel and Suresh, the lead vocalist.
By 1992,
Krash Kozz had a new line-up (Najee, Noramin and Joe Siva) and had release a
self-titled four-song EP. At the very
same year around November, Firhad introduced New Jack Swing (NJS) to the
Malaysian public which was easily mistaken for Hip-Hop at the time.
Firhad and Siva even had a conversation with
the Godfather of NJS, Teddy Riley who apparently coaxed the duo into spreading
the good news of NJS.
This spun
new acts like 4U2C, KRU, Les Enfant, Nana Nurgaya and Nico who performed at the
first-ever Malaysian hip-hop gig, Konsert Rap KL, which took place at the Life
Centre in Jalan Sultan Ismail.
One of the
most prolific and important groups at the show was D.E.F.X (a seven member
group consisting of two emcees, Yogi and MC E.N.A and five backup dancers)
which showed the potential of the local hip-hop scene.
By 1994,
Krash Kozz broke up, signaling, to an extent, any hope of seeing a local
English hip-hop scene, only leaving with the pseudo-hip-hop popish groups like
KRU and Nico. However, there was a ray of hope when Poetic Ammunition (PMO) was
formed at the end of 1994, with a newly formed label known as Positive Tone.
They got music execs excited with their original track, run, with its tight
delivery, infectious hooks and wicked beats but it was quickly proven not the
case when Poetic Ammunition slowly faded away from public existence.
However that
may be, it wasn’t enough to deter other Malaysian acts to produce their own
hip-hop tracks. Whyness, inspired by hardcore rap released a six-track
self-titled demo and Naughtius Maximus were the first hip-hop group to release
an authentic hip-hop album, complete with the requisite beats, rhymes and
attitude that came along with such albums.
Even
Malaysian hip-hop had its own fair share of controversy, when RTM Malaysia
banned their songs, two months after the album was released, claiming that it
was “too westernized” but naturally, this made the genre more sought out for
because controversy sells well and the numbers of hip-hop fans increasing
exponentially.
By 1998, a
posse of strong-willed emcees known as Poetic Ammo (comprise of Yogi B,
Landslyde, C Loco and Point Blanc) released their debut single, “everything
changes” which received positive responses and were the leaders of the pack
that took what Naughtius Maximus did in their first album but to a higher
level.
However, it
took almost a year for the album to be noticed.
“We nearly
gave up first because sales weren’t great. There wasn’t an English hip-hop
scene then, and not many people in Malaysia knew what the music was all about.”
Yogi B said.
Around that
same year, underground hip-hop gigs got more rampant, spreading across
primarily five states- Penang, Ipoh, Kuantan, Johor Bharu and Kuala Lumpur.
As hip-hop
expanded its reach to a wider audience especially around the late 90s, Malaysia
had a burst of fresh new hip-hop groups like “First Borne Troopz” later known
as “Teh Tarik Crew”, SickSiderz and ILLustrait where both groups would later
converge as “The Rebel Scum”, Intergrated Soul, Pac Of Doja, M.O.B (Members Of
Blood) and Too Phat.
Too Phat,
arguably the biggest hip-hop act in Malaysia’s history has been accredited as
the leaders of pushing the local hip-hop scene to the international stage.
Initially signed under Positive Tone and releasing hits like “Too Phat Baby”
from their debut album “whutadilly”.
By the
release of their album “360 degrees” after “Plan B”, Too Phat would have one of
their biggest collaborations yet, with Cali’s Long Beach legend Warren G. This
help place Malaysia in the forefront of music as far as hip-hop is concern.
After the
collapse of Positive Tone, Joe Flizzow opened shop to his own record label,
Kartel Records, this is where Malique and Joe Flizzow would have their final
album together as Too Phat “Rebirth to reality” which was a sensational hit on
the local radio.
Kartel would
enter into a distribution agreement with Warner Brothers, enabling them to
promote their artists to a wider audience.
By that time
in the mid 2000s, music shows like Blast Off and Gangstarz help create a new
generation of hip-hop, with collectives such as Flow Fam, K-Town Clan and MC
Syze.
Malique
would move on to make his own independent label, Qamar Records. Malique's first solo album, OK, with
singles such as Mantera Beradu featuring M. Nasir and Kau Yang Punya featuring
Najwa was considered a huge success. Both singles were number one on the local
charts and stayed there for a very long time. Joe Flizzow’s solo career also
was a hit with his album President, with also chart topping singles such as Do
It Duit and Isabella.
Notable
collaborations with Joe Flizzow’s album President include lyricist and one of
hip-hop’s legends, KRS one along with Jin, Thaitanium, Terry Tyle Lee and Hardy
Mirza making their appearance in the album
THE CURRENT STATE VS THE VISION FOR THE FUTURE
The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.-Barrack Obama
Hip-hop has
come a long way from the Bronx; it has evolved into a multi-million dollar
money making machine and has reached out to other cultures other than its own.
It was unashamedly raw, untainted; it was urban poetry, hiding no punches,
choke full of emotions and attitude.
Sadly like
many genres before its time, Hip-Hop was quickly swallowed up by the industry,
creating bland platitudes, a uniformity of mindless drones. Of course, there are
rappers who are still lyrical in their content and subject matter.
But not to
worry kids, hip-hop still live alive and well in the underground scene and with
the power of the internet, it’s not as hard as it was before for these
underground rappers to showcase their talent.
Hip-hop in
earlier times was a way for the ghetto to express themselves through the
storytelling and realistic poetry normally accompanied by the beat.
“Hip-hop
reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the
negative truth that society tries to conceal. It's a platform where we could offer
information, but it's also an escape.” Busta Rhymes said.
Nikki
Giovanni, a social activist also added that “Hip-hop is a cultural expression -
it's embracing.”
Hip-hop has reached
quite far with its power and influence, even John Kerry; Minnesota’s senior
senator is an avid admirer of hip-hop.
“I'm
fascinated by rap and by hip-hop. I think there's a lot of poetry in it.
There's a lot of anger, a lot of social energy in it. And I think you'd better
listen to it pretty carefully” he said.
“…it's important.”
He added.
While there
are critics who openly criticize the superficial side of hip-hop with its
braggadocios lyrics and sometimes lack of more complex rhythmic melodies.
“I consider music to
be storytelling, melody and rhythm. A lot of hip-hop has broken music down.
There are no instruments and no songwriting. So you're left with just
storytelling and rhythm. And the storytelling can be so braggadocios, you're
just left with rhythm.”
Jack White stated.
“Hip-hop
don't have no fresh energy, none at all. Its money driven, everybody tryin' to
make that cheque, nobody putting art in their albums anymore.” Andre Benjamin
of Outkast added.
Of course,
the critics do have their point on the matter especially since in the 70s and
early 80s, hip-hop has influenced the
black community in America and has reached beyond its borders to the world
stage and influence a whole generation of young people from many different
cultures and background.
Saul
Williams, a well known alternative hip-hop artist has said that “I remember
back in the day when Chuck D called hip-hop the 'black people's CNN.' Well now,
hip-hop is more like Fox News. It's biased, and highly suspect”
He also
added that “The only reason I've been so critical of hip-hop is because I've
always been aware of the effect that it has, and the reflection that it gives
of the African-American community.”
I believe
that music is amoral but it can be molded to have negative or positive effects,
almost hypnotic in its reach especially to young people. Music triggers a
multitude of emotions, music is universal. It is a form of communication.
Hip-hop is a
bit limiting, if you’re not wearing the uniform then you’re not a soldier and
if hip-hop was the army, a lot of soldiers are just soldiers of fortune rather
than ordinary men fighting for their country and livelihood.
I don’t
think that hip-hop should be placed under that definition, because it is so
much more than just a pop cultural influence in America, it has its hands
everywhere, maybe not as prominent as a culture but definitely made heads turn
over the past two decades or so.
Hip-hop in
the mainstream is very successful, making millions easily and branching out to
other merchandising like fashion, clothing lines, perfumes, TV shows and many
other money making opportunities.
However, it
has somewhat lost its relevance and ideology in some ways. Perhaps hip-hop is
dead like what Nas said but I think mainly that’s in the mainstream arena.
In the
underground scene, on a global scale has made some underground rappers
successful without signing to a single major label, rappers like Hopsin or Tech
N9ne. This gives hope to those who doesn’t want to follow the trendy or “sell
out” but perhaps preserve hip-hop in its more formative years.
What I
envision for the future of hip-hop at least in Malaysia is that we can
differentiate ourselves from the rest of the pack, with our own sound, like how
the west coast did initially with the east coast.
Malaysia
still suffers from imitators and trend followers; you can always tell what’s
popular in the charts by listening to some of these rappers and to me, that
isn’t good enough, while it’s true that we do take influence from the people we
respect, I don’t think taking their whole entire persona is good either.
I would like
to see Sarawak has its own style, and I am not talking about playing the sape
or rapping in Bahasa Sarawak for the sake to sound different, I mean, something
distinctive from the rest. I would like to see hip-hop be formed as our own.
People from
outside can easily say “yup, that is the Sarawakian sound”.
As of now,
there isn’t much to go on but I think it’s a lesson in progress and the
learning curve may a bit arduous but I believe we will get there.
Hit me up on
Facebook for any inquiries, questions, corrections, extra information or even
your undying love of affection
for Son of Age at: https://www.facebook.com/Sonofanage
Adios
muchachos
“Hip-hop is ever changing but you'll always have the pack. And you'll always have those people who are separated from the pack.”
Eminem