Yesterday I accompanied Shahed to visit his grandmother’s grave with another friend of his, Ijad, and before the yasin, he ’spoke’ to ‘her’. I couldn’t help but feel his loss because they were close, and she passed on last Christmas while he was away on his year-long nautical internship.

The entire day, we talked about how some people in our lives have come and gone, or about those who stayed who never changed for better or for worse. I know it for a fact for the longest time but seriously up til today, he remains the kindest and most unconditional friend to me and my family, one of the few I always keep in touch with now that I’ve moved to Malaysia. I hope I can offer them the same or more pillars of strength, warmth, support in any form to them and their family; wife, kids and all. I hope everybody I know and love, be open to have such a character in their lives. One you don’t necessarily depend on for anything, but cannot imagine know how it would be like without them.

A good friend is one who sees you through all your changes and even when you disagree with each other, they’d still stick around and offer you things you need but don’t dare to ask. Even if they go far far far away from you, they’d still be there right when you need them. Be that friend for somebody else today.

I write a fortnightly column in Malay, in Singapore’s Berita Minggu thanks to the Entertainment Editor over there, Hanim Mohd Salleh. I’ve been writing it since March, touching on topics on developing the Malay music scene in Singapore. The email address stated in that column is a generic one meant probably for interns, so I do not get to manage the mails, if there are any. However, feedback have been coming in online, from those who’ve found me online. Here’s the article.

Gunakan Lagu Tempatan Untuk Lagu Tema Drama

Saya sangat bertuah apabila lagu ‘Seribu Tahun’ dijadikan lagu tema untuk drama di TV3. Baru baru ini drama “Kerana Cinta Ku Saerah” telah pun diulangi tayangannya. Saya tidak menafikan sokongan ini yang membantu saya menempah nama di seberang tambak.

Ini adalah satu prosedur yang dibiasakan oleh syarikat produksi televisyen. Penerbit drama sentiasa mencari lagu-lagu baru dan pengurus (ataupun artisnya sendiri) pun selalu bersedia untuk memberi melodi baru mereka dengan harapan ia akan dimuatkan ke dalam drama baru. Sedutan dari lagu tersebut boleh digunakan dalam babak-babak tertentu ataupun kalau bertuah, lagunya digunakan secara keseluruhannya di montaj permulaan dan akhirnya drama itu.

Kekadang rancangan televisyen, bukan sahaja drama, sering menggunakan muzik bebas hak-cipta (“royalty-free”). Ada kala juga montaj pembukaan menggunakan lagu yang dicipta khusus untuk rancangan itu, tetapi dinyanyikan oleh pelakon ataupengacara yang terlibat. Saya rasa itu adalah tindakan yang membahayakan komuniti penyanyi profesional. Kalau rancangan ‘Krayon’ tu boleh lah! Tetapi drama swasta high-ratings pun ada buat sedemikian!

Televisyen mempunyai kuasa lebih hebat dari radio dan di kalangan masyarakat Melayu di Singapura, ia masih lebih kuat bila dibandingkan  dengan promosi di Internet. Jadi, sebagai seorang penyanyi/pencipta lagu tanah-air, saya rasa kepentingan cara mempromosikan muzik saya melalui montaj drama atau apa apa pun rancangan televisyen.

Hampir kesemua drama di RTM, TV3, dan Astro menggunakan lagu-lagu artis yang telah pun siap, dan bukannya yang diciptakan khas untuk rancangan tersebut. Malah, drama seperti ‘Dunia Baru’, ‘Gol & Gincu’ dan ‘Emil Emilda’ adalah contoh drama yang menggunakan muzik artis tempatan sepanjang isi drama tersebut. Ini barulah dipanggil soundtrack. Ini juga boleh ditiru disini kerana kami mempunyai banyak lagu-lagu tempatan, dan juga banyak drama-drama baru! Baru baru ini drama ‘Satu Jam’ arahan M Nazrin di Suria sudah memulakan trend menggunakan lagu-lagu tempatan! Syabas kepada beliau kerana memberi kepercayaannya kepada bakat tanah air!

Bila pihak terbitan bersetuju dengan lagu yang paling sesuai, artis atau pencipta lagu tidak pun perlu menerima sebarang bayaran. Lagi lagi jika lagu tersebut telah pun siap untuk diputar. Jika lagu tersebut digubah khas untuk rancangan itu, lain cerita lah! Nama-nama artis, penulis lirik, penggubah lagu dan penerbit pula dimuatkan semasa kredit dihujung episod. Dalam kes-kes istimewa, grafik album artis itu pun kekadang turut diselitkan juga.

Lagu dan artis yang beruntung itu akan mendapat promosi secara percuma selama tayangan drama tersebut, biasanya, sepanjang 7 hingga 13 minggu. Ia akan membantu pemuzik dan artis tanah-air kita! Lagi-lagi kalau radio pun mula memutarkan lagu tersebut dengan ungkapan “Lagu tema drama terbaru di TV!”. Barulah ada dynamics! Saya dengar-dengar Addy Cradle  akan menerbitkan album guitar akustik. Pantas album itu menjadi soundtrack drama yang akan datang!

Saya rasa ini hanyalah satu cara kami membantu membangkitkan muzik tanah-air kita sedikit sebanyak. Banyak lagi kita boleh lakukan! Tetapi saya tak boleh cakap banyak-banyak sangat, nanti lain jadinya!

Here is the feedback:

I would like to highlight the article you wrote for last sunday dated  3 May 2008.

There is this line “Baru-baru ini drama Satu Jam arahan M Nazrin di Suria sudah memulakan trend menggunakan lagu-lagu tempatan!”

Actually kan…Menggunakan lagu-lagu tempatan untuk drama sudah dimulakan lebih dari 10 tahun lalu. Salah satunya drama yang memulakan trend itu adalah drama Sayang Semuanya arahan Lut Ali dimana local Komposer telah dicommisioned untuk composed lagu tema tersebut. Dan dalam drama itu juga diselitkan lagu-lagu local artis-artis yang lain.

Dan pada tahun itu jugalah tahun di mana allahyarham Bani Farouk telah memenangi kategori Lagu Tema Terbaik dalam Pesta Perdana.

Since then there were many other production companies who did their own theme song. Even for a latest kids programme, Safari, which was aired earlier this year, it had our own soundtrack composed by local artiste, TZI.

Intention saya highlight this matter is to let you know that many production houses have been supporting local artistes and music scene.

As much as we can we would like to even use their songs regularly in our dramas and other programme but sometime… some of these artists demand too much… like royalties and exorbitant upfront just to use their songs…

Thank you very much for your time and kind attention…

Hope you had a great week…

Wahyu

If you’d like to write to me regarding the topics I write about, please do so to beatssociety@gmail.com or imran@beats.sg

You know what, I’m not done. Thanks to wordpress, when Skratch blogged about ‘the blog wars’ between Beats Society vs 65Hope vs RSG/Hip-Hop Fellowship, I got notified, and it was left as a comment in my previous entry. I did not know about the Hip-Hop Fellowship post on “Your attitude is crap and your fans are your friends” and who it was directed to, but an idiot can figure out that his post (please read it) and mine are connected on many levels; an unintended coincidence. However, I never read his original piece which was “Born Dead - The Demise of the Local Singapore Hip-Hop scene aka SGHIPHOP”. Oh, please don’t forget to thank me for the clicks and hits you’ll be getting from my site over to your people-bashing blog. Of course, without a doubt, I was not spared from the critique.

First of all, my name is not synonymous with ‘formerly Beats Society’ because Beats Society is still registered, active and running. I am still one of its artistes. My “former protégé and artiste” also known as FreakyZ is probably the only entreprising Hiphop act to previously come from my roster, now blooming and doing things on his own, unlike the plentiful of lesser known-bigger talk acts I was discussing in my previous two entries about this topic. Oh, save your diss rhymes. You won’t have anywhere to showcase it, I’m telling you. His only delusion is that, looking like the animated Moses (Prince of Egypt), he does have this tendency to think he ‘can save his people’ while the Jewish coward that I ended up to be, ran away to Eastern Europe to sing my polka joints after we crossed the split ocean. So, staying true to the Dreamworks’ picture, we were ‘two brothers, united by friendship, divided by destiny’. With that, Hip-Hop Fellowship’s piece saying ‘Everyone knows everyone except YOU’ pretty summed up the situation; clique-ish and exclusive. Unfortunately, Skratch’s obituary was quite on the dot too. Because Hiphop started out as something discriminated and shun against, ‘we’ (I do not represent anybody on this) believe that we have to stick by each other’s side to make things work. Until today, proud Hebrews worldwide stick to their own kind and never mingle, expecting racism at every corner. Exactly why the demise of SG Hiphop is almost biblical, but hardly prophetic.

The anonymous bits on defaming ‘the self-proclaimed Russell Simmons of Singapore’ was pushing the limits though. Let’s see you pull the same claims on 65&Hope when they break up like the USSR later when National Service and fatherhood beckons. It, too, is helmed by 1 person, supported by many. It, too, is self-funded, small business, aimed at promoting Hiphop. Like myself, it, too, has suffered a fair share of Malay gossip of treason and laundering. But I’ll tell myself not to go insane when somebody like you who is absolutely uninvolved in my life or the developments of Beats Society (or 65&Hope for that matter) from within its fences tells me ‘I rob from my brothers after promising them a place to perform and be accepted afterwards’. WHO THE FUCK PROMISED A PLACE TO PERFORM AND BE REWARDED WITH ACCEPTANCE? I MYSELF WANTED A PLACE TO PERFORM AND BE REWARDED WITH COLD HARD CASH. DID I GET ANY? NO. Number 1: You might want to share this sentiment with FreakyZ who says that he “will make sure they keep moving and have things lined-up for the 7 Proteges, from videos to EP. I will help these individuals and will give advice to them, as a performer.” Now, that’s a tough promise to keep, especially when the local media is never hungry for such information and he hardly got their attention for himself and his own work. Looks like Hip-Hop Fellowship might have the last laugh afterall. Number 2: Tell that to the old breakdancer chap perhaps. Seems that some b-boys still not over the $70 he owes each of them for the National Day brouhaha eons ago. Now that’s downright scandalous! Oh wait, you dissed him too. So we’re equals now. But, hey man, for not asking your opinion or permission, even, on who I want to biasedly slot in the shows that I spend more money on than I get in return was just my bad. Should have left you a note, at least. However, if you feel you need to speak, I know somebody who can give you 10 minutes at his upcoming show for you to air your grievances.

Actually, truth be told, the main problem is that we NEVER EVER even had anything to promote or applaud in the first place. Not a single pure act came from our shores that was worthy of a standing ovation, much less, appreciation of any level. It was small milestones that the individuals themselves can take credit for, and none of us should be allowed to comment, even constructively. There’s a few. Construction Site’s win at Asia Bagus, that’s one. Triple Noize’s win at Talentime. Ahli Fiqir makes it big in Malaysia. Bonafide Vintage Flav’r opening for Black Eyes Peas. Urban Xchange doing National Day Parade and appearing on Rush Hour II soundtrack. Ok, that’s about it. That’s it right? Nobody else achieved anything else, really. Nope, sorry, nobody else did shit. Not me, not you, not him nor them. So safe to say, it really died a long time ago, long before cocky young rappers joined Platform or Protege and pissed everybody off just by being himself, or even worse, Skratch was right when he says it was all ‘born dead’.

I do not blog purposefully to diss ‘what I thought I help created’. I know I did a few things right (but I swear not to claim fame to them because it’s just so Malay and wrong) but you know, when you’re blinded by ambition, what everybody else thinks of you is not important. The only way we can inject some strength into the scene and save what’s left is to turn it into pure business without taking or giving claims as to who’s first, or best, or biggest. It just won’t work. The reason why Malaysian and Indonesian Hiphop (if at all) is putting out major label albums, performing at all goddamn music festivals and putting their state capital initials on New Era caps is because they just couldn’t give a damn about each other; they just do it for themselves. While we back in SingaBore, mati mati, want to bring on everybody we know on stage or into our circle and start another useless spam on Myspace. A group of people sharing the same ambition does not equal to 1 person working hard for his dreams to come true, my advise to all. Me saying that Hiphop is Dead is on my account, not yours. If you think you still want to fight for it, go ahead, by now, you must realise that the entire battalion’s down, you only have left a platoon of mismatched soldiers, in a war against time and oblivion. All I’m suggesting is that we just got to be selfish to make things work for ourselves and whatever joy it brings us, and if it means leaving everybody behind, and becoming Ras Kass, then be it. Canibus, Kurupt and Killah Priest had their own individual big breaks too, didn’t they?

It’s all this hatred for each other that’s stunting our growths, don’t you see? I won’t change what I said about rappers with Bad English. Everything else can be negotiated. But for argument’s sake, I know that this just won’t be the end of it. Just like our man over there lazily quoted Jay-Z, true enough, we do need to brush our shoulders and move on. That’s our little prayer for Hiphop, my friends. Let’s face it; together, we are all pallbearers in this, despite our violent differences.

I must have ruffled a few feathers with my last piece on Why Singapore Hiphop Cannot Really Thrive. I do not mean harm and of course, I do not mean to erase my own efforts in building the scene and whoever it has influenced. I did acknowledge the few good men, who’s doing well here, and yet, overseas. Not naming them does not mean I disregard them. FreakyZ wrote a rebuttal on his site, saying his piece about what he thinks about the situation, and this is why I’m bringing up the case again.

I was not introduced into Hiphop by a friend or a peer. I was literally thrown into it because when I was younger, by the time I started buying CDs, these famous singers had rappers in them and local radio started playing rap songs. I was not in a situation where I was going to grow up with Sum41, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, or Green Day although I did listen to a good share of it. I had Jay-Z’s first album, Beastie Boys, and the likes. Naturally, I got to know other folks who listened to Wu Tang, Master P, The Roots and godforbid, Mase. I read The Source, XXL, Vibe and this dinghy magazine called ‘HipHop’. This all happened before I started listening to Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Cody Chesnutt, and their contemporaries. So I think my interest and passion for Hiphop is not something I can easily give up just because the size of my jeans are now those that fit my ass perfectly.

The reason why I was so passionate about Liquide Magazine and later its SGHiphop merger was because the Singaporean boys starting writing more rhymes and doing more beats than they could showcase. We did the free library showcases, minus-1, acapella, live band, with DJs and all. We did it. My last blog post just chronicled how it went downhill because nobody grew up or developed their music senses. Let me break it down for you. The trouble is:

1) The young people who disappear entirely when school starts again and stop supporting the gigs from then on.

2) The rappers who can’t speak English good enough to write a proper rhyme, but willing to die, fighting for the artform. Lost cause?

3) The rappers waiting for opportunities, and when it goes to somebody else, they say shit about the organizers, WITHOUT ever thinking of creating their own opportunities. So loud applause for those who did.

4) The rappers with 11 friends on their Myspace accounts, and don’t do anything about it. The popular ones have 1,000 (and counting) friends on their Myspace accounts, and don’t do anything about them.

5) Everybody wants to get paid or wants some of the tix sales, knowing that 200 people x $10 tix = $2000. But not bringing a single paying friend to come support the show.

6) The 4-5 people who do beats for EVERYBODY, and EVERYBODY who wants beats from them and nobody else.

I made my mistakes, and I chose not to support the cause entirely. I hope whoever wants to do something about Hiphop or their own music will learn these facts, and from my mistakes, and not let history repeat itself. And please jangan ’syiok sendiri’. Appearing on Lime Magazine or Arts Central is nothing compared to networking on Myspace with Canadian rappers, and being invited over there to showcase your talents. Stop limiting yourself to YouthPark.

Anyway, I bet some Hiphop scenesters might have noticed this; it was a proven fact; Triple Noize’s ‘Mak Minah‘, Phatnatrix’s ‘Gerek‘, Ahli Fiqir’s ‘Angguk Angguk Geleng Geleng‘, Sleeq’s ‘Pilihlah Aku‘ all were heard of more than their English numbers*. So here’s my 2 cents in Singapore currency if you want to take it.

1) Do shows at schools for the 13 to 16 year olds because you’ll inspire them. Convince them that it’s not a holiday-time after-school hobby. It’s a lifelong lifestyle.

2) *DO IT IN MALAY. If you depend on a thesaurus to write your rhymes, please put away your great ambitions. Brush up on your social English to be taken seriously as a English-language rapper. Rap is about wordplay. If it’s about writing shake-it-to-the-right-shake-it-to-the-left, my dead Grandma can do it too. If you could handle it in Malay, give it a shot. Who knows? (Well done to those who can do both!)

3) Don’t wait for organizers to call you. Organize your own gigs, and spam it like crazy, invite the people you want to impress, even if you don’t really like them.

4) Update your Myspace: new songs, new friends, new contacts, everyday.

5) If you want to get paid, make sure you deserve it. (Coming late, wearing slippers, forgetting lyrics, not impressing anybody, same old song, drunk on the set <– these are the reasons why you don’t deserve it). Make sure you know whether you’re going to get paid BEFORE agreeing to do the show, and don’t expect a handshake with money in it AFTER you’ve gotten offstage.

6) If you don’t do beats, find somebody NEW to do your beats. Somebody that nobody else is hiring.

I don’t need anybody to convince me whether Singapore Hiphop is hot and happening still or not, after all that I’ve said to ‘diss’ it. I just wish people start acting as individuals and be a little grown up about their own ambitions, and not depend on the Chief to call upon the rain, and expect him to build the bloody dam too. Enough already.

Because not every dish can have bawang goreng on it. Please visit Badoque at Simpang Bedok, next to Mad Jack’s, behind ShopNSave. Ask for the cheesecakes too or visit here for more pics. And that’s Sofia, Nadrah’s darling.

It was a good birthday present. Not great, but good. That’s Marcell playing drums while I sing.

I look like an old boy. Get it? (Pictures on the set of TV3’s Wanita Hari Ini)

I personally am afraid of speeding vehicles, but sometimes it doesn’t need speed for accidents to take place.

I love the artwork. Also visit www.onevoiceonemic.com

I had left Mediacorp to go straight back to Kuala Lumpur the same night last Friday after the FYI shoot for Suria. Wasn’t expecting Adi Putra and Farid Kamil to be there. They were in Singapore to promote the Finas Film Festival happening this coming weekend at Marina GV. Read about it here at Raudha’s blog and her starstruck smitten kitten moments. I got tix for ‘Hati Malaya 1957’. Who wants to watch it with me? But I’m not sure if I can be back in time for it.

A night earlier I was over at Arab Street, and I bumped into so many friends, and made arrangements to meet so many people one after another. There was that small gig that Straits Records put together, got to see Pinholes perform a bit. The other independently owned boutiques, art galleries in the area also had put up their mini flea marts, and on-the-spot t-shirt silkscreen service. I felt quite back at home. The only difference was that my friends were carrying babies; Nadrah, and Wan Lalat included. I thought to myself about how the younger kids who are fans of bands and the indie scene aren’t probably going to be as productive and proactive as the late 90s batch. Those born in the 90’s would probably never, in their lives, see what a home-made ‘zine is, or that silkscreen printing was something that somebody else could do, and not them. I should stop lamenting how boring Singapore teenagers are, it’ll just make them look worse.

I spoke to Moods that night, and are in some talks to put their album out, nothing finalized yet, but it’s looking good. I feel that such a band, with 10 year history, and survived fulltime jobs while recording the album for the past 2 years, and never once, changing their lineup of musicians, is a huge achievement in Singapore where bands last til the frontman goes for National Service. I remember wanting to catch them everywhere they performed, and when we made friends, we even shared a gig together at Library@Esplanade. Wan and I had gone to Siglap Secondary School together, but don’t tell him that I told you he was the leader of the Dikir Barat group. Hopefully, Beats Society’s 2^nd non-Hiphop release, coming right up!

That was all I was thinking about the past few days. I’m writing now from Perlis, a 3 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur for TV3’s Jom Heboh. I’m on tour with HotFM, a 2 year old radio station that rose so quickly their main anchors have become celebrities. Them being Faizal Ismail and Farah Fauzana. It was really hot beyond description but playing the musical chair, limbo rock and miming games with the fans from Kangar proved to something quite necessary to reach out beyond Kuala Lumpur. It is something that I’ve never thought about when my album first came out.

I’m headed for 6 different locations in Sabah and Sarawak next week on the 16th, with Aliff Aziz, Adam, Diddy and Farawahida. Then headed for Kelantan at the end of the month. With just the blink of an eye, it’s already mid-year while I remember new year’s eve so vividly. Why does time fly so fast? Why can’t we take time-off from time itself? Well, like the saying goes, time waits for noone. I suppose it’s true. If time froze while I take a break, then I might just miss the many good things that make life meaningful.

Ok dearest blog readers, both fans and haters, you may get your updates now via www.imranajmain.com and please also update your links and bookmarks. Thanks for helping me clock up to 12,000 readers! Xiaxue, watch out! Haha. Thanks to Zee from PlayPause for the new webby.

A few weeks ago, I brought Krazie Starr up to KL to perform at The Sanctuary courtesy of my man, Altimet, and the shows he hype over there. Those who know about me running Beats Society probably already picked up rumours that I dropped 90% of my artistes in the past 8 months, leaving Krazie Starr to be one of the few still running strong. His full length album is dropping soon and it will be one of our bigger publicity project we’ve ever worked on, thanks to Raudha, my trusted publicist. She must watch Entourage and see how much more we can achieve together! Haha.

Anyway, Krazie Starr here is a huge talent, just needs a little push and a few lessons in public speaking. If you didn’t know; he opened for Akon at DownTownEast, JoeyBoy from Thailand at MOS, and also Arrested Development when they came to Singapore late last year. Listen to his crazy infectious music (with most beats by Alyph from Sleeq who goes by the moniker of ‘Magic Potions’) on http://www.myspace.com/kraziestarr2 and add him up! For bookings or use of his music, write in to me with details.

ps: I’m secretly wishing I can work with Moods, so I’m absorbing the energy of Amateur Takes Control by making weird yoga gestures while visiting their blogspot.

I was thinking, who spent their entire week cutting up styrofoam pieces to create a backdrop of my name. And the guy came up to me and said so himself. It does look a little 80s RTM-ish, doesn’t it? But there I was in Seremban, thinking to myself, how ‘heartlands’ this was. The place is even more run down than Tanjong Katong Complex, but they packed the place with activities every weekend. I think it’s really enterprising and it’s rather sad that local folks think that it would take alot of money to get events done. Not so much, let me tell you. If you really really really have to do it at TKC, Kampong Melayu (Geylang), Golden Landmark already; you must know nobody goes there, and even if your promotions are strong, people don’t want to be there. This will give your event less street-cred and a cheapskate look. Try Woodlands Civic Centre, Causeway Point, Tampines Mall for event ideas instead for Malay music roadshows. And for heaven’s sake, enough with IMM and Expo already. Balik balik Expo!!

Universiti Teknologi Petronas is in Tronoh which is Ipoh which is in Perak. I’d love to go back there so if anybody from UTP is reading this, please bring me back there. (Minus the pain of the journey). The first picture is the Library. The 2nd is the Concert Hall. The 3rd is the seating boxes! So cool!

I found this off somebody’s fotopages. This was last year during Ramadhan when I performed for EH! Magazine’s Iftar; something I think Malay-Muslim organizations should consider instead of doing Raya open houses. We’re so going to do this!

I love it.

Thanks to Lydia.

Beats Society in collaboration with our sister company WorkHeart has recently worked out some arrangements to distribute the first non-Hiphop music. It comes in the form of pop-rock band PeepShow. Here are the details of their launch. If you’re interested to have your band promoted and your music product distributed in retail and online, we have extended our portfolio. Check out www.beats.sg too!

Local bands seems hyped up this year to rock the scene.  Peepshow; the upcoming five-piece band proved that they are ready to come up with their 5 track EP.

Zaki, SK, Mikail, Samuel, Yuk and Edmund were never musically trained but their various performing backgrounds made it mutual to form a group through Youth Alive 2005 competition where they first started.

They have been featured in Lime magazine (April issue) and will also be playing at Baybeats 2008. They are very active in the local gigging scene and have played noteworthy gigs such as the National Day Celebrations and New Year’s Eve countdown party at the Esplanade where they’ve charmed thousands with their live performances.

Peepshow expects a big crowd for their first launch for their Launch featuring King Kong Jane &
Freaky Z as guest performers

Venue : The Chamber, The Arts House.  No 1 Parliament Lane

Date     : Saturday 10 May 2008

Time   : Doors open at 4.30pm

FREE ADMISSION.

PeepShow CDs and Buttons available at the door for sale!

Their music can be heard through www.myspace.com/peepshowband

Named best band in the Youth Alive! 2005 contest, PeepShoW has some good songs, including the Killers-esque ‘I Know Raw’ and the softer ‘Special Someone’, which resembles The Cure until vocalist Zaki makes the song the band’s own

Time Out Singapore

Melody junkies will be drawn exorably to the irresistible tunes & the cool classic pop vibe of PeepShow. Sprinkle liberally edgy modern alt-rock sensibilities and you will be hooked!

Kevin Matthews

This week alone, I’ve had two encounters with this. I don’t understand how somebody can change their minds overnight or within the same conversation. This is called ‘main tarik tali‘. You praise somebody, then you criticize the same person, and expect that your advice is heeded. There’s no such thing as sitting on the fence. It’s the 21st century already. You must choose a side, voice your opinion, or don’t choose a side, and keep your peace. This kind of behaviour borders hypocrisy. If you feel the need to voice your opinion about something, make sure you know what role you play in that criticism; consumer, peer/contemporary, onlooker. Do your opinion matter at all? Do people want to hear you? Do you take credit if they consider your comments? You must make sure of this, before you set across some kind of deluded account. Because people will hate you for it, and have no guts to tell you because you’re nice on the days you’re nice, and you horrible on the days you think you are right.

Got this off http://www.xfresh.com/xfreshfm.asp

Thanks XFresh!

Last weekend, on a short trip back to Singapore, I managed to just sniff the outsides of *scape where an indoor event was taking place. It turned out to be Amateur Takes Control’s single launch where they were collecting donations to put together a full length album. I arrived 2 songs shy before the end of the show so I didn’t pay the $10 to be amongst short, young folks and that would have just reminded me that I was one of them close to 10 years ago, attending every single gig, no matter the genre. My passion for gig-going probably secured me great friendship with my closest circle today; they who enjoy watching random bands with messy haired vocalists who gaze at their shoes during their performance, buy the dollar buttons and lose them the week after, and then meet the who’s who of the scene. Trust me, I’ve done my rounds. Because of these people, I got to know the difference between rock and post-rock, drum&bass and downtempo, hardcore and metal, indie and pop-rock, and of course, I passed on my share of Hiphop and R&B. While I had turned Hiphop and R&B into a fulltime career, 4 years back, I can’t say that we’ve grown as much as the other scenes that co-exist. I used to think it’s some kind of struggle this neglect that Hiphop gets and that everybody thinks it is a fad. Truth is, it is Hiphop in Singapore itself that never progressed as a scene.

Don’t get me wrong. You have these wonderful individuals making music, and contributing. They grow big and strong, and even better, overseas. But looking at ATC’s album launch, I was really jealous at how much attention this young, new, independent band they are getting from their peers, and how much support their older counterparts are giving them like their distributor RockStarCollective and Djohan who did their artwork. These guys have been around before *scape was *scape. Wasn’t that what I was trying to do for Hiphop in Singapore? I know why it didn’t work out.

When you go to a rock gig, small or big, you will see these random photographers, merchandise people, sound system providers and such. They have nothing to do with each other, and they probably don’t know each other, but they’re there, at every gig. These pictures will pop up in Facebook and Myspace and blogs the same night, and when you meet these familiar people at the next gig, they’ll have those buttons on their vests and bags, and the soundman will be wearing the t-shirt with the band logo he got for free from the previous gig. The bands, more or less, are the same, and for the good 2-3 years that they stay committed to the game, they’d be playing the same songs. Even the sound of a drumroll would trigger the crowds to scream because it would be a song that they know by heart, even if there are no lyrics to this post-rock piece. There’s the politics, of course. 1) The fella rumoured to be making all the money and keeping it. 2) The dude taking all the credit for the work. 3) The band leader who got paid but never shared the loot. 4) The sound system company who was shortchanged. But new bands come by, new supporters flock to the gigs, new organizers who want to make it right take over, the flyers start having logos so that losers can’t stake their claims, and sound system folks now ask for 50% upfront. And you’ll see the pictures up on the blogs at the end of the day, archived for eternity and it will be browsed by the mat-rockers of a decade ago, from Weekendtrip (when Awakening was still doing it), from Localpalooza, from BayBeats before Nokia, and from the Area22 moshpits. They’d all be smiling from their desktops knowing that somebody have continued bearing the torch, even if they don’t know each other. They’d comment on the pics, and then trigger huge networking possibilities.

Since 1999, Hiphop in Singapore has been young. When you go to a gig, everybody is your age. And it kept on recruiting the post-O level graduates (or non-grads for that matter) and their likes. It started out at YouthPark too but the sound system have always been bad. There have never been official photographers except for trueblue Hiphop head, Sketch. The kids were only there to have fun, I suppose. The performers were random, one or two would stand out, especially those with true messages and a good sound. But after a while, we did away with the DJ because it got expensive to host a show with monitor speakers and turntables. The b-boys started taking part in dance competitions instead. We even did away with the whitewash planks for the graffiti boys to work on. Little did we know, we’ve broken up a family. Not even Triple Noize’s win on primetime TV helped pave the way for street Hiphop to follow suit because we, as rappers and R&B singers, never saw how important the photojournalists, bloggers, and the likes were. The occasional Community Club gigs now feature guys with dramatic makeup, dancing to the beat that the rap group brought from one of the few well-known beatmakers here in Singapore. The older folks leave, and never looked back. We don’t have progress, development, and all we kept doing was pat each other on the back on how great the performance was, while truly, we know we need more than that to achieve a big break. Maybe not everybody wants a big break, but don’t you want some kind of reward? Even if its not $, don’t you want somebody to bop their heads to your song? Somebody you don’t know, perhaps. Somebody who doesn’t know Hiphp, even. Not NoiseSingapore, a government-funded youth program helped give a boost when they recruited Hiphop acts for their year-long campaign with their TV and online ads. I suppose we don’t have anybody else to blame but ourselves for the lack of vision, and that we didn’t even bother looking up how much buttons would cost because our beat was just so banging. If Nas thinks that Hiphop is Dead, he should see the state we’re in here in Singapore. At least the famished in Africa knows that they need food, but the struggling rapper here don’t know what’s wrong with him. No points for any of you.

It might sound early to some of you, but it has come to that time of the year where it’s the perfect timeframe for Community Centre/MAEC/party planners to start working out the Hari Raya Aidilfitri gatherings. I was a guest artiste at many of these gatherings last year in Singapore, and with my 7 years of party-planning experience (not to mention, a knack to defend local artistes), I have prepared a guideline that I hope you partyplanners out there can read and pass on.

1) Work Early: Start now lah kan. You must have confirmed everything before Ramadhan. Confirm venue, sound system, artistes, payments all before fasting starts. This way, people can plan their Raya schedules, especially the artistes.

2) Tight Budget: If your council or team has a limited budget, and no sponsors, then don’t bother, because a gathering is not one that should be restricted by a ‘tight budget’. And it’s a pathetic excuse to give the artistes when you’re asking for a cheaper rate. Takde duit, jangan buat.

3) Committee: Make a list of all the people involved, and update the list everytime there’s somebody new. You only need 1 meeting to put the event together, and another meeting to confirm the show. Jangan feeling weekly meeting and discuss tak habis habis. No work is done like that. Never give somebody more than 1 task, and never take more than 1 task for yourself. The one in charge for the food, the stage manager and the person at the reception should NOT be the same person.

4) Collaborate between MAECs: There are a few CCs that are near to each other. Pull your resources together. With collective support, you might be able to afford a grander event. The CC that is newer, with ample parking lots, nearing to a train station, and an administration that can disallow basketball games that night wins to host the show.

5) Stupid Names: Riang Ria, Gemalai, Lap Lip Aidilfitri are all stupid names that should have been buried back in the 80s. Go with no-frill names like ‘CC Open House’ or ‘Hari Raya Dinner’ that is friendly to non-Malays who might be interested to come.

4) Duration: Do not go more than 2 hours if it’s an event that serves food. Food will get cold, people will get bored. If there’s no food, make sure there’s alot of performances. Start on time no matter what. The tickets should say “Guests must be seated by __pm” so you start half an hour after that. Everything should end before 11pm. Anything after 11.30pm will be a huge bore, plus all the staff (caterers, cleaners, etc) will want to pack up and go already.

5) Hosts: Get the Anugerah Skrin finalists to host it or actual known hosts, not the friendly guy from your dance group and prepare a good script together with them. Getting a comedian to host the show doesn’t mean your show is in good hands. Do not expect the hosts to know what to do. You must give them the schedule a month ahead, and give them the lists of what to say, and who to thank. NEVER WRITE THESE NOTES DOWN ON THE DAY ITSELF.

4) Performers: If the gathering/dinner does not emphasize on entertainment, then 2-3 artistes are enough. But if ‘party’ is the theme of the night, make sure you get yourself good names and non-stop action. Get yourself a good sound system, and if there’s a band playing, make sure the band work together with the sound equipment people, and not just come and play, and later complain about bad sound. There are plenty of local and Malaysian artistes that you can call for the show. If you don’t enquire about their rates, you will never know. Write to the record labels that you see at the back of their CDs. So if you’re expecting people to pay for the tix to come for the event, the Community Centre’s tarian club is not enough.

5) Do Not Advertise If You Haven’t Confirmed The Artistes: This has happened many times when some big names are used for the promo but the artistes and their managers do not know of it yet. You must at least have them return a confirmation email saying that the date and the payment is confirmed. Nearing the date, secure it with a signed agreement and passing them 50% of the payment.

4) 6 Weeks of Promo: Always give your event at least 6 weeks of promotional time. That means 6 weeks before the event, the tickets, posters, flyers are all out. Make sure you give free tix and invites personally to the members of the press, and get them to RSVP their attendance. They can help list your event and even do coverage if its appropriate.

5) Buffet or Ala-Carte: Go grand, walimatul-urus style. Make sure that everybody is always eating something. No steamboat bullsh!t ok. Nasi beriyani, no less. Lontong; they already had enough during the first day of Raya.

6) VIP and Non-Muslim Guests: It’s 2008 already, don’t make people stand when the VIP arrives, if you really want an MP as a Guest of Honour. You can have a special mention on stage by the hosts to thank their attendance, but sembah-sembah is meant for the Di-Raja. For the benefit of your Non-Muslim Guests, have a bilingual host that switches back to English every now and then. And also mark what’s the dresscode on the invitation: Traditional / Formal so that they don’t come in shorts and slippers, in which THEY SOMETIMES DO. Refuse any entry of people who’s not appropriately dressed. Personally, go without the Guest of Honour unless he is paying for the event.

7) Lucky Draw: If you realllly must have a lucky draw, and you want a few rounds of it to give away all these gifts from sponsors, do each draw between performances, and not all the draws at the end of the event. Nobody wants to wait that long. Get each performer to pull a draw after each item, and the grand prize (if there is one) to be pulled last. Don’t call the VIP on-stage unless the elections are coming soon.

8.) Fashion Show by a Wedding House: THIS IS A BIG NO. NOT AT A RAYA EVENT.

9) Payments: Make all payments before or on the day itself, so when the day is over, you don’t owe anybody anything.

10) Team Work: Never blame each other or the old-fashioned makcik who wanted Jeffridin to appear, to everybody’s dismay. Everything should have been agreed upon up to 2 months before the event, and that nobody can say anything about it after that. If you really need the credit, print out the Menu, with the credit mention included from Show Organizer to Caterer to Stage Manager, with all their contacts there. If your name is not there, then you cannot take credit for it. And if your event isn’t a success, don’t say that you “kena buat orang”. That’s just crap. If you need any help, any enquiries, any advice, please write to me at imran@beats.sg in detail and I’ll help you as much as I can.

Lastly, the official photographer is the last person to leave because make sure you take a picture of the entire committee before you guys leave.

THE lyrics were in a different language, but the melody was the same.

Local stars JJ Lin and Didicazli Ismail. Picture courtesy of: ZAHARIAN OSMAN

Ms Dayana Ismail was listening to local Malay radio station Ria 89.7FM when local Malay singer Didicazli Ismail’s song Seribu Kenangan (A Thousand Memories) came on air.

She recognised the melody instantly - it was local singer JJ Lin’s 2005 hit Yi Qian Nian Yi Hou (A Thousand Years Later), from his third album Serial Number 89757.

A big fan of JJ, Ms Dayana, 20, a paramedic, was upset, and e-mailed The New Paper.

‘To hear JJ’s song being sung by others in another language and him not getting credit for it, it’s enough to make a fan mad,’ she wrote.

But it appears her anger was misplaced.

The song was adapted from JJ’s hit with full permission.

Didicazli had approached Ocean Butterflies and Touch Music for permission to use JJ’s song, and record producer Billy Koh supported the project.

Calling the song a ‘cross-cultural collaboration’, Didicazli told The New Paper: ‘The reason why I chose JJ’s song is because of the wonderful melody.

‘I wrote the Malay lyrics to the melody. JJ has always been credited for the single and he retains the royalties for the song.’

The lyrics in the Malay single are original and not a translation of JJ’s song, he added.

Didicazli works as a project executive at the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) and the idea to do a cross-cultural collaboration came from his CEO, Mr Edward Lam.

Mr Lam told The New Paper that he has always wanted to have the 1,000 Compass members - who are largely made up of Malay and Chinese music composers - collaborate.

‘In countries like France and America, artistes leverage on their unique cultural differences through collaboration. I thought why not do the same here,’ he said.

It was Mr Lam who encouraged Didicazli to approach Ocean Butterflies and Touch Music.

Didicazli’s single was released last December and it has been No 1 on the local Malay charts for the last four weeks.

It is nominated for Most Popular Singapore Song at the upcoming Malay music awards, Anugerah Planet Muzik.

Mr Lam said he was very pleased with the Malay community’s positive reception of the song.

‘It is quite a good achievement and it shows that music has no cultural or language boundaries,’ he added.

The New Paper could not reach Mr Koh for comment.

Ms Dayana said that she was not aware that JJ’s recording company had given permission to Didicazli to use the song, which was one of JJ’s biggest hit ballads and was at the top of the local radio charts that year.

She said she might have been ‘oversensitive’ about it since she was a ‘really huge fan’ of JJ.

She wasn’t alone.

When Ms Joanne Pan, a committee member of JJ’s fan club JJFC (Singapore), heard Didicazli’s song, she called Ocean Butterflies to check if it was authorised.

The 18-year-old student said the fan club members felt proud that JJ’s composition can transcend language barriers and reach out to another culture.

She said: ‘It’s very good for JJ. It’s quite interesting for his song to be sung in many different languages.

‘It’s some sort of evidence to prove that his music is so influential that even the Malay community notices.’ - Taken off the Electric New Paper by Sheela Narayanan

Reading this on the Electric New Paper angered me quite a bit, but I suppose she didn’t know jack about how songwriting and publishing works. But after Taufik was “caught” by fans singing a LeeAnn Rimes number and everybody thought it was made for him, I thought the public, or least popsters like Ms Dayana here, would have been educated. Songwriters and composers can “sell” their songs to just about anybody. More than 1 person can perform it, after going through proper protocol. You hear cover versions all the time, even the most famous of people do it. It is a pattern in all genres, and common fact, too. It is a perfect example of how backward we are in Singapore when it comes to entertainment, because those who loved to be entertained are ill-informed.

I’m not even going to go any further about this Malay girl making issues about this Malay singer trying to cari makan. She can join the gazillion Singaporean abusers on YouTube who comment about every little thing local artistes do asking why we doing this song, how bad we are at it. Astarafirghullah! Why don’t you share it with the folks who’ve been doing Rihanna’s “Umbrella” all over the world? It’s called a ‘cover version’. And I hope you realise that Aliff Aziz’ next hit “Cinta Arjuna” is a song originally sung by Michael Wong called “Tong Hua” because if I read one more case about mistaken assumptions such as this Didicazli vs JJ Lin case, it would officialize that we’re in a state of emergency: everybody is part of the destruction of local entertainment and not at all a part of the development. And I’m not only talking about this not-knowing-the-real-truth-behind-these-songs case. I’m talking about local Malay music in general. It cannot grow if you keep on stamping on it. Read up Malay folks who love to condemn local artistes anonymously in forums, you’re guilty as charged.

Just play the music, and enjoy it. If you don’t like it, turn it off.

I’ve never been to Genting before this and I always thought that it would be eerie for the vehicle to not work midway. I have this fear of being in a vehicle uphill and it uncontrollably move backwards. So that didn’t happen, but what happened was: I had my 2nd red carpet experience ever. We’re always rushing, even when we’re not late, I don’t understand that. The video above stars Nadya (Aszuad’s temp), Shegar on make-up and vocals, Cheryl pakai make-up dua jam lebih. We left Genting in a hurry also. If you haven’t read about my adventures in Genting Highlands, you may want to read it here: http://imranajmain.wordpress.com/gsc-utp-sctp-af-abpbh-all-at-one-breath

I never got around to edit this video because the pieces were too big. I remember getting really tired after the event though. Especially after being in the bus for 5 hours. The magic tricks were really cool though.

http://imranajmain.wordpress.com/2008/aliff-aziz-for-5-hours

I’m proud to announce to you that my entire album’s tracklist from my debut album, “Dengan Secara Kebetulan” is available for streaming on all flights on the Cathay Pacific Asian destinations. Thanks!!

This video is a prequel to the Youtube video I put up of me, Altimet and Omar K doing ‘Chantek’ acoustic style, and you must watch that video ’til the end because it features some unedited bloopers. Quite funny! You can check out the post here: http://imranajmain.wordpress.com/2008/chantek. The fella messaged me in the morning yesterday saying “kita satu geng hari ni”. And I asked  “geng apa?” and his reply, “GENG ADA LAGU NOMBOR SATU DI CARTA ERA!!!!!!!!” Congrats!!!! Random: I wonder if Era will drop their “Radio Nombor Satu di Malaysia” tagline if another radio station beat their listenership ratings.

The song features chorus taken off Humania’s ‘Cantik’ and Altimet’s recorded version features Adeep from Fabulous Catz (you might remember him from 2D… Cendrawasih, ring a bell?) Real good song and message in it. Go take a listen if you haven’t, and congratulate him at http://www.myspace.com/djaltimet

(Yeah I’m on a blogging spree as you can probably see. I’m simply clearing up my laptop of way overdue pics and videos actually!)

I know exactly where I want to do it next year. It’ll be a secluded beach-front sort-of resort where the next unit is not attached by the same wall. I’m not sure whether it should be buffet or ala-carte but alot of food is good. Haha. There should be a screening of some-sort; a movie or something. No games, please. I hate the stupid games. It’s like those ice-breakers at JC/Poly orientations. Tolonglah. I’m looking for a team to put the event together; from the invitation, to the catering, the decor, and such. If you got suggestions, please send a detailed proposal to imran@beats.sg ; The event will fall on Sunday, 25th January 2009 (the Monday after is Chinese New Year).

http://imranajmain.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/on-having-breakfast

I love breakfast. I love it Malay. I love it Intercontinental. I love it small and delicious. I love it big and hearty enough to skip lunch. I love waking up to the idea that it’s already there. I love waking up and preparing it for somebody else. I finish up a box of cereals so quickly within a few days after buying it. That’s why I had that breakfast event with the fans. It was a great turn-out ‘cept that we ran out of things to do after we ate. Haha. Here are the pics caught by Zee. The ones that Nur caught were too huge!

For tickets:

Harzira Harun : zira@fplc.com.my
Nadya Illiyana : nadyailliyana@gmail.com
013 2054191 or 017 2107987

pictures courtesy of Muhd Hadi Adl-Thouib who played the guitars for my set at the Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards at the National Museum last night. Thanks to Sanif & Yuni too!

Part 2 of http://imranajmain.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/on-hujan-chantek/

A friend of mine, Ja, introduced me to the idea of going to festivals. You must go to the front, come in slippers and dance the night away. It took me quite a few years before I understood how everybody could just let go and have so much fun. I remember a few WOMADS, I enjoyed Good Vibrations last year, the street party at Padang was good too. Last month I went to Sunburst Festival mostly because of The Roots as I missed them by a day when I was in Sydney a few years back. I’ve watched John Legend live (true enough he did the exact same set). George Clinton and his Parliament was groovy too. Was it just me, am I getting old and intolerant, or are the sets ridiculously long? I missed Raul Midon but caught some of Tompi. Met a whole bunch of Singaporeans, I was happy to see some more than others, of course. You know what I enjoyed the most? The fireflingers who came out late and mingled behind the party crowd. I spent the MOST time watching them! Oh, I loved Hujan’s set too. Too bad for Singapore youth that they don’t know who Hujan is unless you Myspace or Youtube them. I wanna go to the Cavenagh Bridge party!

I took some copies of my first album and went to Bugis Junction, VivoCity, CityHall area earlier this year and placed them on cars where I’m sure the owners are Malay. I left a note, saying if they liked the album that they’d recommend their friends to buy it. I don’t know what I was doing but it was fun lah. I wished they got back to me via email but heck! I would do it again. So watch out!!