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.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)