on the way home, i was listening to xfresh.fm, a radio station dedicated specifically to malaysian music. i was listening to an all male group doin’ their hip-hop / R’n’B infused thang, complete with vocal harmonies. the song was in bahasa malaysia which was great as i think we shouldn’t give the usual bahasa-just-doesn’t-do-it-for-{insert genre here} crap any more. i can’t remember the name of the group, but one thing that stuck to my mind on listening to that track and the subsequent tunes that was aired that afternoon.
i had to endure the music.
we have fresh new talent with great ideas, but why don’t these guys sound like they just didn’t reach the mark yet?
i’m not shooting these guys down, but on a scale from 0 to 10, they were giving an 8 when we know they could do a 15. again, i strongly emphasise that this is not a malaysians-can’t-do-shit entry. we know full well what we are capable of, but when the wrench is thrown in the works by the powers-that-be (i’m not talking about the government!), we could only give a sigh of dismay. we do have great artistes, but only a handful. creative people are perceived to be bigheaded are then shot down prematurely. that happens when we have people with a cukup makan attitude wielding the rifle. i just wonder whether there is anything wrong with being a perfectionist. just listen to their work, man. simply flawless.
all we ask, as music lovers, is that people do a little homework. we can’t just be prog rock or dancehall ska or hip hop on the surface. point taken that we were never brought from africa as slaves later to be downtrodden by the system to have the blues, but if white working class londoners can do it in the 60’s, so can we.
homework, people. and add real soul, while you’re at it.
