Welcome to the age of Malaysian Hip-Hop. Mention the word hip-hop in association with Malaysia a few years ago, and you would probably been greeted by prepubescent girlies singing "ketepi-ketepi, gergasi sudah tiba (move aside, move aside, the giants have arrived)” courtesy of the three brothers that called themselves KRU.

Luckily, some were smart enough to explore and be introduced to the forefathers of hip-hop. Though not quite Afrika Bambatta, Run DMC was one of the first few international acts that introduced Malaysians to the true sounds of hip-hop music, along with the culture. And with all that, came the hip-hop fashion.

Baggy pants two sizes too big topped with a baseball cap worn front to back and of course, chains that could put Mr. T to shame. While most of us sat back and took the introduction of hip-hop to our lives in stride, some Malaysians went the extra mile. One of the first few Malaysian hip-hop acts would be Krash Kozz, three DJs who went around doing underground gigs and though signed with a local label, didn't get too far with their music. Why? If Run DMC was easily accessible on the shelves for the same price, why part with RM10.90 for a cassette of a local hip-hop act?

However, close to ten years later, a handful of hip-hop acts have come and gone in this battle of survival of the fittest, while some are lucky enough to be around. While the music gets better as the years pass, so does the industry. More and more recording labels have started recognizing the Malaysian hip-hop acts, which leads to a chance of a recording deal and introduction to the masses.

One of the labels that has done this is none other than local indie label Positive Tone with acts like Poetic Ammo, Too Phat, Naughtius Maximus and Reefa in its stable. According to Positive Tone's Managing Director, Ahmad Izham Omar, the industry does have a lot of space for growth but he does think that hip-hop "represents an exciting segment of the market place."

Yogi B, member of Poetic Ammo however has other views. His definition of the stage the industry is in currently would be the most interesting. In a telephone interview, he mentions, "it isn't even at an infancy state. It's very much a sperm still looking for an embryo."

Though one could agree with that statement, credit will have to go to Poetic Ammo for producing It's A Nice Day To Be Alive that managed to penetrate the Malaysian market of all levels. With them bagging awards at the Malaysian Music Industry Awards (AIM) in 1999 not only proved that the Malaysian public do enjoy hip-hop, it also opened more venues for up and coming hip hop artists. Record labels jumped on the bandwagon to sign up underground hip-hop artists as hip-hop proved to be a moneymaking industry.

Gunning down the competitors
Unfortunately, just like the whole East Coast vs. West Coast feud in America, the same thing is seen happening here. While there aren't brothers being gunned down in the 'hood, rivalry is a plenty. Naturally, the better ones in the group have to withstand constant dissing for going "commercial". Tags of "sell-outs" are often pinned on the foreheads of Ammo members all because of the fame they have been getting.

"I can say that we are all very hurt as all these groups that diss us have somehow benefited from our success," says Yogi B on the verbal ammunition headed in their direction. Yogi B believes that a newcomer to the industry should not bring a pioneer down. "I am not saying that we are Run DMC, but Poetic Ammo has been around for ages and when some new punk comes along acting up because he has a titled cap or some rolled up trousers, it shows great disgust."

While Da Joint's Sam Sneeze dismisses any allegations of referring to Poetic Ammo as sell-outs in their live performances, it is known that there is an on going feud between the two acts. G, from Da Joint however believes that all hip-hop acts in Malaysia are united. "I can say that because during gigs and all we are united. We don't create conflicts between each other."

Thankfully, there is talk that all the lads involved in this feud are trying to work things out. A recent message posted on a local hip-hop website by Da Joint's Sam Sneeze might just prove it. Part of the message reads: "I realised by all this dissin we wont get nowhere, so I guess I'm sorry… and hope we all can come to an understanding and help contribute towards the growth of the scene together instead of fightin one another.... Ammo if ya see dis I hope you will understand."

With this, we can see the Malaysian hip-hop industry evolving for the better. While there is space for growth, international acclaim might just be in the hands of two of Malaysia's hip-hop artists. Ahmad Izam Omar comments, "With groups like Poetic Ammo and Too Phat leading the charge, I am sure the hip hop industry will be attractive to foreign markets. In fact, a label in Indonesia is already interested to bring in both groups to their country."

While KRU tried to see how their album would fare outside of Malaysia a couple of years ago and failed, one can only keep their fingers crossed that Poetic Ammo and Too Phat would be able to introduce to the world the Malaysian culture as seen through the eyes of local hip-hoppers.

Ok, many reckon that hip hop roots and culture in Malaysia can be traced back to the early 90s with the introduction of the hard rapping, hip and smart Krash Kozz. But who are the playahs now?

Poetic Ammo
First known as Poetic Ammunition (PMO) when the group (more an entourage these days!) was a duo. Yogi B and MC Ena decided to head in different directions as MC Ena had other commitments. Yogi was too adamant, so he roped in brothers, Land Slyde and C Loco and later, a newspaper ad that was picked up by 16-year-old Nicolas (Point Blanc) saw the completion of the group. Believe it or not, Point auditioned over the phone! He had mentioned that he knew beat box and Yogi asked him to prove it. He's part of the group, so looks like he proved it well!

Their first album, It's A Nice Day To Be Alive saw the introduction of something never done before in Malaysia. Not only did their refined rapping skills come across in English, but the album included numbers in Malay, Cantonese and Tamil! The album was a shocker, putting the KRU brothers to shame, seeing Poetic Ammo beat them to bagging the Best English Album in the 1999 AIM (Malaysian Music Industry Awards). And to think that the KRU album had a Babyface penned number featured on it.

Over a year later, they were featured in the hip-hop/R&B compilation, Tricks & Tales with acts like Naughtius Maximus, Reefa and Innuendo. ‘Who Be The Player,’ off the compilation album, saw the foursome getting a sponsorship from Coca-Cola, which led to one of the best music videos ever produced in Malaysia.

This year marked the release of Poetic Ammo's sophomore album, The World Is Yours.

Too Phat
The duo that many refer too as pretentious, seeing their rapping skills and language style imitates that of American freestylers. With that and the excessive use of foul language, it's surprising to see that they have just reached the legal age to consume alcohol in certain parts of the world (that would be 21). Having released their debut album, entitled Whuttadilly? (which is street slang for “what’s up?” derived from the phrase “what's the deal?”) the duo that comprises of Joe Flizzow and Malique have been spotted speaking in 'hood styles that would leave brothers in the hood ashamed. Or amused.

They joined forces after meeting online in the early 1998. It all started by the arrogance that supposedly comes with the ability of being able to rap -- they challenged each other to rapping and rhyming on the net itself. They later met up and came up with a demo that they presented to producer, Illegal who then took it up to Positive Tone (Malaysia's finest independent record label) and presented it to the managing director, Ahmad Izam Omar and A&R Director Paul Moss. Months later, they were asked to sign the dotted line, and became label mates with names like Poetic Ammo, John's Mistress and Innuendo.

Da Joint
Da Joint comprises of three young boys, Syed Rizal, Samir Sharman and Jeyakumar who are now called Rez (pronounced R easy), Sam Sneeze and G respectively. Da Joint was formed in 1996 when the three of them got together to rap for the fun of it. In 1997, things got a little more serious and they started performing their own songs to minus-ones before finally getting a chance to perform at a tribute show in the city for the late Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G).

Though a full album that credits Da Joint on the cover is unavailable, they do have a single out, called ‘The Carnival’ that talks about the spot for all, Bangsar. Surprisingly, the song faired relatively well on the Hitz FM Malaysian Top 10 chart.

Reefa
Though currently heavily involved with his own album as well as a role in the Malaysian sitcom, Buddies, Reefa has managed to contribute his talent to numbers done by other local hip hop artist, including Too Phat and Poetic Ammo's first single, 'All 'Bout The Hook Up,' off their sophomore album.

Reefa was spotted after he had won second place in a Puff Daddy rapping competition on the city. Though not a fan of Puff Daddy, Reefa had taken part in the contest as it was one of the few competitions held in town that allowed him to show off his talent. Positive Tone jumped at the chance of signing him on board, one of the reasons being that he was the only solo hip-hop artist in Malaysia. His involvement with Positive Tone got him a chance to appear on the compilation, Tricks & Tales where two of his self-penned songs, 'Uptown' and 'Hip Hop Supply' were featured.

From Tricks & Tales, Reefa went on to be featured on Too Phat's 'Bla Bla,' as heard on the Whuttadilly? album. Rumor is that Reefa's debut album is expected to hit record stores before the year is over.

Naughtius Maximus
The story of Naughtius Maximus is a little more complicated. They started out back in 1995, where Spit, Mista Rem and Jungle Jerry were involved in different bands that were all featured on one compilation album called Naughtius Maximus. Unfortunately, not only was the compilation album banned, so were their live performances due to the government's myopic views that hip-hop promoted wrong doings.

It wasn't until 1998 that the three of them joined forces to come up with two songs that were featured, naturally, on the Tricks & Tales compilation album. Their two tracks, 'M.V.P' and 'Born Ready' went on to win back fans they had lost back in 1995 but it was short lived. Jungle Jerry got more involved in his DJing work worked in numerous underground dance clubs, including Fire, Underground and the most recent, The Backroom KL.

Mista Rem on the other hand, got into a rather messy situation when he was sentenced to an imprisonment term for killing a friend at a local club. He pleaded guilty.

The surviving member of Naughtius Maximus now is Spit, who has been featured on local tracks done by Innuendo, Option 1 and Too Phat.