Black is the new cool
Veteran hip-hoppers Nico G’s music and image are now darker and more mature than before, writes Dennis Chua
REMEMBERNicoG?Theywere one of the pioneers of Malaysian hip-hop music in the early 1990s and disbanded after five years and three albums. However, they got back together five years ago and gave a power-packed performance at Anugerah MeleTop Era 2015. Since then, they have released a single,
Belia Perwira, in 2014 and the album Dunia Alam Fana in 2017. They also released a new version of their hit song, Inilah Nasibku ,for
Showdown The Movie in 2016.
Nico G, comprising Abdul Fashah Abdul Aziz (or Nico), 46, Muzaffar Shah Baharin (Affa), 43, and Shah Rosli (Dino), 44, has just released its fifth album, Black Edition,which promises to be “darker” than its predecessors Buatan Los Angeles (1993), Realiti
(1995), Alamak! (1996) and Dunia Alam Fana.
For the first time, it is produced by the rappers themselves, under their 10-yearold company Nico G Entertainment.
Nico, who is also an actor, said: “Black
Edition has six tracks, jointly created by the three of us and six composers.
“It’s a lot ‘darker’ than usual, in that the songs take on more mature themes such as social ills, conservation and fighting prejudice. We’ve even got two dark music videos for two of the songs, KGB and Siaga.”
The trio have revamped their once-colourful clothes for all-black attires.
“Black is cool, embraces all and is a strong colour. It is the colour of our maturity, and also reflects our willingness to learn from other hip-hop and pop musicians, even if they are our juniors in the industry,” he said.
ATTRACTIONS OF KAMPUNG BARU
The first single of Black Edition is KGB, a tribute to the trio’s hometown Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur.
It comes with a music video featuring Nico G singing and dancing in various parts of Kuala Lumpur’s “urban village”.
“We are true-blue Kampung Baru boys and KGB is hip-hop slang for our urban kampung,” said Affa.
“We co-produced this song with an old friend, SXPH, and wrote its lyrics with another friend, hip-hop singer Daniel Rafique or DelaFlare.
SXPH is best known for producing hiphop singer Aman Ra’s song Budak Flat.
“It’s an upbeat song about the attractions of Kampung Baru, the activities we enjoyed while growing up there, and the best-known eateries and hang-outs we went to over the years.”
Affa added that while modernisation and progress were inevitable, they would want to see Kampung Baru retain as much of its traditional charm as possible, along the lines of Kampung Morten in Melaka City.
“It’s our wish in this song that the unique features of our home village are preserved as best as we can for posterity. It’s our call for Malaysians to love our heritage, be it in Kuala Lumpur or other parts of the country.”
The second single of Black Edition is
Siaga which is hip-hop slang for “getting ready”.
Nico G composed it with three longtime friends Sabbala, KC and Muariffah, better known as the hip-hop trio Lawalah Familia.
“Siaga is a much more harsher tune than KGB. And it’s got a ‘nasty’ music video where all of us play corrupt businessmen who deal in drugs. It’s explosive ending has one of us kill the others with a gun in cold blood as he puffs away at his cigar,” said Nico.
“It challenges us to be better actors. From feedback from the crew on the set, we passed with flying colours!”
TAKING TIME
Dino said that the idea behind Black Edition came in 2017 after their successful gig The
Hip-Hop Showcase held at Viva KL Shopping Mall in Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur.
“That showcase was a hit with fans, and it made us realise that despite breaking up 22 years ago, fans still loved and missed us. So we decided to give them something that was different yet from the heart, and Black
Edition was the end result.”
Affa said that Nico G did not see itself as an “otai” in hip-hop music because it believed in “lifelong learning”.
“Self-improvement is what we always uphold. We are never too old to learn new tricks of the trade, and in fact we love picking the brains of our juniors in hip-hop.
“They are a lot more dynamic and aggressive than us, not to mention social media savvy. They rap at super speed, too,” he said.
Nico said that while they did not have any specific proteges in hip-hop, they planned to help showcase more of Kuala Lumpur’s and especially Kampung Baru’s “bright, new faces” on the genre.
“We’re always happy whenever new acts in hip-hop become household names. They will inevitably outshine us because they are a lot fresher and social media savvy than us, but as juniors they will always approach us to learn a thing or two, and we reciprocate in kind,” he said.
When asked about their children’s interest in hip-hop music, Affa said the youngsters were “all musically talented” but needed to focus on their education first.
“I’ve got a boy and two girls, while Dino and Nico have two boys each. Our eldest children are in their early teens. They sing along with their dads but school is their priority right now,” he said.
Nico G believes in “taking time” to come up with songs as “quality is of the essence”.
“We are not into rushing out new material every year. We work a lot with hip-hoppers behind the scenes and also organise hip-hop showcases. We believe it is our responsibility as industry pioneers to give newbies a helping hand,” said Nico.
“Along the way, we gather interesting, fresh and original ideas to better our performances and sounds,” added Affa.
Their music videos are available at www. youtube.com/TheNicoGroup.