It's All 'Bout Mannin Mainthargal

INTRODUCTION

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

CONTENTS

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL CONTENTSINTRODUCTION

WELCOMETO OUR PASSION

IT’S ALL ‘BOUTMANNINMAINTHARGALMAGAZINE

What happens when a Brit-ish Tamil and a Malaysian Indian who share the pas-sion of design and good music collaborate? It results in the creation of this maga-zine. It’s All ‘bout Mannin Mainthargal is a personal project of VNi and bliss. The

aim of this project is to compile the works of Malaysian Indian/Tamil artists into a presentable magazine. Each edition will consists sixteen Mannin Mainthargal artists from all genres. We have tried our utmost best to cite the information provided in this magazine to its original source, thus if we have failed to do so at some parts, please highlight it to us. Since, our project is still in an infancy period, do forgive us if we

FRONTCOVERVNiINLAYblissPHOTOGRAPHWinChanPhotographyINFORMATION FACEBOOK | PERSONAL WEBSITE | WWW.MIS.CPGRAFIX.ORG - PSYCHOMANTRA & RABBIT.MAC|

make any mistakes and do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything. We hope you will enjoy this as much as we enjoy making it. Last words, we accept compliments, praises and criticism but please do not support us but support our local artists by buying origi-nal and support our local charities. Love.

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Article The Capital of Tamil Hip Hop

ARTICLE IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

Capital of TamilHip-Hop

Four local rappers share their thoughts on the evolution and global ascendancy of Malaysian Indian hip-hop and its future. by Nantha Kumar (The Star Online - 2011, March 27)

THE Indian strain of Malaysian hip-hop is mak-ing its presence felt all the way to India and beyond. Not since Vasudevan has there been such an intense interest in Indian musicians from this nation.

The homegrown playback singer gained fame in India’s Tamil film music industry in the 1980s and mid-1990s as the voice of the leading silver screen stars. His demise on Feb 20 at the age of 66 now assumes an even greater meaning.

It is hard enough as it is to realise such an ambition in an enormously competitive environ-ment and to have achieved it as an outsider in India only adds to Vasudevan’s esteem.

The difference between him and the hip-hop artistes is that the late stalwart had to leave our shores to obtain his celebrity whereas the reverse is true for the latter. The younger group is currently being courted by South Indian film world’s prominent and emerging composers.

Musicians from the subcontinent have been curious about their brethren here since the birth of the Malaysian Indian music industry in the last decade. That curiosity saw the infusion, and in some cases whole replication, of Malaysian elements into their soundtrack albums.

Pioneering bands such as The Keys and Lock-Up in the late 1990s were offered to perform in India but fame eluded them even though their albums outsold a handful of movie-related releases.

As such, now seeing rappers such as Yogi B and Natchatra lip-synching for A-list heroes and heroines on screen feels like a triumphant mo-ment when the glass ceiling is smashed.

The Malaysian Indian music industry had its coming-of-age when the rockers of The Keys ripped their way out and Lock-Up’s pop-meisters romped. Their hip-hop counterparts, however, should be credited with bringing down the wall that separates the talent here from the music-makers in India.

The OriginsThe first hip-hop song in Tamil – or at least part of it – is commonly believed to have come via 1998’s Vallavan by Poetic Ammo. Yogi B, C. Loco, Land Slyde and Point Blanc made up the Malaysian hit group between the late 1990s and the turn of the last decade, holding immense appeal amongst a cross-cultural audience in the country.

During interviews with four members of the present crop of local hip-hop performers not too long ago, I find our discussion on the topic, quite bizarrely, taking us back to the mid-1990s, to the Johor Baru-based Galax-C’s Kamini.

Veterans Coco Nantha of Boomerangz and Chakra Sonic’s Viveck as well as their younger counterparts Rabbit Mac and Balan Kashmir all remember the song Kamini as the earliest Tamil hip-hop prototype.

For “official” purpose, the first Tamil hip-hop album here was Boomerangz’s Nil Gavvanee

(Halt And Take Notice) in 2002. Then a trio comprising Coco Nantha, Behug Mathan and Dejavu Hari, Boomerangz supplied a refreshing genre to a music arena dominated by rock and pop.

The local Indian hip-hop singers, while initially dabbling in DJ-ing and naturally maintaining the MC-ing and B-boy-ing, discarded the graffiti art aspect of the culture. Bending the Tamil lan-guage into hip-hop tracks was in itself a labori-ous process, which perhaps left little time for the creation of other art forms.

The language itself is adequately supple to fit into hip-hop; metered verses and beats are very much part of Indian music and poetry. But to make it work within a framework that demands vigorous pacing and placing calls for the singer, songwriter and wordsmith to merge with one and another. The poet must become the musi-cian as well while respecting the sanctity of the Tamil language, a matter that is upheld with a messianic zeal by the purists.

“Musicians can be created ... someone can teach you the chords and you can become a musician but to be a poet you need to create from the heart. There is a fine line between a poet and a musician: a poet’s work, even of medieval times, transcends generations, which may not be so for that of a musician,” offers Ba-lan Kashmir, 27, who’s from Klang, Selangor.

Once this is achieved, the question is how to “localise” the music’s content and form to suit

the taste of hip-hop enthusiasts and beginners.

Community musicLike elsewhere in the world, Malaysian hip-hop evolved due to the sentiments of a disenfran-chised youth, who passionately embraced the genre as an outlet of expression. What sets it apart from its Western form is that its principal practitioners are from the “green ghettos” with a sound command of the Tamil language and a strong identification with its structure.

“Even though it is part of the black American culture, there is a bond that we recognise. Before we knew rap, we were aware of the compositions of Arunagirinathar and Kamban (the 15th- and 9th-century Tamil poets re-spectively) and some of which are identical to rap in their rhymes and rhythms. We were schooled in tevaram (de-votional poetry) and we can recite some by heart but we are not in any way associating medieval poetry with rap. This is the link that we see within us and that draws us to connect with rap,” opines Vi-veck, the 34-year-old native of Alor Star, Kedah, who founded Chakra Sonic with his brothers Jack and Vijay in 2002.

Coco Nantha argues that Agni Kunjondru Kan-den (I Found The Spark Of Fire), a famous poem of Subramanya Bharathi, is reminiscent of rap.

In the same vein, the pioneering hip-hop ar-tistes had issues to relay and were inspired by the lyrical force in which Bharathi – the 19th-

A product of local vernacular school, Viveck finds connection with rap through Tamil poetry.


Rap attention: Balan Kashmir is more concerned with keeping his words in sync with his music than the so-called bling and bitches of black American rap

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IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

century Tamil poet and independence fighter who crusaded for reforms in a culturally and intellectually decrepit South Indian community – vaulted his words.

Boomerangz’s debut album in 2002, especially in the song Nallavar Sollai or Words Of The Wise, contained encouraging messages for youngsters to move up in life and unite.

Chakra Sonic’s debut effort Kalai Oru Por (The War Of Art) – the first proper “diss” album in Tamil with a homage to Eminem’s Stan being a gem of an ode – similarly paid deference to the elegance of the language and had reconciliation as its central thrust.

In all, they see themselves as poets first.

Labour pains and identity“We have been listening to the old school hip-hop and wondering how we could convert it into Tamil. We were attracted to Gangsta’s Paradise (Coolio’s hit 1995 rework of Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise) and tried something similar, the result being Moxsha (from Nil Gavvanee or Halt And Take Notice). It was a painstaking effort, of which it took us six months to make a single song and four years to complete the al-bum,” recalls Coco Nantha, 34, the lead rapper of Boomerangz who hails from Kerling, Selan-gor.

Most albums are trilingual, with Tamil naturally taking precedence over English and Bahasa Malaysia. The use of words in the national lan-guage reflects their Malaysian upbringing and mannerism. This also adds uniqueness to their music.

Chakra Sonic went a step further by including two tracks rendered fully in Bahasa Malaysia in their second album, Kodi Kelviyin Bathil or An Answer To A Million Questions, in 2004. Sang Puteri received heavy rotation on radio stations while Ulek Mayang sampled the music of the eponymous traditional Malay dance.

One of Rabbit Mac’s songs, Kuku Bee in his Ma Carrotz album released in 2009, meanwhile, used nadaswaram (long oboe native to carnatic music of South India) to lead the song for that

classical Indian flavour.

“Whether it’s rappers from Thailand or Hawaii, there are attempts to localise the music to suit the culture. We have Atama from Sabah, who has infused rap into Sumazau music. Boomer-angz included serunai (reed wind instrument of Malay folk music) in their first album,” says Rab-bit Mac, the Penangite now based in the Klang Valley.

Be it Coco Nantha or Viveck, who were educat-ed in local vernacular schools, Balan Kashmir or Rabbit Mac, who were not, they are averse to impersonating black American rappers and droning on – as Balan Kashmir puts it succinct-ly: “About the bling and the bitches.”

The other characteristic of Malaysian Indian hip-hop is a propensity for missiles aimed at rival or aspiring rappers!

“No matter how inspired you may be by the American rappers, you have to include a Ma-laysian feel to the music. It’s about respecting the music and gaining respect for doing the music (in our own way),” says the 27-year-old Rabbit Mac.

“We have also included humour in our music, which is nothing new, as Yogi B has been do-ing it since his Poetic Ammo days, but we have gone for full-blown skits in our albums. We’d like to po-sition ourselves away from the rest in the field.”

Rabbit Mac recently launched the album Rabbit & Friendz during the Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur

ARTICLE


The future“Not everyone who understands music appreciates hip-hop; not everyone who appreciates music understands hip-hop. However, right now, most who are into hip-hop do so because of the at-tendant glamour. They wear the cap and the chunky chain and

pass themselves off as artistes,” snipes Coco Nantha.

Viveck, who feels that the bud-ding artistes are handicapped either by their shallow under-standing of hip-hop or their fail-ure to gain musical knowledge formally or informally, says they could best learn from their experi-ences. Otherwise, they may find it difficult to forge an identity as a genuine rapper.

He feels that at present hip-hop is all about technique and busi-ness. Potential rappers have a wider access to music-making, a larger pool of composers and readily available technology that makes it possible for most to fulfil their dreams.

He laments that while he is pleased to do 10 singles for 10 groups, nine out of them have

absolutely no foundation or inclination in music. But he admits that they have money and they get their singles out with or with-out him.

Viveck is, however, sanguine about the prospects for Malaysian hip-hop artistes, urging them to think of innovative ways of sell-ing their albums. He cites Balan Kashmir’s “direct-selling” meth-od (see sidebar “Space for expansion”) as a case in point.

The power, he concludes, is in the hands of fans to assist in the direction of the music.

Coco Nantha: ‘You may be a big star in Malaysia but India is the umbilical cord (that links us all to the rest)

“Not everyone who understands music

appreciates hip-hop; not everyone

who appreciates music understands

hip-hop. However, right now, most

who are into hip-hop do so because

of the attendant glamour. They

wear the cap and the chunky chain

and pass them-selves off as ar-

tistes,”Coco Nantha

This article was written by Nantha Kumar and published in The Star On-line on March 17,200. The original source - http://ecentral.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/27/music/8165518&sec=music. This article was chosen because it gives a good overview of the birth of Tamil Hip Hop in Malaysia. No copyright infringement intended.

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MMARTISTSFIRSTEDITION

Balan Kashmir Darkkey

Dhilip VarmanDr Burn

Emcee JeszKash Villanz K Town Clan

Nakkeeran Psychomantra

Rabbit MacReshmonu

SaranSasi the don

Tiban Viveck (Chakrasonic)

Yogi B

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IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL BALAN KASHMIR IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

BALANKASHMIRMACHAMAGIC

BIOGRAPHY

Rotaract Annual Dinner Klang Jun 2009

Astro RRA Showcase Melaka July 2009Sasi the Don ‘Music in Me’ CD Launch KL Sept 2009Malaysian Tamil Superstar Gig KL Oct 2009Balan Kashmir ‘Maria’ CD Launch KL Nov 2009Bomb Shelter At Cloth & Clef KL Nov 2009

ALC Charity Night Klang Nov 2009Astro Aatam 100 Vagai Finals KL Dec 2009The UltimateMid Air Party Sabah Dec 2009The Album Launch of Gila Monstarz KL Jan 2010Bob Marley 65th Birthday Bash KL Feb 2010Ishq Bector Live in Mist KL Feb 2010R Records Live at Laundry KL Feb 2010Penang Charity Night Penang Mac 2010Diwan Street Launch Penang Mac 2010 Goodwheels Campaign KL April 2010Malaysia-Lah Campaign with KLG/Joeflizzow KL April 2010

TM Blockbuster / THR Raaga KL April 2010TM Blockbuster / THR Raaga Seremban April 2010Dhol Federation Veshaki Celebration KL April 2010TM Blockbuster / THR Raaga Klang May 2010TM Blockbuster / THR Raaga JB May 2010Bank Simpanan Nasional SPP Launch KL June 2010

Da Monsta Album Launch with KLG Genting July 2010THR Raaga Awards Tour Penang July 2010 Urban Koothu with Sasi The Don London Sept 2010Astro Raaga Awards Bukit Jalil Oct 2010INTI Subang ISC Cultural Night Subang Oct 2010DIGI Deepavali Street Launch Klang Nov 2010PJ Stamford College Indian Night Subang Nov 2010Vanity White Diwali with DJ Biggie KL Nov 2010HOTLINK Thaipusam Galatta KL Jan 2011Balan Kashmir Presents We are Music Bangsar Feb 2011O.N.E Night + Album Launch, Neutral Club KL Mac 2011SMK Lasalle International Understanding Day Klang April 2011Chinna Thirai Superstar Night Klang April 2011

SOLOSHOWS

INFOCurrent LocationKlang, Malaysia

General Manager Starr Sound Asia / Bass Ethics Entertainment Management

Booking [email protected]

Press [email protected] / [email protected]

MACHAMAGIC BLOGwww.machamagic.blogspot.com

facebook3Balan Kashmir

Balan Kashmir has worked as a solo rapper/ song writer with many established names and upcoming acts which he was privileged to meet and greet alongside his years of climbing the ladder of success. He has written alongisde acts such as KLG Sqwad, Pete Teo, Joe Flizzow, Elvira, Sasi the Don, Phlowtron, Reefa, Sakti, Saran, Chakrasonic, Da Monsta, Rabbit Mac, Psychomantra, Emcee David, Shab’d Clique and other talents. Kashmir was blessed with the opportunity to work with produc-ers such as D’Navigator, Damian Shorty Soul, ILLegal, Jamie Wilson, DJ Uno and DJ Fuzz as the years passed. More songs and mix-tape projects are in the pipelines, as he speaks.

Doing his part for the local music scene, Kashmir had a ahnd in co-organizing a major unity project which involved some 50 Malaysian msuicians, actors and acresses dubbed Malaysian Artistes for Unity. He was featured in the theme song and video which was directed by Yasmeen Ahmad and two government related projects – Zoom Malaysia theme song and a video for Tourism Malaysia in 2008 as well as ‘Satu Suara’ (One Voice) theme song and a video for the Kementerian Belia dan Sukan in 2009.

Balan Kashmir has roped in his long time producer, D’navigator to star work on his solo album and is currently performing live shows with the support of DJ Mastermind. The project is scheduled for release in late 2011. The concept behind the album would see Kashmir exploring his mind and two languages – Tamil and English. He entwines his rhymes within both languages. This is sure to set him far ahead of the competition due to it being done with such finesse. By setting up the blueprint of the coming-of-age album, Balan Kashmir is ready to prove to the world a type of swagger only a true born ‘macha’ possesses. Stay tuned to witness the aftermath.

BALAN KASHMIR

Artists Balan Kashmir Artists Balan Kashmir87

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL DARKKEY IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGALIT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

DARKKEYNAGARAJATHEKINGOFSAMBAROCK

SAMBAROCKSambarock is a combination of rock and sounds from Indian classical music instrument like ta-alam, mirutangam, urumi, pambai and salangai which can be considered as Indian folk or Indian samba.

BIOGRAPHY...with The Keys

Darrkey, or affectionately referred as the King of Sam-barock is the founder of the sambarock music genre. In 1996, Darkkey alongside with The Keys, created and intro-duced this form of music to the local industry. The essence of sambarock was captured in the first album titled Akkamaage. The album was considered highly successful in the Malay-sian Indian music scene as it recorded more than 180,000 copies sold. This subsequently gave birth to a thriving local music scene. Consequently, this also marked The Keys as one of the pioneers in height-ening the status of the local music scene in Malaysia.

To this date, The Keys have produced 10 albums whilst incorporating the Sambarock genre (please note Darrkey left The Keys in 2000, he produced four albums with The Keys before pursuing a solo career). Each album introduces and experiments a new style with different beats, guitar lines and vocal.

The Keys albums1996 - Akkamage 1997 - Magarita 1998 - Maravana 1999 - Karatana 2000 - Jammarasan2001 - Kaligaa 2002 - J-maan 2003 - Udumbeh2004 - Karma2007 - Venkey Samba Rock

The Keys Lineup (1996 – 1999)

Darkkey VenkkeyChandru

Negry

Limboy@Prem

Elan

Boy MJLoges de’ Arween Anand de’ Mondok Sri de’ sk roy

...as soloIn 2000, Darkkey, the lead vocalist of The Keys, departed from the band and pursued a career as a solo artist with Alai Osai. His departure also saw Boy MJ, Loges de’ Arween and Anande de’ Mondok follow Darkkey in suit. They formed a band named Black Blood Brothers with Boy MJ assuming the role as guitarist, Loges de’ Arween as the bassist while Anand played the keyboard. The Black Blood Brothers performed as backup musicians for Dark-key shows or concert with Alai Osai. The first solo album of Darkkey, Arakana, was considered a major hit nationwide. Alai Osai who held copyrights for the album manage to sell more than 80,000 copies. As a result, Darkkey was awarded the title King of Samba Rock and it is justified with his record sales.

In the same year, Darkkey introduced Hervin to the music scene. Hervin, the cousin of Darkkey, had a good knack for melodious tunes and he was in-spired by Illaiyaraja. As a result, Hervin belted out tunes with a combination of slow rock and pop song. Hervin produced five albums with all albums consid-ered hits as it recorded a high number of responses. As a result, Hervin was one of the most sought after by other artists to feature in their production.

The Ups and Downs of Sambarock t has been approximately 10 years the Sambarock genre conquering the Malaysian Indian Music Scene. During this period, there have been many ups and downs memories in the sambarock scene. One of the lows is when Darrkey departed The Keys with Black Blood Brothers and formed his solo career. However, this departure proved fruitful as Darkkey continued to achieve high standards. The Keys produced ‘Jammarasan’ with 5 members Chandru and Venkkey as vocalist, Negry as guitar-

ist, Limboy as bassist and Elan as keyboardist. In 2004, Negry died because of leukaemia. Chandru then produced an album titled ‘Neg Ibanezz’ un-der the name The Real Keys. This was done as a request from the late Negry and to commemorate his memory. However, this caused controversy as Chandru had misused The Keys name. Hence, Chandru changed the name of the band to Neg Ibanezz and produced an album titled Pichi Kichi. He also created an unplugged song titled ‘My Friend’, in dedication to the late Negry. Limboy too departed from The Keys in 2004 to produce an al-bum named Solo Kathiraya with Wailers Bob. There-fore, The Keys only consists of Venkkey and Elan to move the band forward. In 2005, Anand de’ Mondok left Darkkey as a result of misunderstanding and this also the departure of Loges de’ Arween following year in 2006. In 2007, Boy MJ and Hervin also de-parted from Darkkey to form their own careers. This eventually led Darkkey and Elan combining efforts to perform in shows and if there are any major con-certs, Black will come in as backup. It is also worth noting that Darkkey left Alai Osai in 2005 and Tsuna-mina was the last album under their production.

Since his departure from Alai Osai, Darkkey founded his own production, Logarima Production and he produces, markets and distributes his album through his own production. Tamilana and Aaaarna album was under Logarima production.

The Darkkey albums2000 - Arakana 2000 - Darajana 2001 - Devilana 2002 - Amarana 2003 - Maradona2004 - Murugana 2005 - Tsunamina2007 - Andavana 2008 - Tamilana2009 - Diamlah(with The Keys)2009 - Legend2010 - Wirawana2010 - Diwali release (1000 andhu)

Artists DarkkeyArtists Darkkey

DARKKEY

INFOWEBSITEwww.sambarock.webs.comfacebookDarkkey Nagaraja

Source sambarock.webs.com Text rewritten by bliss

Current LocationRawang, Malaysia

General Manager Darkkey

Booking AgentDarkkey Nagaraja

Press Contact-

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IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL DHILIP VARMAN IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL DHILIP VARMAN

DHILIPVARMANThe Romantic Singer

BIOGRAPHY

Artists Dhilip Varman

AS he walks on stage towards the microphone, some would instantly presume he is another local cover-song singer.

Awaiting the latest Tamil film ballad to be belted out, he surprises you with something new. A song you would not have heard even if you are an Indian cin-ema buff, because it is not a song from the shores of India.

Dhilip Varman, singer, lyricist and composer, is born and bred in Penang. Many compare the texture and melody of his vocal range with that of Indian playback singers.

“I can only take that as a compliment,” he says over the phone from Penang. He is talking in Tamil, refus-ing to speak in English.

“If people say things like that, I must be doing something right,” says Dhilip, whose composi-tions are widely heard as theme songs for local Tamil telefilms.

Dhilip, who is releasing his second album today, shot to fame when his song Uyirai Thozhaiten (I Lost My Life), a composition by Jay of Stig-matrix, was featured on the local Tamil film, Kaathal Vendum.

And because local Indian artistes hardly dabble in melodious tracks or ballads, Dhillip’s Uyirai Thozhaiten was an instant hit when released on radio.

“I don’t know why artistes skip this sort of mu-sic here. They are mainly into rap and hip-hop. They fail to realise that people here are into South Indian cinema music and ballads.

“I have always been in love with Tamil music, and I never thought of doing any-thing else but music,” says Dhilip, whose father was a lead guitarist and singer with Expressions on the club circuit.

“I learnt all I needed to learn about music from my dad, Sunder. But I went deep into Carnatic vocals under the tutelage of my vocal teacher, Elango,” he adds.

Dhilip, an ardent fan of renowned musical com-posers Illayaraja and A.R. Rahman, started his musical journey as a stage singer, performing at small shows.

His first recording opportunity arose when he sang for local group Rogkwave for its Naveenam album. He went on to form his own company, Dhilip Varman Productions, to pro-duce jingles and local soundtracks for Indian telefilms.His productions have since appeared in lo-cal films November 24, Kanngal and Ivanthan Hero. He even bagged the Best Male Vocalist at last year’s MIMI (Malaysian Indian Music Industry) Awards.

Dhilip produced his first album last year, Kana-vellam, which featured songs composed and arranged by him.

Former Works Minister Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu also contributed a poem that was used as lyrics for the song, Kanavugal Varum (Dreams Will Come).

“My album distributors, One Vision Entertain-ment, hooked me up with Datuk. We made an appointment, as I was interested in getting his permission to use a poem that was featured in Makkal Osai (a local Tamil daily).

“But when I met him, he said the poem was inappropriate, and he instantly wrote a new one for me,” he recalls.

Dhilip’s next album, Meendum Meendum (Again And Again), which he fully composed and ar-ranged, will feature Indian playback singer Karthik.

“We flew to Chennai to record Karthik’s vocals for the song. It was a surreal experience as I got to feel the vibes of recording in a cinema studio, something I had never done in Malay-

“I can only take that as a compliment,” he says

over the phone from Penang. He is talking in Tamil, refusing to

speak in English.

sia.”

Besides Dhilip, the album will also introduce new singers. If you are interested, check out the launch of Meendum Meendum today at 7.30pm at the Kompleks Perdana Siswa Universiti Ma-laya.

source: nst.com.myTaken from Dhilip Varman website

INFO

Artists Dhilip Varman

WEBSITEwww.dilipvarman.co.nrfacebookDhilip Varman

VIDEOCLIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HszRv5pEECo

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DR BURNSOLLISAITHAILAIVAN

BIOGRAPHY

DR BURN

Artists DR Burn

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL DR BURN

Artists DR Burn

INFOWEBSITE-facebookDr.Burn

Current LocationKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

General Manager Sollisai Nation/ Mahakavi Records

Record LabelMahakavi Records

Press Contact-

INTERVIEW

Sollisai should be tattooed on his body, Dr Burn aka Athiruban Manoharan Naicker is not to give up on Tamil Sollisai and wants to make Malaysian music to be recognized internationally. Dr Burn known for his punchy and racy Tamil rap started his music life in 1997. His introduction into hip hop was when he and some of his friends formed the underground rap group called Worst Media Clique (W.M.C.). During this period, he decided to further strengthen his music knowledge and studied audio engineering and subsequently worked for Malaysia’s well known record label – Alai Osai. During this time, after gaining four years of experience in the Tamil Music Industry, he came out with a debut album entitled Dr Burn, which was under Alai Osai. In addi-tion, while working with Tribe Studios, he worked with most of the Tamil Industry’s leading artists. Eventually, Dr Burn got together with Yogi B when he was work-ing on Lock Up Guna’s solo project. ‘I heard his stuff and knew he was in’ said Yogi B, who then approached Emcee Jesz, who was a Club DJ. The triangle was completed, thus formed Yogi B and Natchatra. Vallavan was launched on 1st September 2005 and went on to become a big hit worldwide. They gained further promi-nence after performing in Star Vijay Awards. Music Composer Dharan approached Dr Burn to rap in his composition. The track Oh Nenje became an instant hit. Soon opportunities came from every nook and corner of the world! And the rest as they often say is history.

VIDEOCLIP

DISCOGRAPHY2001 Dr. Burn2006 Vallavan (with Yogi B and Natchatra)2007 Oh Nenje (debut song in Tamil Cinema)2008 Soorasamhaaram2009 Gangster (Laadam)2009 Kuruvi Theme Song 2009 Kuruvi Happy New Year2009 Jacky Theme Song (Sagar Alias)2009 Hasili Fisile (Aadhavan)2010 Beach Volleyball Anthem2010 Sollisai Thalaivan singles2010 Ivan Thedal (Bale Pandiya)2010 Thriller theme song (Malayalam Movie)2010 Hello Ramante (Orange)2010 Appalam Movie Soundtrack2011 Unnai Kandene (Kandene)2011 Sollisai Thalaivan (in progress)

Appalam - Appalam Movie Soundtrack

Ucchakattam- Appalam Movie Soundtrack

Oh Nenje - Sivi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR1-r1aWjgg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf0GDF6yyV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5irs_7Z1I28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2hPuzvMi9k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vePANhJahak

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EMCEEJESZKAVITHAIGUNDER

Emcee Jesz,the music pro-ducer and lyricist began to rap at the age of 18.with the emphasis on originality and creativity of Emcee Jesz,Yogi B lured him into Natchatra. The famous group Yogi B and Natchatra was born.Their first album called Vallavan was hot demand. Madai Thiranthu and Indian Girls from this album was immediate and momentous blockbuster around the world. The overnight success of Valla-van rocked the Tamil rap industry around the world, making Emcee Jesz one of the biggest music wonder story of 2006. Later, Emcee Jesz work closely with all the big music directors from india and this took him to the next level as he appeared in Kollywood Tamil cinema silver screen for the soundtracks that he performed which is for the movie, Kuruvi, La-adam, 16 Days and Masilamani.Two years later, the most wanted International Tamil Hip Hop album Kavithai Gunder by Emcee Jesz was released on 25th May 2009 in Chennai, india. For first time ever, Studio 8 production has signed our very own Malay-sian rap superstar, Emcee Jesz for the album kavithai gunder and this has set another Malaysian Tamil music record. Emcee Jesz was the first Malaysian artist to get signed with a major label from India. In 10th October 2009, Emcee Jesz won the most Popu-

BIOGRAPHYlar Artiste Award organized by the number 1 Malaysian Tamil radio station THR Raaga.Emcee Jesz has performed in many concerts and shows all around the places and perform-ing still for all major shows, tv, media and radio channels from Malaysia, india, Singapore and Sri Lanka. He also performed in London, Toronto and Chicago.On the other side of his achieve-ment, Emcee Jesz has got more than 3 million hits on youtube for his songs. Til to this date, emcee jesz has recorded 11 soundtracks for Kollywood silver screen mov-ies in India.

EMCEE JESZ IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL EMCEE JESZ

Artists Emcee Jesz Artists Emcee Jesz

VIDEOCLIPS

INFOCurrent LocationKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

General Manager -

Record LabelStudio 8/ Kavithai Gunder Records

Press Contact-

WEBSITE-facebookEmcee Jesz

Studio 8 production & records having created an important network has associated with a multi commercial genre album Kavithai Gundar (Lyrical Gang-ster) under the direction of Malaysian hip hop artist Emcee Jesz. Rising from the ashes of the 2006 Vallavan which was nominated for best non Malay album, Emcee Jesz has set off solo this time with his solid experience acquired internation-ally. Kavithai Gundar can be marked as the first international Tamil hip hop solo album to hit the mainstream internation-al market after the trio album Vallavan, which sold more then 10,000 copies in Chicago, Toronto, India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. “ Sara and Emcee Jesz believe in making a difference. In their eyes, KG stands for value, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge. “

They reviewed the industry and put themselves in the listeners shoes to see what could make it better and equiva-lent to International standards. Typically, when a new venture is started, it should be based on hard research and analysis but since KG is its first kind, Studio 8 pro-duction & records didnt have the luxury of laying hands on any data of previous records however despite this barrier, they have been able to give Tamil hip hop music a higher degree of significance.

The album contains 13 tracks featuring 12 artists including 3 award winning singers, Yogi B, Benny Dayal and Neha Bhasin with Malaysian rap-pers, Mista G, MC Loga and Pysho Mantra spicing up the flavour. A mix of urban hip hop, R&B hip hop, crunk, reggaeton, old school flavour, senti-mental, patriotic and community songs are the alluring energy in this album.

Different styles of hip hop can be appreciated in KG. Bad Boy, a Tamil reggaeton song is a predicted blockbust-er with its long shelf life anticipated to be partly on account of Madai Thiran-thu, a party-oriented single whose ap-peal was so phenomenal that the song itself became synonymous with reggae-ton (hip hop) in the minds of many who were unacquainted with the music style.

Thaniye featuring Neha Bha-sin is a breathtaking Tamil hip hop R&B love track while KG also has one Tamil old school song, Nee Illammal Naana, expected to have an emotional

KAVITHAI GUNDERimpact on listeners. Look What Hap-pened, is a special song that requires an expression of empathy. For children who are born everyday, contracting a fatal virus with no fault of their own. This Aids Awareness Song is for them.

The major challenge faced was preserving the originality of hip hop yet retaining the essence of Tamil to be sure that it did not cross borders and replicate American hip hop remixed with Tamil. To reinforce the glory of Tamil ethnicity and music, various instruments and themes that truly represent the Tamil culture were utilized. The ideal example in the album would be the song Vel Vel, singing praises of Lord Muruga. Yes, thats right, a rap song for our very own Tamil God, Lord Muruga. Sara has covered it all.

After the one-year long produc-tion followed by a six-month long post production, Sara states he is ecstatic about the sound quality of the songs. While some tracks were recorded in Malaysia and some in Chennai, the mixing and mastering of the album were done at Mas-terdisk Studios in New York. Amazingly, KG comes to us from the same studio as of Jay Z, Beyonce Knowles and other top hip hop artists hence the international standard of the mastered tracks are no sur-prise.KG doesnt limit itself to youths but intends to influence a legion of followers. Sara recalls the awe he was in when he saw people from all walks of life savour a live show in Chennai by Emcee Jesz, Yogi B and Dr Burn. What turned out to be a shocking revelation for the team of Studio 8 production & records was the blend of young, middle aged and elderly at the show regardless of sex and status. Research in their own best possible ways further re-vealed that Tamil hip hop was fancied by people from different social backgrounds. Natives from villages, towns and interior parts of Tamil Nadu have been discov-ered to be huge fans of Tamil hip hop. “ I see this more like an achievement and acclaim received by my album “ -Sara

Album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0xucrdSD3w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGNjoThfnwo

THANIYENehaBhasin

BADBOYMCLoga

1615

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL KASH VILLANZIT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

KASHVILLANZ

Kash kicked off his career as a recording artist in the year of 2006 where he gathered forces with two other fellow Villanz members by releasing his first debut album entitled Asthivaram. . Their tracks made magic by continuously remaining in various music stations by remaining at the Top Ten charts for a long period of time with continu-ous support and response. He then decided to take a major step to compose all the tracks which he was going to release in his second album entitled Saagavaram in 2008. Saagavaram turned out to be a major hit thus, boosting his confidence to proceed with his largest and best album yet entitled Vaathiyar – The Kingdom of Janmavaram earlier this year.

Kash and his team have also carved the heart of many award nominators, a few of them include winning the Best Newcomer Award at the Ma-laysian Indian Music Industry (MIMI) in 2007 for Asthivaram and the Most Popular Album Award at the Raaga Radio Awards in 2009 for Saagavaram. The Villanz have also gone beyond the Indian industry and were nominated for the ‘Best Indian Album’ at Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM 15).Kash has done his fair share in featuring for local talents which include featuring in a track for the

album Maya Kalaignar with Yogi B and Vassan in 2007. In 2008, he featured for another blasting track entitled Life is a Mystery for the current youngest talent found in Malaysia, Shruthi Jayas-hankar, which grabbed the Best Dance Song Award at Asia Voice Awards. In 2009, he produced a track with his protégé, Maney, entitled Aayirathil Oruvan, which has also been featured in the Villanz third album Vaathiyar. Kash has also ventured into the acting stream by making an appear-ance for the movie Aanava Aattam. Currently standing as the Executive Producer of V-Hommiez Ent, Composer, Sound Engineer and Recording Artist.

Thanks to the support of his friends, family and fans, he believes that there is still a lot for him to learn and pursue and will never give up upon his passion on music.

V-HOMMIEZ ENT

BIOGRAPHY

Artists Kash Villanz

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL KASH VILLANZIT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL

Artists Kash Villanz

VIDEOCLIPS

INFO 4th BIGRELEASECurrent LocationSunway City, Malaysia

General Manager -

Record LabelV-Hommiez Entertainment

Press Contact-

WEBSITE-facebookKash Villanz Fanclub

INTERVIEW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ6fyQC1YTQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjMgTk3LktU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63fTMD9xD9A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42TZOnuO9uE

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv5xFVK5U8A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr7VsFaYXJI

Asthivaram

Om NamashivayaAftermath Kanavu

Life is a Mystery

Villanz Live Interview at Vizhutugal

Astro Vanavil

The Villanz Exclusive

Interview On RTM2

4th Big Release Coming Soon

Promo 1

Teaser 1 - 4th Big Release

Coming Soon

Kash Villanz talks about the latest album

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KTOWNCLANTHECRUNKKINGS

K-Town Clan has been in the Malaysian music industry for about 5 years now, have performed on a variety of music platforms and during high profile events. The rap group consists of three individuals in their mid-20s - Vidya, Ganesh and Roshan whose stage personas are Vid, Bo and Roshan Jamrock respective-ly. All three members of the K-Town Clan hail from Kajang, hence, the name of the group essentially gives

recognition to their hometown and is a reminder of their roots.


From humble beginnings, K-Town Clan received their first nationwide break in 2005. The trio was crowned champion in the vocal category of the highly rated talent show ‘Blast Off’ Season 1, which was aired on Astro Hitz.tv. K-Town Clan was the first rap group to in-troduce the ‘crunk’ rap genre in a local context to the Malaysian masses. Crunk rap is highly popular in the United States as artists like Lil’ Jon, Ying Yang Twins and Pitbull, to name a few, have introduced it in the international music arena. K- Town Clan developed their niche sound by taking cues from internationally known artists and adapting them into local con-text while giving the music a party and dance vibe which relates to the masses. The group has an innate passion for music which helps in their experimenting and exploring the depths of other musical genres and infusing it with their own musical styles. The success of K Town Clan’s musical endeavours has been recog-nized in the local radio charts. They have pro-duced chart topping numbers such as “Come Get Some”, “Sum’in Like Tis” and their current single “Give em the Ughh!”.

BIOGRAPHY

K-Town Clan’s much anticipated album Playground is set to make its grand debut this year. Playground is a 16 track album, which comprises an intro, an outro, multiple hard-hitting infectious tracks, skits and a bonus track. Roshan Jamrock, member and music producer/programmer for K-Town Clan describes the al-bum as groundbreaking due to the originality of crunk with a local vibe which essentially breaks all musical boundaries. Producing an album with an experimental was a risk worth taking as it has received rave reviews among music listeners. Two songs from the album’s released singles have already causes waves in the coun-try and the Clan has even caught attention of people in Phillipines, Singapore, Brunei and the UK. The first single released, “Come Get Some” and the current single, “Give em the Ughh!”, have individually held the number 1 spot on the Malaysian English music charts for over four weeks in a row.

PLAYGROUND

Artists K-Town ClanArtists K-Town Clan

K-TOWN CLAN K-TOWN CLAN

INFO

DOWNLOADUNRELEASED

VIDEOCLIP

Current LocationKajang, Malaysia

General Manager Mr Paul

Record Label-

Press [email protected]

WEBSITE-facebookK-Town Clan

INFO

http://www.mediafire.com/?61md30hrt0cdlm7

DOWNLOAD K-town Clan’s unreleased traxx here. Take not that these tracks will not be in the upcoming album. PLAYGROUND. 2011. Te

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1S4ap1MRfIGive Em The Ughh!!!

Come Get Somehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Kwe3gDcEA

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NAKKEERANSHADESOFNAKKEERAN

Nakkeeran is a singer, song composer and songwriter from the United Kingdom. Since a very young age Nakkeeran has been singing and performing Tamil songs in Malay-sia, the country he originates from. In 2004 he came to limelight after his performance in the television talent quest called ‘Vaanavil Paadal Thiran Potti’ organised by Vanavil channel of ASTRO broadcasting corporation . Having reached the finals in the competition Nakkeer-an became a household name in Malaysia and till today is remembered for his performances. When he moved to Singapore he performed in ‘Vasantham Vetri Vizha’ and ‘Vasantham Star’ organised by Vasantham, a MediaCorp TV Channel.

In 2008 Nakkeeran returned to the UK, the country where he had his tertiary education and now lives near London.

Nakkeeran released his first single called ‘Thi-rumanam’ (Wedding) in 2008. His debut album ‘Shades of Nakkeeran is available from 11-01-2011. Nakkeeran featured many talented artists from Malaysia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom in this album.

The track ‘Chellame’ (My Dearest) is released in Tamil and English. Other songs include ‘Payanam’ (Journey), ‘Kanave’ (Dreams), ‘Thola Aadava’ (Friend, Let’s Dance), ‘Elun-thidu’ (Rise up), ‘Inainthom’(Together),’Yennai Paar’ (Look At Me) & ‘Nakkeeran Solgiraen’(Nakkeeran Says).

BIOGRAPHY

NAKKEERAN

Artists Nakkeeran

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL NAKKEERAN

Artists Nakkeeran

INFO VIDEOCLIPCurrent LocationLondon, United Kingdom

General Manager -

Record Label-


WEBSITEwww.nakkeeranmusic.comfacebookNakkeeran

CONCERT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clXTRiwroTg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvTgAxnpy70

Shades of NAKKEERAN Concert - date & venue finalised. See you on 28-Jan-2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Pentas 1 | KLPAC

THIRUMANAM

ALBUM PROMO

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PSYCHOMANTRAHIPHOPTHALAINAGARAM

Krishna Kumar Lechmana or better known as Psychomantra, was born on 30 July 1981 in Kuala Lumpur. The first experience of music for the rap-per is in Nirvana College Night in Dynasty Hotel, K.L. During free time, Psychomantra loves to write lyrics.

Psychomantra is the founder of CultureShock Records. He works as a recording artist and also a producer and composer. In addition, Psychomantra is also the sound engineer in CultureShock Re-cords. The 30-year-old singer has so far released 2 albums and one EP - Punithamana Thulasi (the latest) and Oru Kirukkanin Kaviyam, as well the EP Sikkikollu. Similarly, Pscyhomantra has been credited working with various artists in the music industry. He also featured in Iraj’s Thiruda video.

In addition, Psychomantra’s verses can be seen in Rabbit Mac’s Ma Carrotz, The Villanz, Iraj, Dinesh K, Shabir and countless others.

BIOGRAPHY

PSYCHOMANTRA IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL PSYCHOMANTRA

Artists Psychomantra Artists Psychomantra

INFO

INTERVIEW PUNITHAMANA THULASI


General Manager Masta Joe ofMantra Networks

Record LabelCultureshock Records

Press ContactYilangovan CultureShock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyz7Zo3ubEA

INTERVIEW WITH PSYCHOMANTRA

VIDEOCLIP

WEBSITEwww.cultureshockrecords.netfacebookPsychoMantra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40dhOzmC67YYenna Solla Pogirai

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RABBIT MACHIPRABBITHOP

Rabbit Mac, one of the chief member of Psycho Unit, was born on 7th August 1983 in Georgetown, Penang. Rabbit Mac, whose break-through in the Malaysian music industry through Graveyard Inc’s Provoked is one of the very few rap-pers in Malaysia who goes for all out comedy skits in his album. Rabbit Mac has been highly rated by artists for his originality and versatility. This can be seen as he has collaborated with many artists in their songs. Rabbit Mac’s latest venture can be seen as a song in Vilayattu Pasange – alongside two others Psycho Unit members – Daddy Shaq and Shez-zay and Shamini Ramasamy.

RABBIT.MAC IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL RABBIT.MAC

BIOGRAPHY

Artists Rabbit.Mac Artists Rabbit.Mac

INFO

Rabbit and Friendz

WAZZEFAK.tv

WEBSITEwww.psychounit.comfacebookRabbit.Mac

Current LocationPenang, Malaysia

General Manager Ex’ Kay/Cub’ Ally

Record LabelPsycho.Unit


VIDEOCLIP

http://www.youtube.com/user/wazzefaktv?blend=9&ob=5http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFzMYKGF82w

Buying ORIGINAL CD’s is what I’m interest-ed in, help and support your brother’s in our Malaysian Music Industry!

If you buy ORIGINAL:We will get Paid and can able to have our Sal-ary for our effort and timeless hard work, and i can assure that we can able to produce more good quality albums in future just for all of yall as ya’ll request to not to stop on what we’r do-ing.

If you buy the PIRATED CD’s:The unknown guy which you and me will never ever know, earns and have fun selling our Prod-ucts and Albums on his own just by duplicating our hard work and efforts. End of the day, WE WONT GET ANYTHING!

Help me to pass the words to your friends and loved ones.

Love,Rabbit.Mac

2625


RESHMONU

seven AIM nominations in 2004, of which he landed three into his collection (Best Male Vo-cals, Best English-language Artiste, Best Engi-neering for an Album). It’s You That Matters was remade in Mandarin by Evonne Hsu, titled Wǒ yào qīng qīng wèi nǐ chàng shǒu gē (“I Wanna Sing a Song For You”). In 2005, Reshmonu re-released his debut album under Sony BMG in repackaged form with new material, titled Monu-mental: the Journey Continues which included Kiranya Tiada Lagi (the Malay version of Walk Away) and Hey Waley.

”R Records”In 2006, Reshmonu founded Reshmonu Sdn Bhd, popularly known as “R Records”, to Uni-versal Music to work on his new album, Super-

fine. The album was launched in a party on 31 January 2007. Among the singles from Super-fine are “Superfine” (the title track) and “The Way It Makes You Move”. In mid-2007, Resh-monu joined Ikon Malaysia. Since its inception and RIM accreditation, R Records had also signed artistes such as Silent Scream and Elvira Arul. In early 2009, Resh-monu launched his first fully-Bahasa Melayu album, titled Harapan, for which he gained the award for Best Engineered Album in the 16th Music Industry Awards held in that year. In 2010, Reshmonu released his first Tamil lan-guage singles “Theendathey”, which was a hit among Malaysia’s Tamil community.

BIOGRAPHY

RESHMONU IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL RESHMONU

Artists Reshmonu Artists Reshmonu

INFO

Hiresh Haridas, born 26 May 1976 in Malac-ca), better known by his stage name Resh-monu, is a singer-songwriter from Malaysia who does mostly-English songs. He is known for songs such as “Walk Away”, “Cintaku Pergi”, “Hey Waley” and “Superfine”, as well as for his hairstyles. Of Malayali descent, he became a father in 2005. His son is named Maureece.

Early careerReshmonu released his debut album, Monu-mental, in 2003 under Dhanosh Records, after taking four years to complete. Among the songs in this album were Walk Away and It’s You That Matters. The album earned him

MonumentalReleased: 2003Label: Dhanosh Records (Independent)Singles: “Walk Away”, “It’s You That Matters”, “Cintaku Pergi”, “Like This”

Monumental: the Journey Con-tinuesReleased: 2005Label: Sony BMGSingles: “Hey Waley”, “Kiranya Tiada Lagi”

SuperfineReleased: 2007Label: Universal MusicSingles: “Understand”, “Superfine”, “The Way It Makes You Move”

HarapanReleased: 2009Label: R RecordsSingles: “Oh Anok Anok”

DISCOGRAPHY

VIDEOCLIPSCurrent LocationMalaysia

General Manager Colin Lai ([email protected])Christina ([email protected])

Record LabelR Records

Press Contact-

WEBSITEhttp://muzic.my/music/art-ist/reshmonufacebookReshmonu

‘R’ RECORDS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPZXdq75AALike This

Hey Waleyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPodLlBq1jA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U6xPgbvl80

Let’s Get It Together

2827


SARAN

The name Saravana Kumar Narayanan will probably draw blank stares from many but would you believe, if this relatively unknown person is currently set-ting the music industry ablaze and is looking to be a force to be reckoned with. Born Saravana Kumar, he is fondly and popularly known as Saran in the music circuit and to the public alike.To many, he may simply look like the guy next door with his simple and charming ways but be warned that one cannot simply disregard this unassuming lad as Saran is the current flavor. His music speaks volume and he has one hit after another to his ever-growing credit. Presently, his songs, Kollathey and Paarvai are garnering regular airplays in THR Raaga, with Kollathey hitting numero uno on two of its chart shows. Saran’s height of success was neither achieved overnight nor was it a breeze. It took him a couple of tumbles before he hit the right notes. Saran’s foray into music started in his twenties, when few of his friends cajoled him into joining Bakat Raaga Taala, a talent show. The talent quest turned out to be a catas-trophe, simple because he was too nervous to even hold the microphone properly, what more to sing. The show, although not one of his glorifying moments, was a bless-ing in disguise, because amongst the crowd, someone spotted the abundance of talent within the man. Before he knew what hit him, he was trying out for audition by rendering the song ‘Kannae Kalai Maanae’ from the movie ‘Mondram Pirai’. His voice mesmerized the talent scouts and it gave him his debut TV performance ‘Fiesta Deepavali TV2 (1999)’, which was the much-needed platform to get his music career soaring.He steadily moved on from one singing venture to an-other but never the one to be content with his disposition, he took a bold move by participating in ASTRO Vaanavil’s Paadalthiran Potti 2003. He advanced to the final stage and vowed the judges and audience by playing the tabla, keyboard and guitar while singing one of his very own composition ‘Kaathaliyae Saukiyama’, in the talent-time category, displaying a creativity never seen before. He released his singles Kaathaliyae Saukiyama and Alaipa-yuthey, in which he collaborated with sultry vocalist Elvira. Both his singles were well received by the masses and slowly a fan base for his music took shape, there was no stopping him and he was spurred to come with more upbeat tracks. Since then he has gone on to work with many local artistes and his Midas touch, till today leaves many in awe.The self-taught musician considers himself lucky because

music flowed in his blood although he consid-ers himself a late bloomer as far as singing is concerned, because in his family everyone started singing much earlier. His entire family is musically inclined as they sing the Bhajan, a religious song of praise, while he was the percussionist in the family. This Seremban-born bloke recognized the love for music in his early years, at a tender age of 3. Saran played the bongo and was surprisingly good at it, thus he used to accompany his dad’s bhajan and as age caught on, he began varying his musical instruments. From the recorder in his school days to the tabla, a keyboard and the guitar. He learnt playing these instruments simply by observing others and perfected his skills in it through years of practice.The former banker’s flair for music is obvious as he is the epitome of music- he breathes, lives and works on music and his profession as a jingles producer provides him with the perfect cover to be close to his passion. His many creative ideas are the backbone of numerous multinational advertising giants like Celcom, Telekom Malaysia, Baba’s among others and has won him multiple awards.He has, to his name 5 Kancil Awards, the highest award accorded for local advertise-ment, which is akin to the Oscars. In 2006 he received a bronze award, also one apiece for best language and merit while 2007 proved to be fruitful for him as he bettered his records and received two awards, a gold and silver respectively.Saran’s recipe for making good music therein lies in his simplicity. He lives his life by this mantra and believes anything done in mod-eration will be a success and that is what has molded him into the musician he is. And like any other musician he also believes music can touch humans in a way nothing else can. Music to Saran, is a universal language that transcends boundaries, people need not understand the language but to be soothed and calmed by tunes they hear is what makes Saran come back time and again to his pas-sion. An avid traveller and health conscious by nature, Saran feels his innate gift for music is

to be shared with people. Although he has the abiltity to write lyrics, compose and arrange music in addition to singing, he feels that having his own cake and eating it, is not the way it’s meant to be. He prefers engaging talent-ed and aspiring singers to collaborate in producing quality music people are looking for.Unknowing to this handsome Sagitarrian, whose pre-ferred genres are R&B and Jazz, his music has gone places and has been heard abroad, in countries like Romania, California, New York as such. And he is con-stantly on the look out to better his works and to have his music supersede his previous marks. He believes his working relationship with Kelvin Choy a.k.a Illegal of Platinum Studios and D’Navigator will help him boost his ever expanding talents and musical aspiration. His aims are to enhance every aspect of his lyrical journey and to become a household name to be reckoned with. Apart from his music, Saran also dedicates time to encourage youngsters to be actively involved in music, this resulted in him being one of the judges for THR Raaga’s ‘BOH Raaga Swarangal 2008’. His feedback and comments were communed in an encouraging manner. Saran’s ac-tive involvement in the national arena also makes him a universal musician as he is never to be associated in one

genre or musical community. He has con-tributed to the growth of the national music scene by singing the chorus and appearing for the theme song of Malaysia Truly Asia 2007 sung by Juwita Suwito. He is also weel proficient in the Tamil language and as such was given the responsibilty of writing the lyrics and perfroming the Tamil version of the Rakan Muda theme song 2008. His current project, sees Saran crossing the interna-tional mark by doing the arrangement of the theme song for India’s Star World Channel. Kudos to him for bringing fame and putting national musicians like him on the world map of music.


BIOGRAPHY

Artists Saran Artists Saran

SARAN SARAN

INFO

INTERVIEW


General Manager -

Record Label-

Press Contact-

WEBSITEhttp://www.saran.com.my/facebookSaran Narayanan

R&B MALAYSIAN TAMIL PRINCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm4SdZhOW7s

All rights reserved by IsaiArangamhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTtmoC_WdbY

Saran - Kollathey

VIDEOCLIP

3029


SASITHEDONWild-haired, ever-smiling and with a funky sense of style, the artiste is the Malaysian personification of reggae. Little wonder there: his dream is to spread the Asian reggae movement throughout the world, popularizing an understated music form which many appreciate but few really understand.

“Reggae isn’t taken seriously in Asia, where rap, rock and hip hop take centre stage in music,” says Sasid-haran Chandran, the man behind the Don’s persona. “But you hear it in clubs, on the radio, on TV. Why isn’t there a greater expression of it in the live music scene?”Because, he answers himself, it’s difficult to start something new, to go against music with proven local com-mercial successand acceptance.

From the time he launched himself as an artiste, Sasi proved he had a winning formula in hand, taking home the Malaysia’s Most Popular Malaysian Indian Artiste title twice in a row (2001 and 2002) and being selected as a Reggae Ambassador to Malaysia and South Asia by Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide in 2002 as a recognition for his contribution to the music form. He was also nomi-nated for Best English Album in both the AIM and Anugerah Era awards in 2007.Because, he answers himself, it’s difficult to start something new, to go against music with proven local com-mercial success and acceptance.

From the time he launched himself as an artiste, Sasi proved he had a winning formula in hand, taking home the Malaysia’s Most Popular Malaysian Indian Artiste title twice in a row (2001 and 2002) and being selected as a Reggae Ambassador

to Malaysia and South Asia by Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide in 2002 as a recognition for his contribu-tion to the music form. He was also nominated for Best English Album in both the AIM and Anugerah Era awards in 2007.

Years down the road, Sasi is Malaysia’s and South East Asia’s biggest reggae icon, necessitating the creation of a term for the local flava he inserts into international beats: Asian Dancehall. Since breaking out in the music scene in 2001, Sasi has an impres-sive number of English, Malay and Tamil fusion hits under his belt, including Anbe (My Love), Hey Gener-al, Hold Up feat. Apache Indian, Yardy Gal, Suatu Im-pian feat. Amy Search, The Tide is High and Music in Me feat. Apache Indian. Most of his smashing singles were written by creative minds who had backed the singer from his early days, such as Damian Mikhail Seet, D’Navigator, Fasy (Maldives) and No Jokes (Sweden).His strong vocal talents, determination and positiv-ity also attracted the attention of other renowned artistes, leading to collaborations with his idol, Dr. Alban, Apache Indian, Malaysian Rock Legend Amy Search and renowned World Music Artiste Zainal Abi-din amongst others. International big names began hearing about the Malaysian born-and-bred homeboy, and he was given the honour of welcoming onstage the likes of Jay Sean, Shaggy and Apache Indian during their tours or stops here.

Collaborations are proof to Sasi that music is a bridge, able to overcome age, colour and creed.

“A song on its own is a bridge between melody and lyrics, connecting them in a smooth harmony. Music unites us, brings us together. It’s a bridge across race and religion, uniting people across the world to spread a message.”While such fame and recognition might have swayed the heads of lesser men, the genre’s key message of peace and love has kept Sasi focused on the mission of his music.

“Reggae is all about looking at the big picture. It’s about forgetting our differences and remembering to love one another.

IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL SASI THE DONSASI THE DON

Artists Sasi The DonArtists Sasi The Don

BIOGRAPHY

VIDEOCLIP

WEBSITEwww.sasithedon.com

facebookSasi The Don


General Manager -

ASIAREGGAEAMBASSADOR

INFORecord LabelIsland Talk Asia


“There are bigger things out there, beyond what we see and hear and touch. There is more to the world than our petty conflicts and trials. There is a need to stay united, to stay strong together. Reggae reminds us of this, and has done more to solve conflict than any other music genre in the world.”

Sasi looks up to the legendary Bob Marley as the ambassador of love, inspired by his music and the great love he had for life. Like his idol, the Don sends out messages in his songs that inspire his fans. The 1,335,000 hits he’s had on MySpace in the four years he’s been active online speak for themselves, with Music in Me feat Dr.Alban being the most-listened to track on MySpace and Hold Up with Apache Indian on YouTube.Sasi the Don and Sasidharan Chandran are two different personalities. While both are incredibly friendly, sincere and humble, the Don enjoys per-forming for an excited crowd while Sasi is more of a “Chill with me, brother” sorta guy.

In fact, the man has psychologically separated him-self so thoroughly from the Don that he even refers to his on-stage enigma in the third person.

“Sasi the Don is proud to take Malaysians on this journey to discover reggae,” says Sasi. Confusing? Slightly. Pretentious? Hardly. In fact, it’s precisely this attitude that keeps the man so grounded and down-to -earth.

Sasi is ready to take the music world by storm and spread the reggae movement around the globe, especially to his fellow Asians throughout the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o_V_lzN3vE hhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbNJC8ns_qw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEif9FW2-R0

Hey General Music In Me feat Dr Alban Kadhal Saghiye

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TIBAN

In this modern era, music industry gives us a momen-tous impact in our life. Malaysia is widely develop-ing with this upcoming industry, which impressed the nation. As the music industry of Malaysia is doing pretty well among all the races, yet Indians are not left behind. Tamil music is growing broadly where people enthusiastically adore the songs of theTamil Industry.In conjunction with this, a young and youthful Indian brought up family has succeeded as the music director of the Tamil Music Industry. He is none other than the

music director; Tiban who became prominent with his latest local tamil single that is ‘Oru Kathal Kathai’ that was nominated as 1st place in THR Raaga Ma-laysia Top Ten Hits for 13 consecutive weeks. Partiban who is familiar with the name of Tiban has desired to become a music director ever since he was a small

kid. In early of January 2003, Tiban furthered his education in Certificate of Computer Competency in the area of troubleshooting and maintainance after completing his SPM. By April 2003, Tiban continued with his foundation of music production and recording in Effecthory Studio Sdn. Bhd. And followed his Diploma in Human Resource Man-agement in Optima College – Phoenix International University of Australia. Finally, on early Janu-ary 2005, Tiban pursued in the field of media technology – audio engineering, filming & graphic designing in the School of Audio Engineering (SAE).Tiban started his journey in this music industry as an assistant music director and sound engineer in Pro Tools Studio Productions Company with the famous music director S.A. Arun. He started working his first project with S.A. Arun as an assistant music director. His last project with S.A. Arun was Tamilanaga song or also known as Makkal Sakthi. Currently, Tiban ventured into the Malay scene and working with Metrowealth International Group or known as MIG who produced blockbuster movies like Jangan Pandang Belakang, Rempit, Congkak and etc as a music direc-tor/ sound engineer. He came out with the latest single, named ‘Tibanin Oru Kathal Kathai’ and also ‘One Love’ which impressed most of the people. Indeed, he was also involved in Sultan Ariffin ‘Naam Yaar’ which is a local Tamil movie as a music director.Tiban always dream to be different than others. Perhaps he wants to be extraordinary than others in this field. As he emphasize that music is widely broad scope, therefore he wish to compose dif-ferent kind of musics. His role model is A.R. Rahman and he dreams to be among the best music director and sound engineer in the music industry.

TIBAN IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL TIBAN

Artists Tiban Artists Tiban

BIOGRAPHY

VIDEOCLIPS

INFOWEBSITEhttp://www.tibanacousticalr.blogspot.com

facebookTibanCurrent LocationShah Alam, Malaysia

General Manager J.S Sivam / S.Sri Rajini Kanth

Record LabelAcoustical Recordz

Press Contact-

ACOUSTICALRECORDZ

Priyam album releasing soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oixzg9Z-phw

http://soundcloud.com/tiban-1

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VIVECK JI

Viveck (Chakra Sonic), born April 8, 1976, is a suc-cessful songwriter and artiste in the Malaysian Music industry . Known as the godfather of Tamil Rap , Viveck has featured with artistes like Reshmonu and Datuk Siti Nurhaliza. He currently owns a record label (DISS THA STUDIO) and music publishing company releasing their own recordings as well as those of other artists. This was his lifetime dream to which had finally come true af-ter hurdles. Having performed in the local TV, Astro and interviewed in the Discovery Channel and BBC London, his songs were even nominated for Anugerah Industri Musik for the song ‘Ulek Mayang’ and a song which is nominated yearly representing the Indian Music Dias-pora in Anugerah Era for the song ‘Sang Puteri’.Since the age of 15, Vivek has an apt for poetry writ-ing inspired by the diversities of Malaysian culture, and Hindu scriptures. He with his three brothers , Jack and Vijay formed ChakraSonic in 2002 ,a hip hop group which has built a massive fan base in Malaysia.His Kalai Oru Porr and Kodi Kelviyin Bathil albums was the one and only Local Artist’s album to be approved by RTM6.Viveck was also nominated as the Godfather of Tamil Rap by Klue Magazine . ChakraSonic’s lyrics are already enough to explain all about this young man’s journey of life.

VIVECK JI IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL VIVECK JI

Artists Viveck Ji Artists Viveck Ji

BIOGRAPHY

INFO

DISCOGRAPHYUpcomingProduction of Chakra Sonic’s 5th Album .‘1 ‘ Malaysia Concert.Afro Asia roadshow in throughout Africa & Malaysia.2010Audio launch of ‘DISS’ , a compilation album of top Malay-sian Indian composers. Nationwide roadshow and launch of ‘DISS’Featured in MIROS LOVELIFE 2010 video, a project spearheaded by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Re-search.Performed for the 1st Afro-Asia Dancehall Reggae Bash at The Titanium Club, K.LProduced solo singles called ‘Beautiful ‘Involved in composition of a Malay song for Anuar Zain .2009Produced singles ‘Nyanee Tee’ with Norwegian Rappers , 2R and Mark JWorked on a Chinese rap number with MC. Monk.Performed at Magnum THR Raaga Charity ConcertPerformed at DIGI ‘1’ Malaysia Concert In PenangSpecial Appearance in ‘Aatam Nooru Vagai ‘, ASTO Vaanavil Dance Competition.Performed at charity concert at Ramakrishan Orphanage in Melaka.2008Performed at live concert in Stadium Badminton Cheras, Kuala Lumpur .Performed in ‘ Cultural Nite’ with African Rapper JKL.Performed at “Malam Oscar Award” at Saloma Club.Nationwide promotion and roadshow of ‘Veera Puranam ‘ albumNominated for ‘Best Newcomer’ for AIM.‘Hey Ma’ Song was nominated for the ‘Best Indian Song of the Year’.Performed at Sendi Mutiara concerts.Worked with JKL for an album, ‘Yah Raman’.Worked on numerous audio launches and concerts with other top Malaysia Indian artistes.2007Was involved in the production of the 4th album “Veera

Puranam”, A Courageous Epic.2006Produced third album called Rise of The Brahmmas and produced video clips, compilation of 3 albums.Performed in “Malam Oscar Award”.Performed in Queensland University,Australia for a “Cul-tural Nite”.2005Represented IRIM (Indian Recording Industries Malaysia) for Tsunami Charity Foundation.Performed In Jurong East, Singapore for National Day.Participated in concert in Sunway on Malaysian Indepen-dence day.Performed in Cape Town, Africa for a Cultural Show.Was invited to perform in most of the local colleges, such as KDU,MMU Cyberjaya, Lim Kok Weng, Olympia,Informatic,Uniten,University Malaya and so on.2004Nominated for Best New Comer on Anugerah Era,Astro.Nominated for Best song called Sang Puteri on Anugerah Era,Astro.Performed live on Anugerah Era show.A song from Album “Kodi Kelviyin Bathil” titled Sang Put-eri stayed on top of on Tower Records chart.2002Released an album called Kalai Oru Por.A song called Natpu Illai stayed top on MM Top10 Chart (THR Raaga).“Feel This” song remained on top of BBC London Chart and Hits FM Chart for four weeks.Anticipated in “Sure Heboh TV3 Carnival”.2000Became the ambassador as a dancer for Coke-Cola, Adidas, Swatch and Ford Splash.Performed with International Group All 4 One and Sugar Ray for “Rentak Asia”.Performed with International Artist Jordan Chan.1998Represented Malaysia on International Break Dance Championship in Manila,

Achievements VIDEOCLIPSWEBSITE-facebookViveck ji Fan Club

Current LocationKelana Jaya, Malaysia

General Manager -

Record LabelDiss Tha Studio

Press Contact-

THEGODFATHEROFTAMILRAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dDFye3N2OI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKo_hiMQE_A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO4EPxIXsT0

Over 50,000 copies sold for the 1st Album Ka-lai Oru PorOver 30,000 copies for the 2nd Album.Fourth Album sold over 10,000 copies within 3 weeks – topped the charts in various Ra-dio Stations.

Natpu Illai Kodi Kelviyin Bathil Quarbani

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YOGI BYOGI B IT’S ALL ‘BOUT MANNIN MAINTHARGAL YOGI B

Artists Yogi B Artists Yogi B

BIOGRAPHY(...with Poetic Ammo)

Poetic Ammo (also known as PMO) is a Ma-laysian rap/hip-hop group. The group con-sists of Yogeswaran Veerasingam a.k.a Yogi B, Chandrakumar Balakrishnan a.k.a Land Slyde, Nicholas Ong a.k.a Point Blanc and Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan a.k.a C.Loco. Most of their songs are in English but they have also released tracks in Bahasa Me-layu, Tamil, and Cantonese.

Beginning The group was founded by Yogi B in 1990. The original members of Poetic Ammo were Yogi B and Anand and they were for-merly known as DEFX. They become popular amongst local clubs and pubs such as Piccadilly, Canton City, Party Box and many more in Petaling Jaya. The first single they re-leased with Kenny Music (Kenny Remy Martin) was “Run” and “Only You”, released under Positive Tone.

Anand later left DEFX and set up anoth-er underground rap group with Amoo Tha (also known as Jason), and they called themselves THA 2.O with a music style of hardcore rap with g-funk style. Anand was the rapper and Jason the turntablist in the band. Their shows were arranged by Siva Saga Entertainment. Anand left the group after he married She-rina. Jason continued solo.His solo album was never released due to censorship issues.

Height and Achievements Their first album entitled “It’s a nice day to be alive” beat the highest sales in the Ma-laysian hip-hop chart at that time. This was followed by their second album entitled “The World is Yours”. Their third album was entitled “Return of Tha’ Boombox”. The band has won numerous awards including the “Best Eng-lish Album” award in the Malaysian Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM)(Music Awards) 1999, and the “Best Music Video” awards in the AIM 2000.

Current Recently Yogi B released an album titled “Vallavan” in collaboration with Natchatra.

This album took Yogi and his team to peak. After which Yogi B was approached by Kollywood(Tamil) music director G.V.Prakash to pro-duce and perform in a song along-side S.P.Balasubramaniam for the Dhanush starring movie, Pollatha-van(2007). They are often referred

as Kavidhai Kundargal Yogi B with Emcee Jesz also made appearance in the movie , Kuruvi, a Vijay starrer, in a song.

Source http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/poetic+ammo/biography.html

INFOWEBSITE-

facebookYogi B and NatchatraCurrent LocationKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

General Manager -

Record LabelBoombox Records

Press Contact-

Recently Yogi B released an album titled “Vallavan” in collaboration with Nat-chatra. This album took Yogi and his team to peak

VIDEOCLIPS

INTERVIEW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A13oSBmYp0Deepam TV

IndiaGlitz

Koffee with Anu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtoQP4JtclM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qah45KTWcHU

Poetic Ammo Yogi B and Natchatra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ZChN8LQQ8Who be the Player?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pBvRf69lU8Everything Changes

Monay Monayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fOh3DuWo_Y

THEPIONEEROFTAMILRAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mkjut1Z2AsMadai Thiranthu

Indian Girls (Live)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz7Siq0j8ds

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Thank you very much for browsing through our maga-zine. Please note all the articles present here does not be-long to us and it is taken from the artiste personal website or Facebook. We also used the Malaysian Indian Stars (WWW.MIS.CPGRAFIX.ORG) as a reference.

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It's All 'Bout Mannin Mainthargal