KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Local rapper, Joe Flizzow’s latest collaboration with MK of K-Clique and South Korean rapper, Jay Park had been garnering interest since its release recently.
The song titled Ciao which dropped last Friday has been making waves among local listeners while the music video which was released later that night is currently trending number one on YouTube Malaysia at the time of writing.
It was also trending number one on Twitter for the day.
According to Joe or his real name Johan Ishak, to trend number one on Twitter showed that the local music industry was still vibrant with loyal fans who have been supporting the nation’s artists.
The rapper who has been in the music industry for some time now also took the chance to thank all his fans as he felt lucky to still be able to make music and entertain the mass public.
Joe said that the collaboration was another way of putting Malaysia’s music scene on the map as well.
“I’m not saying that international collaboration is a must, but it has its way of putting Malaysian music out there.”
“There’s so much talent and I feel the world needs to start listening more closely. They need to learn more about our local music industry,” Joe said in an online media conference.
Joe added that Ciao was proof that the local music scene was capable of reaching international standards.
“We did not hold back on quality. We tried to give our best in terms of sound engineering and arrangements. It is of international quality.”
“Production wise, although we don’t have millions in budget, we still try to put out a world class product.”
“We also want to show that we’re up to standard and we can also work on that level.”
He also said that hip-hop songs making it to the finals of the 35th Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL35) opened a new opportunity for young artists as the genre was getting recognition professionally.
“The industry is starting to recognise hip-hop as a serious genre.”
“I hope with this (AJL35), it can give them the determination but at the same time, don’t forget that we’re not making music for the sake of trophies.”
“When you enter a competition like that, winning or losing is not the main thing, your main objective is to dazzle them, to mesmerise the fans and show them what rap is all about.”
Ciao is his second collaboration with Jay Park as he previously appeared in one of the Korean’s tracks titled Twisted Dreams featuring American rapper, Jay Electronica.
Ciao is now available on all streaming platforms while its music video which was directed by prominent local fashion designer, Shahrin Bahar has garnered over 700,000 views on YouTube.
