There is more to hip hop than bling, hoes and general misogyny. And contrary to a niche belief, it’s far from dead. To prove that point, listen to the words of New Born Emcee, more easily known as NBE a.k.a Penghibur Lara. Like his namesake, NBE is the latest addition to the Malaysian hip hop family.
This KL born rapper’s love for hip hop started when he was in primary school. But it wasn’t until 2000 that he took music seriously. Eminem’s sophomore ‘Marshal Mathers EP’ had a heavy influence on him then, and being a primarily rock-listening guy, he was also the vocalist for a nu-metal inspired band. But that particular genre soon faded into obscurity, it wasn’t the end for NBE though. He embraced hip hop fully and thus becoming a solo rapper, a new born emcee.
In 2001, he explored his talents by being active in local hip hop forums such as Phatfamily and The-Bazement. There, he started practiced his writing skills and participated in online battles. NBE also started to listen to more hip hop music and realized there is so much more to the genre than what was presented on MTV. Instead of just Eminem, he now looks up to independent rappers like Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Tonedeff and Aesop Rock.
Now a protégé of The Rebel Scum’s HQA and WordsManifest, NBE excels in puns, wordplays and punchlines – all the repertoire of a generic battle rapper, but here’s where NBE differs from others; he raps solely in Malay. With the proliferating trend of rapping in our mother tongue today, you’d think this is nothing special. You’re dead wrong. Hip hop has always been about colloquially communicating with the audience and NBE understands this. His songs aren’t rap versions of puisi, syair and pantun, they are the true voice of the people. The kind you would hear at a mamak restaurant instead of a school debate.
He has appeared in Jin Hackman’s ‘Straight Scribbling’, but his most recognizable work is with The Rebel Scum, for their latest single, ‘Bakdatang’. With lyrical dexterity punctuated by a special brand of humour that often comes with biting sharp commentary of his social surroundings, NBE is THE solo hip hop emcee to look for in 2008.
NBE is also a part of hip hop duo SSK, under the hip hop collective known as Rogue Squadron. The group was formed after NBE and the other half of the duo, Sapphire, shared a verse in “Bak Datangâ€. Their chemistry in the song is ineffable as both had similar rap styles. Currently both emcees are putting SSK as their priority, they’re now busy making their first EP ironically titled RM, shorthand for Rap Melayu. This pair of rhyme slingers aspire to bring the so-called ‘bahasa pasar’ to legitimacy, after all even Shakespeare’s writings were his time’s equivalent of today’s slang.
written by: Kak Ili Vanili and Alif Omar Mahfix
New Born Emcee
ROGUE SQUADRON
1/2 SSKrew
NBE @ AMP charts
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