While your typical rapper dishes rhymes on dollar bills, fast cars and video vixens, local hip-hop up-and-comer ABANGSAPAU questions modern-day clout culture with killer flows, complete with tongue-in-cheek manifestations in both English and Malay. The 22-year-old also marches to his 808s to create a reliable formula that stays true to himself as “an artist that keeps it reflective and raw”.
The down-to-earth Malay-Sikh rapper first made his introduction in 2019 with his bilingual breakout hit Buat Ape?, in which he sports a sarung in the music video. The sartorial choice even made it on stage at several underground gigs, as well as last year’s National Day Parade and New Year’s Eve Countdown concert. It’s obvious that he’s big on celebrating his culture and ethnicity in his artistry. After all, representation matters.
New year, new music – ABANGSAPAU is back on the airwaves to make a trap-filled statement of intent with his Def Jam South East Asia debut hahaha. The no-holds-barred single questions the status quo, as well as himself, and makes an ace reintroduction for the uninitiated. With raw lyricism, storytelling prowess, bilingual savoir-faire, and even impressive singing chops, the hip-hop wunderkind is a force to be reckoned with.
Speaking of reintroductions, we chat with ABANGSAPAU for a little get-to-know. The rapper shares with us more about his new single hahaha, his relationship with his Mother Tongue, his newfound love for Tik Tok, and the best place in Singapore for quality sarungs.
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First things first – what gets you excited about Singapore?
Oh, it has to be the food, man. I think a big part of Singapore that I love is the sheer presence of all kinds of cultures – local, regional and international – and all the flavours that come with them.
My all-time favourite go-to is thosai. But nowadays, I’ve been on a nasi sambal goreng paru vibe. It’s a Malay dish with a mixture of sice, sambal goreng and beef lung. Pair that with some air kathira jagung (a sweet beverage that’s popular during Ramadan) and I’m good to go. Also really love me some biryani. A quintessential in biryani to me is yoghurt (raita). The best biryani I’ve ever tried was my late dad’s recipe.
Congrats on your new single hahaha! How does it feel like to release new music since your breakout hit Buat Ape? in 2019.
It feels really refreshing and relieving. For a long time, the most ‘updated’ version of me that people would listen to is a song from 2019. Sitting on so much music for so long can feel frustrating in that sense. A lot has happened in these two years and I’ve experienced and evolved so much as an artist and human being. But with that also comes apprehension: Has it been too long? Is this good enough? How will this be perceived? Will it do well?
But then I remind myself why I started and what I’m doing this for – who I’m doing this for. Overall, I’m glad I finally put out a track that represents my growth in these two years and serves as an update to my current state of mind.
Sitting on so much music for so long can feel frustrating...
What’s the story behind hahaha!?
hahaha’s inspiration came about in the studio. The producer, ProdbyDan and I were in the studio for a good 12 hours, making beat after beat. The moment I heard the beat, the hook came naturally to me, and I knew the story I wanted to tell: an excited boy stepping into a cutthroat industry, and how he had to grow and mature as fast as he was progressing or risk being left behind. Either get with it or go. Hence, the pre-hook “gua nak (I wanna) break the chains, tapi lu nak (but you wanna) put em all over your neck”.
I didn’t feel quite creatively satisfied after making the first demo. I told ProdbyDan I wanted a beat switch to serve as a canvas for my current thoughts, and he worked his magic. I got KEYANA to throw in some humming for that part, and boom – hahaha was done. I called it hahaha because I wanted something simple and easy to remember.
What was it like making music during the pandemic?
I think the biggest challenge for me was during the circuit breaker when all the studios were closed. I couldn’t be in a music-making environment, and as a result, my usual sense of creativity took a hit. My creativity used to depend on the external – what I saw, my interactions with people, my observations – which I then internalised and created from. But I now had to learn how to externalise from the internal, which I’m still trying to do. It takes a lot of honesty with yourself. A lot of accountability too.
For some reason, pain has always been a big fuel behind my creative states. My father’s passing during the circuit breaker really accelerated the process of honesty within myself. I’m in a much better headspace creatively than I was this time last year for sure.
Sorry for your loss. Your late dad would’ve been proud of the artist you’ve become. Besides your new single, you’re also releasing your debut album. Could you share more about it with us?
All I can say for now is that I have a lot of music waiting for the right time to see the light of day. I don’t only stick to rapping – I love to sing and make melodies as well, and you can expect plenty of that in time to come.
Speaking of hahaha, you showcase your sense of your humour through tongue-in-cheek lyrics and Tik Tok videos. As a young rapper, how effective has Tik Tok been in terms of promoting your music and showcasing a different side of you (and your singing chops!).
Tik Tok has been a pretty interesting journey. I’ve only been on it for like three weeks now, but it’s been really fun and unpredictable. It’s a very new landscape to play around with, and it has actually gained me more followers on other platforms. On Tik Tok, I usually post what I wear and what I do rather than just music. I’m presenting a different side of myself on Tik Tok that people seem to connect with, and through that, they explore my other social media platforms and discover the music.
How would you describe ABANGSAPAU – the artist and the music?
I would describe ABANGSAPAU as an artist that keeps it reflective and raw. From my thoughts to my lyrics, rawness would be the word to describe it. And that doesn’t mean perfect. Raw means very, very imperfect – sometimes you may even disagree.
In terms of my sound, I have my hip-hop persona which just loves to rap. But I also have a strong R&B side that I’ve only tapped into occasionally. I love making love songs. So, you have these two personas. But regardless of the style of music I’m going for, you’ll know it’s an ABANGSAPAU track when you hear it. Oh, and I don’t wear pants.
ABANGSAPAU – an artist that keeps it reflective and raw… Oh, and I don’t wear pants.
You also rap in both English and Malay. With rappers like Yung Raja and Fariz Jabba, bilingual hip-hop is on the rise in Singapore (which is absolutely brilliant). What are your thoughts on this?
If there’s anything that makes our music unique compared to everything else out there, it’s our culture. How we choose to represent it is up to us, but I think bilingualism in music is a strong way of representing that.
What inspired you to tap into bilingual hip-hop?
Inspiration came to me when I was sitting at home, writing on one of my many late nights. As I was writing, I couldn’t quite come up with the words to portray something I was trying to say. Raised in an English-speaking household, writing in Malay never came instinctively. But something clicked in my head and I went “why not try it in Malay?”. And boom – it came out exactly how I envisioned it and in exactly the type of energy I wanted it to have. Since then I formed a beautiful personal relationship with my Mother Tongue.
I formed a beautiful personal relationship with my Mother Tongue.
Any particular artist(s) you look up to the most?
Regionally, I look up to ALYPH, SonaOne and Charlie Lim the most. The dedication they have for the craft and the energies they individually exude have always been something I’ve looked up to.
Internationally, I owe most of my inspiration to J Cole. His storytelling and energy just hit different. I absolutely love Saba’s experimental rawness. Mac Miller is in my heart forever too.
You’re known to rock the sarung/kain pelikat as part of your signature drip. What made you want to don it full-time?
After my grandfather passed in 2013, a large chunk of his sarungs was given to me. I started wearing them to go around the neighbourhood because they were just comfortable like that. But then I started wearing them on public transport, and then, to school.
When I started making music, I tried to dress ‘normally’ but never quite felt congruent with myself. So I started putting on my sarungs again and have never looked back since. In hahaha, I referenced this in the last line before the beatswitch: “gua memang tak perlu banyak, hanya sarung arwah datuk aku” which means “I don’t need a lot, just my late grandfather’s sarungs.”
When I started making music, I tried to dress ‘normally’ but never quite felt congruent with myself. So I started putting on my sarungs again and have never looked back since.
As the “Pelikat President”, where are some of your favourite shops for kain pelikat? Any special kain pelikat you’ll be donning this Hari Raya?
My go-tos are the shops in the Geylang Serai Market on Level 2. A good quality kain pelikat usually costs between $8 to $15, but there is this one I bought for $40. Best believe I’m wearing that for Hari Raya.
Lastly, if you’re not making music, what’s your next favourite thing to do in Singapore?
I’m either eating or swimming. I love floating in the water. Or vibing at a rooftop somewhere on a late-night enjoying the breeze.
hahaha is available on all streaming platforms.
