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[title]Three years after releasing his first fully Malay album, Joe Flizzow is back with a brand new single. This time gunning for international success, Joe returns to rapping in English for ‘Drop’.
Your last release was about three years ago. How long has this single been in the works?
Actually this single came out really quick. I wrote this song two and a half months ago, and within three weeks we shot the video. We kind of fast forwarded this track for it to come out at the end of the year.
You mentioned that you have other singles coming up too. Why did you choose to release ‘Drop’ first?
Actually the single that’s coming out after this one was supposed to come out first. But I requested to put the handbrakes on that particular track because I wanted ‘Drop’ to come out first. I just felt like there was something telling me ‘No, Joe, you got to release this one first. You got to release this one now’. For a song to be a hit you have to look at what’s out there as well. ‘Drop’ has an old school vibe, the island vibe. If the track were to be played in the States for example, the song wouldn’t be like anything out there at the moment. I don’t know if I can write another ‘Drop’, so the timing now is perfect.
You said that the song is personal to you. How come?
The subject matter is personal. Although it’s not too specific, I say certain things like ‘Same day ones with a different curfew, but everybody paid their dues don’t get it confused’. I can look at my team and I can show you the guys who have been with me for 20 years, and I’ve never rapped about my day ones before.
With the release of the single, does this mean that a new album is on the way?
Yes, hopefully. The single has to have a home, you know? At the end of the day, when you look back at your body of work, you just want to look at albums, what was in the album and all that.
Throughout your career you’ve rapped in English and Malay. Which language do you find easier to rap in?
I grew up in a household that used both languages equally. Although I must say, my mum would usually speak English the entire day, but when she’s mad at me she’d speak Malay. That’s when I know ‘shit I’m in trouble’. But I’m very comfortable switching languages. If you listen at my past songs like ‘Do it, Duit’ or ‘Havoc’, I think I’m the first Malay rapper to go in and out of languages. The most apparent one was ‘Do it, Duit’ where I was switching from Malay and English almost bar for bar.
Do you think you need English songs to get recognised as an international artist?
Malaysians generally can speak good English, and we’re good listeners too. I think we have the advantage of putting out English songs without getting too much criticism, and I think Malaysians don’t have to try too hard, like putting on a fake British or American accent. I don’t think I sound like them, I think I just sound like an international artist. English is important lah. If you’re trying to get out there, you need English songs. There are the odd cases like ‘It G Ma’ but that’s very rare.
Honestly, I miss it. I miss rapping in English. For the past four to five years I’ve been doing a lot of shows overseas. And I enjoy performing my Malay songs, but it’s different you know. You don’t get an immediate response. You get a bit of a response, like the reaction to the hook or the beat; but the song itself, the message doesn’t get across. Hopefully with ‘Drop’ it gets on the right playlists and right radio stations; I believe we have a chance for it to be a success out there. I don’t know if it’s going to be a billboard hit but it’s damn sure the chances are a lot higher if the song is in English. So that’s next lah, we’re pushing this song to DJs all over the world and I’m hoping for the best.
You’ve been rapping for about 20 years now. Did you ever think about focusing on businesses like your barbershops and give up rapping?
No, that was never on my mind; that’s never an option. In fact I’m hungrier now than I was 20 years ago. It’s different because the challenges are different now. Back in the day you just release an album and made sure you had posters and did gigs every week. It’s a different ballgame now. You have a lot more opportunities, but a lot more things to think about too. For example, we could’ve released ‘Drop’ earlier. But because we wanted to be on the iTunes front page and on Spotify playlists, we had to strategise and wait for the right time. There’re so many things to do and think about; you can’t just release an album. It used to be just letting the universe do the work – you release an album and you give a single to radio, then you wait. And then, when you get your hit there’s a snowball effect. Now you’re the one who has to create your own snowball effect.
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Watch his latest music video 'Drop'
