The Malaysian godfather of rap, Joe Flizzow, is set to absolutely own the stage at the second installment of Ombak Festival, happening this year at the beautiful and sun-soaked Desaru Coast from 12 to 14 September. His highly anticipated set will be supported by SonaOne and Ismail Izzani — with thrilling surprises that will hit harder than anyone expects.
We caught up with the legendary Joe Flizzow during the Ombak Festival preview event held at the stunning Ember Beach Club, one of the venues for the glamorous Ombak Festival after-party events.
He dove into his journey as an artist who has grown from humble beginnings to being rap royalty in the kingdom of hip-hop. He describes how his upcoming set is ready to bring the heat by comparing it to one of his favourite delectable Malaysian flavours, and finally, he teases fans with news of his upcoming single that will be out on 19 September — promising to give fans an exclusive sneak peek of the track as he plans to debut it on the Ombak stage.
You teamed up with Killa Driz and SonaOne on your latest single ‘Last Time’. When was the 'Last Time' you recorded an audio note and what was it?
Like two minutes ago.
What was it about?
I don't know (Laughs). I told my driver to change the batteries on the car because I don't know what happened last night, we parked it up front. One light was still on, so the battery’s completely drained. So I was like, go change that battery, fam. Let's get it. That was it. Like honestly, nothing glamorous, nothing sexy about that, but yeah, you gotta keep it movin’, right?
If your upcoming set for Ombak Festival was a signature Malaysian dish, what dish would it be and why?
Laksa Johor. Why? Because, you know, we're right by the beach and main ingredient in Laksa Johor or one of the key factors to making good Laksa Johor will be the freshness of the fish.
You know, some people use Kempalang, some people use Tenggiri, but whatever it is, it's gotta be fresh. You know, and also, it's not a straightforward dish to cook, you know, the preparation. The preparation is quite a lot of work. You gotta debone the fish — tedious, you know, it takes hours to make. But at the end of the day, it's the sauce, you know it's all about the sauce, man. Never too much sauce.
My mouth is watering now. (Laughs)
I think the hotel serves a good one or, you know, you can come to visit us and we'll cook for you.
If your Ombak Festival set had to come with a warning label, what would it say?
Warning? Warning, yo! Brand new track. Brand new track alert, because we're gonna be performing some new songs, you know. So we're gonna be replaying a couple of unreleased songs. One, because my single is gonna come out, like, I think a few days after the Ombak show. So I just thought, you know what? Let's just preview the song at the show. It's gonna be a first, yea.
So fans have to go to the Ombak Festival to catch the little teaser?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no doubt.
If you could go back in time to your younger self and show him a video clip of you performing at Ombak Festival, what do you think you would say to him?
Yo. You still look good, man (Laughs). I think my younger self will be, like, kind of proud of me because I think I'm fitter than I was 20 years ago. I mean, 20 years ago when you're young, you didn't really care about what you eat or your sleep or your health like that. You think you're immortal. You're gonna live forever, right?
Okay, on the real I think, yeah, that and also I think my younger self will be like, okay, that band is tight because when I was younger, like, we started out with, you know, two turntables and, and two mics. So, it was always a dream to be able to get to a point where we're comfortable and we sound really good performing with the live band. A lot of people say, yeah, I'm gonna do my next show with a live band—it's one thing to do a show with a live band for a hip-hop act, but it's another thing to sound, like, tight.
The band that — my musicians, you know, my friends on stage, they're gonna be with me. They're elite, elite level musicians. So you guys are gonna enjoy it.
What's one local Malaysian slang word that deserves a whole chorus in a future Joe Flizzow track, but hasn't made it yet?
Wow. Slang ah. Man, I think it's pretty much been done, you know, unless we create something new. I think we've used it all. But unless you rework the word "Lah". "Lah" is not something that I've touched because a lot of times people have tried to use the word "Lah".
Oh no, "Lah" has been done by the great Sheikh Haikel. Sheikh Haikel has a song called 'Witulah'. It's a beautiful song. If I'm not mistaken, it's called 'Witulah' and, like, you can't touch "Lah" because Haikel just did it so well and that's a classic.
Is there another in mind?
Man, I can't think right now. My mind is set to speak in English, so I gotta turn on my "Mat Rempit" helmet. Put it on (laughs).
Maybe like "Lepak", or "Santai"?
"Lepak" is like words, It's not really slang. Okay, let's get back to that. Circle back.
You're stranded alone on Desaru Coast after your set, but you can only communicate in your own lyrics. What would you say to a nearby rescue boat?
'Apa khabar'. No, yeah. I would say that, man. 'Apa khabar', come get me, bro. Come get me or come join me, depending on who's on that boat. If it's a nice island like where we are right now, I wouldn't wanna get off too soon.
You built empires from Subang Jaya to Southeast Asia, what does it mean to you to bring that energy to a festival like Ombak on home soil with the sea in the background?
I mean, the vibe is just really relaxing. It's laid back, but at the same time, the music will get intense. For me, it's like coming home since I'm in Desaru quite a bit.
In fact, like this particular beach that will be hosting many after-parties, every time we come in, we're like, yeah, we need to throw a party here. It's the perfect beach club, so I'm happy to hear that they're gonna have some good DJs playing here at the after-parties and also in the daytime sets.
Circling back to one local Malaysian slang word that deserves a whole chorus in one of your future tracks?
Oh, yeah. The word that I'm gonna use is "Nyah".
What does that mean?
"Nyah" is "Nyah". It Can be anything, but it's a very Johorian word. "Nyah!" (laughs). "Nyah" is like to give it some “oomph”. Like it could be anything. It could be — you could eat something, or it could be you're playing football and somebody hits you and you’re like, okay I'm gonna hit you back like, "Nyah!" You know? So it's — I think it's Johorian, I think it's kind of Singaporean too.
But that was all the questions I had for you.
Thank you very much, Thank you Bandwagon, thank you for having me and hope to see you guys at Ombak Fest.
Yup! 12 to 14 September where you'll catch a little sneak peek of his new track so pull up!
Peace. More love. Thank you very much.
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