It’s been a while since we last heard of Fariz Jabba since his last single, “Masa,” but now he’s back, and has brought a long new and upcoming rapper Omar Kenobi for a high intensity bop by the name of “Kalah.” We talk to the dynamic duo on their latest release, and why it took so damn long.
Firstly, for Fariz, why the long hiatus?
Fariz: Sometimes it’s important to set aside ample time for reconnection and reorganisation in general. I’m back though! We have way more projects in line this year. I’m really excited.
As your hit single ‘Masa’ was predominantly rooted heavily in R&B, how was the decision made to go back to rap as referenced in your previous single, Ape Sia?
Fariz: Back by popular demand. A lot of my supporters missed my rap persona. We decided to bring it back!
How did you and Omar Kenobi meet, and how did you guys formed the idea to collaborate?
Fariz: Omar and I met at a local hip-hop show way back in 2018 but we never got close only until around early 2019. We have very similar taste in music when it comes to hip-hop and coincidentally, Omar stays pretty nearby. So he’d come over and use my home studio set-up and we’d just jam, make demos while sharing music and ideas most of the time.
Omar: Yup, we met at a gig. We always jammed and I would hone my production skills together with him becasue we stayed really nearby to one another. “Kalah” happened organically and it was such an awesome feeling.
Who’s idea was it to spark the beef first on Twitter?
Fariz: Omar. I thought it was hilarious to do a prank with April Fool’s coming soon at that time. So we tried our best to stay in character even though I lost my cool a few times and gave myself away sometimes.
Omar: I’ve always wanted to be a part of a “beef” so I jumped at the opportunity to make one up with one of my good friends. It’s such a rapper thing to have beef so we decided to run with it cause any publicity is good publicity on social media.
Describe the collaborative process of “Kalah,” and will you guys collaborate further in other projects, or will this be a one off?
Fariz: ‘Kalah’ is a song that expresses our confidence and perseverance with how we live our lives right now. We’re very inspired and motivated by UK artists such as Octavian, Stormzy, Skepta. We decided to try something new and fuse it with our own local flavor and create something fresh that our fans would appreciate! As for upcoming collaborations with Omar, that is a definite yes. We have many songs in our unreleased catalogue. Did somebody say album?
Omar: The creative process for ‘Kalah’ was so natural and we just ran lines by one another. Some lyrics that Fariz raps are written by me and vice versa. And yes, we have so much music still in the vault. A collaborative project could well be on the horizon.
Stream “Kalah” now on Spotify and Apple Music.
