The Chinese rap scene is a small one, and the journey to the top is often a very steep one that only a handful have ever managed to hit. The hustle never stops though, and with the rappers in dwindling numbers, the race to to keep the scene alive is a real challenge. Dato’ Maw recognises this, and has detailed his experiences in his mini EP titled Cari Makan.
“The concept of CARI MAKAN tour is based on the struggles of Malaysian artist, especially Chinese rap artist. It’s hard to survive based on music alone, if you are unlucky, u might never made it, but even though you kinda made it, it’s still a hard journey ahead cause based on the scene and market over here, it’s impossible to made a decent living out of it. That’s what i feel and wanted to write about, and the collaboration with Tiger Beer finally got me finished off the whole song, combined with previous un-released songs, i decided to just put out a mini EP,” says Dato Maw.
“ It’s my 2nd time touring, most artist have given up finding a living over here in Malaysia. But still, we need somebody to represent every local music genre, and somebody still gotta be that person, I rather that person who represent cina hip hop to be me. The 1st tour was fulfilling, so I’ve decided to go for the 2nd time. But the thing is I’m in Beijing for “Rap of China” competition, so this is my 1st time doing a tour before releasing the EP.”
Longtime friends Jaake and Franco.$ are at hands to produce all of the tracks on the EP, while Beeman from famed group ManHand has a verse feature in Cari Makan.
To catch a little bit of the hustle, Dato Maw will be performing alongside his peers in collaboration with TNTCO’s 6th Anniversary at Shuang Xi on the 30th of June at night.
