This Is A Keynote Speech: A Chat with ABANGSAPAU
ABANGSAPAU. Photo: Hans Goh
With humble beginnings in 2019, ABANGSAPAU – born Shazuan Shiraj – began rapping just to express himself. Drawing from the likes of J. Cole and Mac Miller in crafting his own poetic verses, the rapper’s brand has always carried a conscious intent of remaining true to his Malay-Sikh identity. Donning a sarong, and ever unafraid of embracing his ethnic roots, his music preaches the important gospel of authenticity and self-love, an engine that has propelled the MC to the top of Singapore’s burgeoning rap scene.
It didn’t take long for him to begin consistently making waves. Following a stint in now-defunct collective RAPPERGROUP1, Sapau started to build a name for himself in Singapore’s underground rap scene, as he slowly became a staple at grassroots shows like Slideout and Anarchy Karnival (hosted by rap collective Unknown Radicals). With his growing confidence and reputation, he began frequently teaming up with other underground rappers like BIGDBANGLA and Tengyboy for freestyles and collaborations, wielding his blazing bilingual bars on the mic.
From there, he launched his initial wave of singles as an independent artist, which displayed an impressive versatility. From the lo-fi aesthetic of Aura to the heritage-infused beatwork of BUAT APE?, Sapau always brought a unique blend of introspection and conviction to his rapping – a style and message that resonated deeply with fans. In under a year, it fueled his meteoric rise to the top: participating in The Great Singapore Replay and performing at Mediacorp’s Let’s Celebrate 2020 Countdown show, these became credentials that eventually got him signed to Universal Music’s Def Jam South East Asia.
Now, with the backing of a major label, Sapau returns after a long gestation period. On hahaha, he presents a bumping trap banger infused with his fiery disposition and signature brand of conscious lyricism: “Ku banyak dengar "do it for culture" / Half of y'all really do it for the gram,” he spits. A critique of the trend-chasing artists in Singapore’s rap game and a self-reflective confrontation with his own artistic integrity, hahaha may be ABANGSAPAU’s most intriguing track yet.
Big Duck sat down for a quick chat with ABANGSAPAU, to find out more about his journey, and the stories behind hahaha.
Hey Shaz, we really enjoyed the new single! Just to kick things off, what musical influences helped to shape ‘hahaha’?
ABANGSAPAU: For this song in particular, I didn’t take from my usual inspirations. So ProdbyDan, my producer from Allure, was showing me a bunch of tracks from DaBaby and Megan Thee Stallion. I barely listen to those artists you know? So I was just listening to a bunch of that, trying to get the energy.
When it came to the delivery, it didn’t come from any particular inspiration or sound that I personally know of. I think I was just trying to keep it as “ABANGSAPAU” as possible, in a style that I wasn’t very familiar with.
Photo: Hans Goh
There’s a bar in the song that goes: “Those are my ‘what am I doing this for? / It’s why I don’t write about luxury clothes / It’s why I don’t make art a formula / So kalau nak cuba dont bother la.” The themes and lyrics on ‘hahaha’ obviously speak of authenticity and artistic integrity - can you talk about what inspired that?
These are things that I’ve always struggled with, especially as I came more into navigating this world on my own. Knowing the right amount to compromise on is something that I’ve always held very close to me.
The struggle of staying authentic came to a point where I felt that I didn’t really love music anymore. I didn’t really feel for it the way I used to. I wanted to fall in love with music all over again, and this song was my means of doing that. I got everything off my chest, and acknowledged everything in a real way that made sense to me.
You shot the music video for hahaha with Island Boys Collective – what was the process of filming the music video like?
I’ve always loved Island Boys and their work. I’ve always wanted to work with them since seeing their work on Fariz Jabba’s Ape Sia video from way back!
I hit them up, and they were down. When we met up for the first time in the office, I told them about my vision for this song, what it was all about. They sat down, heard the whole thing in its entirety, and read all the lyrics. For me, when I’m working with another creative on my song, it matters to me that they actually bother to really listen to the music and read the lyrics. When they do, I know they are gonna put a lot of thought into their work, rather than just listen to the energy and just come up with something. Island Boys really listened to hahaha and understood the message - our visions aligned.
When it came to the shoot, it went super smooth! It was like a casual day hanging out with friends, but with lighting and a bunch of huge cameras around us. It was a really smooth and fun process, man.
There was a long gestation period between 2019’s ‘Buat Ape? / Clingy’ and your new single, ‘hahaha’. What are some things you’ve learned in this time period?
Don’t compare yourself to people. For me, I’ve always walked around with a chip on my shoulder and compared myself to everybody. I wanted to be like everybody else, but at the same time I wanted to not be like everybody else. l was always insecure and felt the need to people-please and get validation.
I guess it's normal for young artists to go through this at an early stage. It was only recently that I learned to let go of these notions that were holding me back for so long, and just embrace who I was as a person. Letting that be the navigator for me through these planes.
This was a big lesson to me - letting go for the need of validation or comparing myself to other people. Aside from music, that was how I was in a lot of other aspects in my life as well. Music was that tipping point for me, where I realised I had to change.
Speaking of tipping points, what are some of your favourite memories from your music career thus far?
Sheesh! A lot man! My favourite show I’ve ever played was in 2019 with Big Duck! It was at Tonehouse studios. The lineup was me, Mediocre Haircut Crew, Fauxe, Deliciious, and Hidemen. It was a beautiful day full of love. I played an hour long set – I didn’t even know I was capable of an hour long set, but somehow it happened! That’s my favourite show that I’ve ever performed until this day.
ABANGSAPAU played at Big Duck’s Mediocre Haircut Crew show, alongside Fauxe, Hiidemen, and Deliciious. In his appearance in an NSFTV doc, he said about the show held at Tonehouse Studios: “The crowd there was just so beautiful. We had fun, talked about sad stuff, talked about suicide - it was everything just rolled into one." Photo: Isyariq Irfan
Of course, there was the Countdown show. That was amazing for me and I’m always grateful to Mediacorp for letting me do it – that’s the show that got me recognised and signed to Def Jam. There was also closing for The Great Singapore Replay at Gardens by the Bay, and of course, I can’t forget National Day 2020 – I was with my mum performing at NDP, playing a song we didn’t even write for NDP! Mother’s Day was just yesterday.
There’s Baybeats too. I’m friends with a lot of people in bands, but I didn’t know how much of a big deal Baybeats was until after the show. People were like: “Dude, you performed at Baybeats ah? Sheesh that’s Baybeats bro!”
Maybe I didn’t feel that same way initially because it wasn’t live, but it was my first time ever at the festival and I got to perform so it was really great!
In NSFTV’s mini-documentary ‘A Peek Into Singapore's Underground Hip-Hop Scene,’ ABANGSAPAU features along Mediocre Haircut Crew and Tengyboy, with snippets from his Big Duck show in 2019.
I was in a documentary with Not Safe For TV, and that showcased a lot of good times too. It’s been a really really fun ride – the time from Buat Ape? all the way until now. So yeah, some pretty interesting and fun memories, man.
Having collaborated with other creatives across mediums over the course of the past two years, is there anything besides music that you would like to try and do more of yourself?
Now that I really know the workings of a music video, I would like to have a lot more creative direction in terms of how things go in future music videos. Don’t get me wrong, hahaha with Island Boys was amazing, and we both had a lot of say making it. But now that I’m clear about the process, I want to be able to plan everything from scratch and make things happen exactly how I want it to.
I’ve also taken an interest in short films. I wanna make short films that aren’t music videos or about music. There’s a lot of stuff I wanna try to do, but I’m not sure I have the time to do it. But, if I want it enough, I will make time for it!
This is a question for the OG ABANGSAPAU fans. One of the fan favourites at your live shows is MIND FLY – is there any word on when that’s going to drop?
Dude, I love MIND FLY. That song was written with no structure at all – I was just banging it out on my handphone’s notepad. It is on the album I have that’s already been completed, but I’m just waiting for the right time to drop it. I love that song a lot!
Abangsapau performs his still yet unreleased track “Mind Fly” on The Room Sessions.
“hahaha” ends with the line: “This is not a rap, this is a keynote speech”. Is the track indicative of your future musical direction? What’s coming next for you?
“Don’t expect more of the same,” is what I would say. I think that this song was a necessary step forward as my first song in two years. It was the statement piece I had to have. I definitely am gonna move on from this sound. Sometimes I might come back, sometimes I might be trying other things.
Either way, you'll be sure to get ABANGSAPAU and all his authenticity, so no worries about that.
Photo: Hans Goh