Keep Your Day Job: NBE (of SSK)

By Adriana Saleh  •  20 Feb 2012 in Interview

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For the first time ever, laidback swag MC NBE, 1/3 of the Malay rap group SSK (Serius Selamba Krew) reveals the meaning behind his moniker! JUICE also dug out what he does for a living, how he rebels against work by krumping and c-walking on the job, talking to 1200 people in 20 days, and what lies deep, deep within his heart… arteries and blood and all…

We want this to be a JUICE exclusive, never-been-revealed-before exposé. Tell us exactly what NBE stands for and how the name came about.
NBE is the acronym of New Born Emcee. Before this, my friend Emi (NBA – New Born Art-form) and I planned to create a rap group and wanted to call it NBE but tak jadi. Then I discovered an online rap forum and during registration I was like, “Nak letak nama apa ni?” Since I’m not good with creating names, I just put NBE and the rest… is history.

You have a beautiful daughter. Any chance your baby girl would continue on the legacy and become NBF (New Born Femcee)?
What the heck’s a Femcee?

Femcee = Female emcee…
Oh haha…. I don’t know really. She is still a baby. I’ll let her decide. If she wants to do music, I will support her. But deep inside my heart, I would love for her to be a sportsman.

Ok on to business. What do you do for a living?
I work as a Technical Advisor for this electrical company in the audio/video department. I troubleshoot customer’s technical problems via phone.

Sounds like you sit down a lot, quite the opposite of what you are on stage. That must be hard, right?
Dude, I don’t sit. I krump and C-walk when I talk to the customers.

Wow. That’s some mad coordination skills right there. So anyway, give us a classic call center executive opening line.
[Insert company name here] Good morning. Fariz speaking, how may I assist u?

Any interesting stories to tell? Difficult callers? Over flirtatious customers?
To be honest, I don’t know what is wrong with us Malaysians nowadays. F*cking cheapskates I tell you. I can’t talk much about my customers though, but yeah. I talk to lots of people with different personalities every day. Let’s say in one day I talk to 60 people, in 20 days, that is like 1200 people. That’s the reason why I hate mankind.

We feel ya. So what do you do on those days when you just don’t feel like talking to people on the phone?
Ponteng kerja. Tido or jalan-jalan.

You just kantoi-ed yourself. Nais. Ever tried rapping instead of talking to customers?
Not yet. I intend to keep my day job, thank you very much.

If you weren’t a Call Center Executive, what do you think you would be doing as a day job?
A broke *ss fulltime musician.

3 essential items to keep you sane on the job? Go!
PC for online games. Smartphone for twitter and games. Also, water.

So what’s next for NBE and SSK? Any upcoming releases, gigs or projects?
We just finished recording SSK’s album, it’s in the mixing process now. I’m also currently writing and recording for my solo mixtape at Jiniusatwork Studio. I’m trying my very best to make a name in the industry.

We’ll call everyone we know and tell ‘em about you!
Haha! Thanks!

NBE likes to stalk people online. Give him a taste of his own medicine by watching his every move. Twitter: @MUZIKNBE or www.facebook.com/muzikNBE. Alternatively, if you’re more into gang-bangs, follow SSK on Twitter: @sskrew or www.facebook.com/SSKrew.