Various: Made Men (Kartel)

By Kevin Yeoh  •  in Music
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The most successful Malaysian hip hop collective has finally dropped their much anticipated compilation. We found out about it when we interviewed the big boss man of Kartel Records and hip hop star Joe Flizzow back in March this year. Plenty has changed since we first heard the rough mix for Made Men to the mastered copy that’s available exclusively on JUICEonline. With a frontman like Joe leading the team, there’s no way you can front on this drop.

This Made Men compilation is an official way of introducing the Kartel Records Class of 2010. It starts off strong with Altimet, Joe Flizzow and Sona One’s single ‘Who Do It Better,’ with a hot hook repping for Kartel and a wicked French rap from Sona. Sona One also appeared 5 more times on this compilation with ‘Red Rum’ being the highlight with his smooth brand of hip hop and soul. All eyes are on Sona One to take hip hop to another level in Malaysia.

Another Kartel Records act to watch out for is MicBandits from Brunei. They have 2 tracks in Made Men, and when the boys released ‘Cantik Rupamu’ online a couple of months ago, we were more than amazed by their skills on the mic. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a noteworthy hip hop group in the scene, so this was definitely a refreshing breath of air. Kartel Records’ only Singaporean act Richard Jansen is targeted towards the pop side with his ‘Harder To Breathe,’ which features vocals from Muzique.

Thailand’s foursome hip hop royalty Thaitanium also appeared on the album with ‘Duck Walk’, featuring the infamous Bangkok sound, which will get you pop it hard on the dancefloor. Dandee of Bangkok Invaders dropped 2 too including the infamous ‘Da What’ with Stylustiks’ DJ Cza, which features a very explicit video to the single. Boss man Joe Flizzow also collaborated with Dandee and Sona One on ‘Stargazer’, Singapore’s Sheikh Haikel and Sona One on ‘Big Brother’ and the latter on ‘The Get Up’, which is the anthem of their regular night at Rootz every Saturday.

Made Men took awhile to drop but it’s worth it. It’s a wonderful representation of Asian hip hop and there’s no denying Kartel Records’ stability in the scene as the collective with the most swag. Too bad they removed Said Gila’s track for this final copy, but otherwise a job well done. Kartel Records is only beginning, and as they would say, “Kartello Hello!”

Listen to: ‘Who Do It Better’
If you like this you’ll dig: 9th Wonder, Kanye West, Dem Franchise Boyz
Rating: 4

Rock with them at www.kartellohello.com. Download your copy right here and turn it up!