Talkin’ about a revolution
By N. RAMA LOHAN
Roslan Aziz Productions, better known as RAP, turns 20 this year. The main man behind the label shares his thoughts on the eventful ride – past and present – and the future.
I AM grateful for the opportunities that have come my way,” declares renowned maverick producer Roslan Aziz with a smile, easing back into his rattan chair at his parents’ home in Kg Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur.
Amidst the cacophony of renovation work (he is having a room soundproofed in the house for after-hour sessions) and the euphoria at Anfield via Astro’s repeat of Liverpool’s demolition of Aston Villa, Roslan leans back and enjoys the footballing spectacle. His smile says it all ... a devout Liverpool fan. He beckons to one of the labourers, “Mari lah ... duduk dan tengok. This is Liverpool, tau?”
Footballing allegiances aside, this is a great time for Roslan. RAP (Roslan Aziz Productions), the label he founded in the late 1980s, turns 20 this year. With the benefit of hindsight, the Klang-Valley native can say success hasn’t come easily.
When the label began life in 1984, naysayers regarded Roslan’s ear for music and ability to spot talent as, to say the least, rubbish.
“When Sheila’s (Majid) first album came out, people were saying, ‘Apa ni? Suara macam tikus (What’s this? Her voice is like a mouse)’. They said all kinds of things, labelling me ‘mad’ even,” exclaims the seasoned producer.
Proud moment: Sheila Majid with Roslan Aziz in 1987. Their album Emosi sold 120,000 copies in Indonesia and was honoured with the BASF Award for best-selling Indonesian album in the rhythm and blues category. But everything starts with a dream, so Roslan took a page out of GRP’s (a subsidiary of the then-MCA label) books and charted a course for world domination. “I was always looking beyond Malaysia ... I wanted our artistes to get international exposure. I was looking at an alternative to what people were doing ... there was too much dangdut and Hindustani music. Even rock kapak had not happened yet,” he reveals, having gleaned the concept somewhat from the late Mike Bernie Chin, who was also managing artistes.
The plan seemed noble and almost guaranteed to yield results.
“I wanted to have a label that would harness the artistes’ talents, groom them and develop them into stars of international repute. It was imperative for me to achieve this with Malay music – songs of the artistes themselves. Our talents were not selling too many records then, but always had good paying gigs ... dinner shows basically. But they were all performing covers because their originals weren’t deemed appropriate,” shares Roslan, insisting this was what he didn’t want to see happen to his signings.
Disillusioned and disgruntled, he headed to the United States and plied his trade in Detroit and New York, among others, learning newer tricks of the trade that have served him well to this day.
“When Sheila’s first album sold well, EMI took note. Then they called me and asked me to return, even though they already had Adnan Abu Hassan and Manan Ngah, who had completed three songs by then. But I guessed that it was upon Sheila’s insistence that EMI called me. Later, Sheila called to tell me she wasn’t interested in pursuing this if I wasn’t going to produce her. Honestly, at that point, returning to Malaysia was really the last thing on my mind. But I gave it some serious thought and eventually relented.”
Roslan’s three-month production request was greeted with groans. Likewise his demand for an RM18,000 fee.
“What EMI didn’t know was, I even topped that up with my own money to make sure I got the best musicians and facilities. Upon its release, Emosi exploded ... and hit big time in Indonesia.”
RAP’s rise
This made him realise that while he wasn’t a darling with the record industry, he certainly was in the eyes of the listening public, which was the catalyst for the birth of RAP.
“When things started working out well for Sheila, I stuck around and did Warna with her in 1987. That’s when I realised I had to go it alone and form my own label. So in 1988, while doing the P. Ramlee single Bunyi Gitar, I registered Roslan Aziz Productions,” he says, divulging that his friend and partner Din Kamarudin was instrumental in his finance and management knowledge.
The label’s primary goal was to do what the mainstream labels were not. “Our first artiste was the late Zubir Ali. He taught me the meaning of making music, the meaning of arts and culture ... the profound reason why we pursue this in the first place. He was a phenomenal songwriter ... always able to work poetry into his lyrics.”
Zainal Abidin and Amir Yussof came in quick succession as new signings. Sheila only came on board when her contract with EMI expired and RAP officially began business in 1989. “Our first project was Sheila’s Sinaran album in Japan, a collaboration with EMI.”
Certified classic: Sheila Majid’s Legenda album, regarded as one of Roslan Aziz’s production masterstrokes . Interestingly, a minus one version of the Sinaran single was released, much to the glee of her fans. “We wanted people to get away from dangdut songs and all that, so we did the minus one, and to our surprise, it sold really well,” he laughs out heartily, amused at the birth of karaoke.
Legenda, Sheila’s follow-up album (and another collaboration with EMI), was a landmark for the Malaysian music industry – it was the first Malaysian-mastered album.
“I mastered it in Japan ... I recall fighting with EMI, not allowing them to take the masters from me until I had concluded the process,” he guffaws.
Hard road ahead
While Roslan stuck to his guns where creative control was concerned, he does rue not having heeded EMI’s advice to him on artiste management, an error of poor judgment he says that has come back to haunt him over the years. However, he does concede that risk-taking is part and parcel of his label’s philosophy.
When more assistance was required, the partners recruited Boudeng and Weng, who would play significant roles in RAP’s chequered history.
Life didn’t get any easier when it came to the release of Zainal’s eponymous debut. “I had to go through the same headache of trying to convince the record label that this was music that would capture the market. Once again, it seemed that only our inner circle of friends and compatriots could understand what we were doing and where we were trying to take this.”
While resistance seemed futile, RAP believed in the album and eventually won over Warner Music’s argument of the album being “tak laku” and “radio tak main”. Like Sheila’s many classics, Hijau and Manis have gone on to become staples in the vocabulary of pop music fans. Staggering to believe, many of these big wigs continue to participate in the music scene. The Ikhlas concert album brought RAP to a crossroads of sorts, where the requirement for monetary returns became a little desperate. Enter Tony Fernandes (now CEO of AirAsia), the up-and-coming boss for Warner Music Malaysia in the early 1990s.
When Fernandes heard both Sheila’s Legenda and the Ikhlas albums, the seeds for a long-term relationship were sowed. A global label taking on a smaller local one was unprecedented at that point but RAP has always been about busting and setting trends. “It took two years ... from 1992 to 1994 to secure a deal, but the wait was worth it. To a large extent, this deal was struck because of Tony’s belief in us,” Roslan shares.
Roslan puts the music industry into perspective: “The problem is, people who know how to manage money don’t know anything about music. And the people who are passionate about music couldn’t care less about money.”
The latter part of the 1990s was hard on RAP, and while its stable of artistes dwindled, the label maintained a presence throughout. Still, the label groomed the likes of Amir Yussof, Prema Lucas and Atilia, among others. Roslan’s personal life took a turn for the worse in 1997 (his marriage to Sheila ended in divorce) and through till 2002, he stayed out of the music scene all together.
Life goes on
The former UiTM student (he studied Actuarial Science) found his feet again after that and has embarked on numerous music-related endeavours since. Of course, his most prominent roles in more recent times were as judge on Malaysian Idol and principal for a season of Akademi Fantasia.
Working as musical director for both Puteri Gunung Ledang and P. Ramlee The Musical has simply added to his already glittering CV. His current pursuit has been aLi, a project that has him collaborating with long-time compatriot and friend, Mukhlis Nor. The music boasts an eclectic mix of urban grooves with rich, traditional undertones.
Roslan has many great memories of the high times of RAP; “Penetrating the once impregnable Indonesian and Japanese markets were great moments for us. Seeing the success of both the P. Ramlee Legenda tribute, the acceptance of Hijau and the Ikhlas concerts were very satisfying, too.”
Opening doors: ‘Roslan opened the industry’s ears to different music genres created and performed by local talents,’ says Amir Yussof. Setting up a label is never easy, and the casualties are there for all to see, but Roslan maintains that courage, perseverance and self-belief have taken him a long way ... with the grace of God, of course.
“I guess the recording industry was very much more alive back then ... almost everyone got signed,” he laughs. “We still have a lot of talent, but because the industry is not in a good way at the moment, we can’t really gauge a talent’s true potential. But I am optimistic,” he professes, hoping RAP will bring the winds of change.
In his years as a producer, he singles out Sheila Majid, the late Zubir Ali and M. Nasir as the greatest talents of the land. Industry players whom he feels have helped shape the Malaysian musical landscape include the likes of the late Mike Bernie Chin, promoter extraordinaire, producer Ali Bakar and his buddy, Tony Fernandes (“He’s my soul mate in music business and has never been afraid to point out my follies”).
The close of the century may not have been kind to RAP and Roslan, but perseverance and an unbridled love for music has kept him and his mates in the game, albeit a five-year hiatus.
RAP remains the true shining star of the music industry – it took no prisoners and its philosophy of believing in artistic integrity is second to none. And there’s been nothing like it before or since. “I guess RAP is a bit too demanding for kids nowadays and the not so promising record industry. The situation was just more promising then,” he says.
Life is cyclical, and all it may take is time for RAP to once again rule the roost. It may be a significant wait, but with Roslan Aziz behind the wheel of this music-machine, it’s hard not to imagine the label’s stock rising again. Here’s to another 20 years.
■ A double CD compilation (featuring most of the label’s artistes over the years) titled RAP 20 from Warner Music is available at all music stores.
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