<div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;"> </span> <span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 85%;"> </span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 180%;"> </span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: silver;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG3FVwqMtiI/AAAAAAAAAvY/-EjVSomh_gY/s1600-h/she+35.jpg"><br /></a> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 180%;"><span style="color: silver;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 180%;"> </span></div></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: verdana;"> </span> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG32GnAiFSI/AAAAAAAAA2k/fC0PhkZ8JRc/s1600-h/rap+96346x337.jpg"><br /></a> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG3yq6bQhLI/AAAAAAAAA2U/6lNGWjWiSkY/s1600-h/rap+log+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; margin: 0pt auto 10px; display: block;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG3yq6bQhLI/AAAAAAAAA2U/6lNGWjWiSkY/s200/rap+log+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="445" height="377" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG3URUKvlWI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/brAY5E5rCog/s1600-h/UNA+FRONT+Cover.bmp"><br /></a><span style="font-size: medium; color: #c0c0c0;">Founded by Kamarudin Meranun & Roslan Aziz in 1988</span><br /> <br /> <span style="color: #999999;">“…Malaysian music firm Roslan Aziz Productions finds, signs and nurtures genuine talent…”</span><br /><span style="color: #999999;"> Nuvich Alexandra, Billboard U.S.A.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: medium; color: #c0c0c0;"> UNITY in DIVERSITY</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG3itIOyuuI/AAAAAAAAA00/61fXGlKlyHQ/s1600-h/1000verses.jpg"><br /></a> <div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: silver; font-family: lucida grande;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">R.A.P. - Talkin’ about a revolution</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">By N. RAMA LOHAN of The Star</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">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.</span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">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. We've always had talents but our local productions were very mediocre and not "international enough" to go anywhere.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.In those days singers were performing covers because their originals weren’t deemed appropriate which i didn’t want to see happen to our signings.We simply wanted to develope artists who would be economically and artistically successful.So in 1988,I registered Roslan Aziz Productions,” he says, divulging that his friend and partner Kamarudin Kamarudin (now deputy CEO of Air Asia) was instrumental in his finance and management knowledge.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">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.”</span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">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.”.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.</span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">However, he does concede that risk-taking is part and parcel of his label’s philosophy.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">When more assistance was required, the partners recruited Boudeng and Weng, who would play significant roles in RAP’s chequered history.</span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">Like Sheila’s many classics, Hijau and Manis have gone on to become staples in the vocabulary of pop music fans.The Ikhlas concert album brought RAP to a crossroads of sorts;enter Tony Fernandes (now CEO of AirAsia), the up-and-coming boss for Warner Music Malaysia in the early 1990s.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">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.T</span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">he current pursuit has been aLi, a project that has Roslan Aziz collaborating with long-time compatriot and friend, Mukhlis Nor. The music boasts an eclectic mix of urban grooves with rich, traditional undertones.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">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.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">Roslan Aziz Productions has opened the industry’s ears to quality and different music genres created and performed by local talents.Perseverance and an unbridled love for music has kept Roslan 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.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999; font-size: medium;">Here’s to another 20 years.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">N. Rama Lohan </span><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva; color: #999999;">,The Star </span> <br /></span></div> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG38-S_3cTI/AAAAAAAAA28/OzC9LazVRK4/s1600-h/RAP+signature600x100.jpg"><br /></a> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mPUrfYU6Uq8/SG37QVzZYSI/AAAAAAAAA20/isHA54ZEoQs/s1600-h/RAP+logo+BW+550x550.jpg"> </a></div>
