Malique and Joe met through the Internet in early 1998. They found out they had
similar interest in making hip-hop music and soon began challenging each other's
ability to rap and rhyme on the Net itself. eventually the two got together and
produced a demo which landed them performing gigs in underground hip-hop scene.
One year and hundreds of performances later, they amassed an incredible
following. Such is the demand for Too Phat that an un-mastered studio mix of the
track "Lil Fingaz" , became the Hitz.Fm's Most Wanted Hit at the end of November
1999. That was followed by the first official single " Too Phat Baby" which was
released at the end of December 1999. "Too Phat Baby" made such an impact on
radio that it was Hitz.Fm's Showdown Champion throughout the Millennium weekend
and then some. Too Phat is more lyrical than typical. " we are more into the lyrics than the hard side of hip-hop," says Malique. This is proven in many of the album tracks. The lyrics are clever, witty and laced with sarcasm. Not very typical indeed for a hip-hop act. The highlights of these lyrical mastery can be found in "I Like You Know" and Bla, Bla" amongst many others.
It hasn't been all smooth sailing in producing "Whutthadilly?". When Too Phat started recording the album in early 1999, they were not signed to any recording label. The enterprising and hard-working duo did everything themselves from pre-production to the design of the album cover. "It was very tough time for us," says Joe, who is studying Multimedia, Advertising and Broadcasting at LimKokWing Institute of Creative Technology. "We invested a lot of money in the album. We even slept in the studios at one point!"
The story of how Too Phat got signed to Positive Tone is a classic record industry tale. One of Too Phat's producers, Illegal, just happened to be play one of the tracks to Ahmad Izham, Managing Director of Positive Tone, who was working with Playtime Studios. And as the story went, Izham immediately jumped up and down excitedly saying "I've never heard hip-hop like this: and demanded to see Too Phat right away. A meeting was quickly set up between the Too Phat and Izham and Paul Moss, Positive Tone's A&R Director and a deal was quickly concluded. Too Phat officially became a Positive Tone recording artist in the last few months of 1999.
The resulting album showcases 15 tracks that are very remarkable and would definitely lift Too Phat above the rest of the hip-hop pack. Also included in the album are cleverly used samples of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" TV theme song and Sharifah Aini and Broery Marantika's "Seiring Sejalan". Produced by a dream team of the nation's best R&B and hip-hop producers including Illegal and G-Soul, "Whutthadilly?" is a definite must listen. "Each song has a story about it," says Malique. "It is a very lyrical album. We're quite happy with the results." The album was recorded at Playtime Studios and Haze World Studios and mastered at Mastering One. Too Phat released "Whutthadilly?" to massive response on the 30th of December 1999.
Positive Tone has planned an extensive promotional campaign for the group which will see them appearing in many press publications, radio and TV interviews. Internet promotions are also being planned. Too Phat will also be holding several live promotions around Malaysia in the next coming months. The second single "Jezzebelle" will be released simultaneously with the music video in February 2000.
Plan B
is, in many ways, a perfect product for its time. The album began production in
the middle of 2000 and was completed in February 2001. The album was produced by
a variety of hip-hop producers including Illegal, G-Soul, Haze, Damien and Too
Phat themselves. Produced entirely at Playtime Studios, the album features many
surprise guest artists including Sharifah Aini, Camelia, vocal group VE, DJ
T-Bone, and underground hip-hoppers The Teh Tarik Crew.