Point Blanc: Bowing Out From Limelight But Still Cashing It In

The classic case of fame and fortune. It all went downhill when we booked a slot at the multi-million studio called Synchro Sound to record our second album with a producer from the UK, and one of us walked in with two girls, late and without even written the lyrics. When things like this happened, it was sort of hard to continue as a group anymore.

Not everyone can deal with fame and fortune because when you combine money and popularity, your ego becomes your biggest enemy.

Some of us couldn’t deal with the success we had when we were at the peak. We started to lose our way and our focus, and believed in our own hype too much.

It’s okay to do that if you can still maintain the quality of your work. There are many rock stars, who indulge in that kind of lifestyle, but when they step in front of the mic, they make genius level kind of music.

So, maybe we were not so extremely talented, and when some of us lost our way, it affected the quality of our work. When it came to that point, it was serious.

I had been obsessed with hip hop as a strong form of expression since I was just 14. For me, it wasn’t just something “cool” I wanted to be associated with.

At that time, it wasn’t like now, where people are like, “Oh, I want to be a rapper too, I want to tilt my cap this way.” I loved what hip hop stood for. It was about people from poverty, embracing a certain art form and taking it somewhere else, to express themselves.

I related to it in a different way, from an Asian perspective, because hip hop was an African-American art form. If you look past all the yo’s and the baggy and saggy pants, it’s like, you come from nothing, and you express yourself through music and culture. So, I got really into. I just wanted to release an album, it was like my dream at that time.

It was a funny story. At that time Ipoh had this whole underground hip hop movement, and Asia Bagus was really popular. One day, I saw a newspaper ad on New Straits Times, it was just a small, square box with the words “Looking for new rappers” or something like that.

Then I mustered my – pardon my language – “b***s” to call the number in the ad. On the other line was Yogi B, and we talked. I was a 16-year-old Chinese kid and sometimes we only get one shot in our life – and I believed that was mine.

On the phone, I could tell he wasn’t impressed because of my background, and I could hear from the tone of his voice that he was a little doubtful and was not really into it.

I thought to myself, if I didn’t step up, I would lose the chance. I could do something that he could do, which was beatboxing.  So, I impressed him that way. I was like “Yo, I could do what you can do, but not as well, obviously! Check me out!”

I auditioned through the phone. After that he told me that he wanted to see me next week. He asked me to go down to KL to meet him.

I re-enacted what happened when I was 16 in the Ipohmali music video. It was exactly how it was in the video. My mum was like, “Are you crazy?”

It was 1999. (Laughs) So, not really.

Of course. But it wasn’t like balling and all. I did not go into it thinking I’d strike rich at the end of it. It was more like, hopefully, this music could help me support my family.

And it did. Thank God. With the blessings of my family.

If I’m being honest, I was naïve when I first started out. We were lucky because at the peak of our popularity, we started getting sponsorship deals from Coca-cola and DiGi.

That journey took us about two years to get there. When I first moved to KL, it took us about a year to record our first album. Back then, we were sleeping in studios and eating instant noodles. We grinded. That’s why the first album came out so well because it was written through our emotions, through our struggles. The music somehow translated those emotions.

This kind of art form is sort of lost now.

It wasn’t really a break up, it was just the group consolidated to just two members – me and Yogi B. So we did another album, The Return of Tha’ Boombox, where the single, Monay Monay, was released.

So, the group technically has not broken up. It was never official. Poetic Ammo is still alive, it’s just that we are on an indefinite hiatus.

In the entertainment industry, there are a lot of ways to monetise, even though the options are fewer today. But back then when I was still doing it attentively, there were a lot of ways to do that. One of them is music publishing. Every time your song is played on radio, or used in shopping mall, TVC, or movie, you will get your royalty at the end of the year.

I did the 360 degree business plan based on the blueprint of African American hip hop business. You create a brand where the music is the core. Then you leverage with a clothing line. Now it has become a standard cookie cutter path, but back then, it was quite a novel business model.

In business, there is always a lifespan. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must know when to let go. Don’t hold on to something too long, even though you build it from the start. Like any other investments, you must know when to sell.

Who knows, with the money you get from selling, you can do something else that can make you even more money, if money is your focus.

Life is all about learning from your mistakes. When you’re young, you make a lot of mistakes. The same goes for me. During my era, the whole property investments and the whole investing trend weren’t really there yet. So, at that point, I was young, coupled with my poor background, I indulged in a lot of stupid and ridiculous things when I started to see money coming in.

My mother always tells me that I blew away all my money that I made when I was young. (chuckles)

But I believe that I blew that money away for a lesson, that lesson made me understand the importance of managing one’s money well, and also the importance of investment.

Now I understand that when you make money, you can’t just spend it all.  You need to reinvest, and not just reinvesting into the same thing or business. You need to invest in something else too as back-up. Too many people lost everything they had by putting all their money in the same basket.

Diversify.

My biggest indulgences were expensive shoes, caps and clothes. I was quite a himbo. (Laughs)

I invested in a couple of stupid businesses. I opened a Magic: The Gathering card shop, invested in some family businesses. But I also made life better for my parents. I moved them out of Ipoh to KL, and they’ve been here ever since.

My music publishing company, So Fly Publishing and also a company providing entertainment solutions, such as event organising services, and consultations. The whole business plan was done by leveraging on the existing network that I had.

Long-term, it would be music publishing. It is intellectual property. That is sometimes more valuable than properties and other investments. It is forever. I own a catalogue of songs that I’ve written, for myself or for other artistes, which I can monetise in many different ways. It could be picked up for a movie or TV show.

Right now, no. I’m taking a sabbatical. I don’t know how and when I will get back to it. The industry had deteriorated quite a bit, at the core of it, it’s hard to monetise, and the consumers, the average listeners, have changed.

I believe in substance, though the layman may just see a dude with long blonde hair, going “Yo, yo, yo!”

But if you really delve on the intellectual level of my music, it’s always been about inspiration. My tagline has always been, “Small town, big dreams.” That’s what I’ve always represented, the working class. No matter where you are from, or your background, if you have a dream, you stick to it with a passion, you go all out, and you can make it happen. That’s what I always say in all my music.

Ipohmali is about that. Poetic Ammo was about that. We did something that seem impossible at that time, Asian boys doing hip hop. But we localised it. Why Poetic Ammo was successful was because we had substance. We talked about things that are relatable to the local market.

Because of all that, I don’t feel like I can do any music right now.

Not initially, when I was 16 or 18. Like I told you, I was quite naïve when I first started out. However, when I get older, yes, obviously it does. I come to the point in my life where my whole existence does not revolve around money anymore.

The ideology of money, if you read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and other finance books – money is not real. You make RM100,000 today, that money may translate into RM1,000 or whatever in years. Money is not real.

Obviously you need to work hard to be able to support yourself and be comfortable. I’m not at the point where I am working my butt off for the sole purpose of making money. I’m not saying money is not important. It just shouldn’t be the sole purpose of your existence.

You can never make enough.

It was really terrible but it meant the world to me. After splitting the money into four, it was somewhere in the region of RM250 to RM300. (Laughs)

It was the most money (of mine) that I had ever seen. But the feeling of satisfaction was priceless.

I spent it all on a pair of shoes that I could not afford before but I’ve always wanted. I carried the shoes with me all the time, I think I slept with them as well.

Because I come from a small town, my upbringing centred me somehow. Whenever I get lost, I go back to my roots. Don’t believe in your hype so much. At the end of the day we are all human. Being popular and famous should not give you the higher-than-thou attitude.

I work hard, if people appreciate my work, that’s what drives me.

Obviously when I was at my peak, I kind of lost my way as well. Who wouldn’t? Temptations were abound. After a while, seeing what happened to my partners, seeing older musicians who have passed their prime becoming hateful, spiteful and bitter, I learned.

At age 36, I don’t want to be that person. That washout person who is still trying to come out with an album. I just want to live and do something different.

If people ask me, why are you doing this, why not? Why are you not doing this? Why should I? If I did music, should I do music till the day I die? Is that what you expect of me?

I’m done with people’s expectations of me. Now it’s the time for me to do something that I want.

I have multiple fall backs. I have a backlog of profiles, and strings that I could pull. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, I have my own network. If things go bad, where my parents have to sleep on the street, there is always somewhere I can do something.

And I’m trying not to tarnish it. You must know when to bow out graciously so you will be remembered for the good things that you have done.

I just want to have serenity, inner peace and happiness. Does that have to translate to more revenue or income streams? If that will make me happy, maybe.

Or maybe living in a mountain off the grid, just being self-sufficient will make me happy.

I’ve always been bipolar in my spending, there are two sides of me. I’m basically a geek in every essence. I indulge in a lot of comic books, toys, collectibles and art books. These do not come cheap.

Hopefully!

Do I look like I have a pension? (Laughs) Not really, but I do have savings. I wish it was more.

When I was broke, I like to use the card. (Laughs) But cash is good, and you also feel the self-satisfaction when you are paying with cash. But these days, it’s dangerous to bring too much around. I hate cheques – just too much hassle.

Setting up my music publishing company and consolidating my intellectual properties.

(Laughs) Too many to mention. There’s no worst, they are all equally bad. On top of my head now is probably buying the Hot Toys Iron Man action figure for RM1,000.

It’s just too expensive a price to pay for plastic.

I hope so. It better! They told me I can, but I won’t know until I close the deal.

Giving a better life to my parents. They are old now. I want them to have the best time they can.

My sister is a huge unit trust advocate. She tried convincing me years ago, but I wasn’t really into it. I think I have more faith in gold investment. At the end of the day, it will be down to precious metals that have value.

If we go into a zombie apocalypse, gold may be the universal currency.

Yes, I have delved into it. But it’s hard for us to get a loan sometimes because it’s difficult for the banks to see the stability in our income, as musicians. We don’t have monthly payslips or EPF.

But I don’t sweat myself over it. If I get it, I get it. If not, I’ll just move on.

I did say I’m a bipolar when it comes to money. Chinese believe that when there are gaps between your fingers in a palm, you are a spender. That was true when I was younger, but as I got older, my spending pattern changed. I spend on different things, and hopefully, less expensive.

At the end of the day, we all just want happiness.