K-Town Clan members receiving the award for Best Hip-Hop Song

 

THE biggest winner at the 3rd Voice Independent Music Awards (VIMA) last Sunday in Kuala Lumpur were K-Town Clan which swept three main awards (Best Hip-Hop Group, Hip-Hop Song (Give Me The Ughh) and Rock Song (Come Get Some, in collaboration with others), and also won for Best Genre-Bending Act (also with other collaborators) and received the Thank You For Existing Award (with Darren Ashley).

The latest VIMA, held at the Cinta Restolounge in Jalan Kia Peng, was organised to recognise and honour independent music artistes from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, with top winners going on to compete with musicians from across the globe in the Bite My Music Global Awards, with online voting to begin from Feb 29.

In a joint statement after their triumph, K-Town Clan said: “What an amazing night! It really took us by surprise that we ended up bagging five awards. We are truly humbled and it also felt damn good. We’ve gone through so much together the past six years, with high highs and low lows but we always managed to work hard, look at the bigger picture and keep our eyes on the prize.”

Siva Chandran, the chief operating officer of Bite Media and founder of VIMA, said: “Finally, we have three world-class songs from Malaysia which we can proudly showcase on the global stage.

Prema Yin with her award for Best Female Vocalist Overall

Come Get Some and Give Me The Ughh are without a doubt two of the greatest songs produced over the past decade and along with Shine, Jaclyn Victor steps out of her comfortable mainstream suit and zips up into an astonishing metal track of epic proportions, thanks to the masterful work of Beat The System.

“These three songs have justified all the hard work we have put in to organise the 3rd VIMA, and is the very reason why we will continue to do so. We are looking forward to see how these songs fair on the world stage when they go head-on with other finalists from across the globe at the Bite My Music Global Awards with online voting to begin from Feb 29.”

Apparently, online voting will account for 30 per cent of the scores, and 70 per cent from a panel of more than 50 judges the world over.

At the Sunday ceremony, there were splendid performances from Goldkartz, Nadhira and Vandal, all from Peninsular Malaysia, Iris from Sarawak, Natasha Ejaz from Pakistan, X-Clusive from Singapore, and King Lhota & JKL from Africa.

Other performers were Ange Lym and her band, Madan Psytrus, A2 Empire, and 21 Soul Blaze from Singapore.

The 3rd VIMA also saw Qayaas, the biggest rock act of Pakistan, receiving crystal awards for Best Rock Act, Best Rock Vocalist and Best Rock Song (Sherezade).

Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar handed the Best Female Vocalist Overall prize to Prema Yin.

All the main award winners received a special studio package from Pulse Soundworks, each worth RM1,000. On top of that, there were RM5,000 song production packages from Studio 21: 05 (for Best Hip-Hop Song) and Abraham Records (for Best Pop Song).

Additional prizes were a three day-two night stay at Hard Rock Hotel Penang for Best Rock Group, and electric guitars from The Guitar Store for Best Rock Song and Rock Vocalist.