The Sound of Music: Malaysia

I have never gone to a nightclub by myself and danced, but I danced in Malaysia; specifically, I danced in Melaka. I danced in the morning while waking up. I danced throughout the day to the rhythm of the city and I danced well into the night to Pete Rock and CL Smooth throwbacks and Das EFX jams at nightclubs in the city.  I fell in love with Melaka's soul  and what was supposed to be a 5 day trip suddenly became 2 weeks..

A little tune on the corner

The city has a rhythm from the time you wake up, until the time to fall asleep and my hips heard it well before my mind actually put one and one together. It began before the break of dawn; a steady baseline of newspaper bundles hitting the pavement at the local businesses along Jalan Bunga Raya. Lying in bed, not quite awake; but nodding my head to the artificial drumbeats and lending my own scratch or beatbox to make the tune complete.  Eyes open as the sun peeks over the horizon, the storekeepers open their stores to the soft hilt of the call to prayer. The call to prayer reverberates across town from a mosque I have yet to find and this starts a lazy dance of awakening and awareness; stretching and swaying in reverence of a new day.

This is a Cyclo in Melaka!

With the honk of car horns, the day progresses through morning rush hour; time to work. While everyone is working, you would expect a quiet day in this small town, but mid-day is when the beat of the city kicks in. Cyclo drivers besting each other for the attention of tourists¸ ride up and down the streets playing whatever grooves strike their fancy. With Michael Jackson’s “You wanna be starting something” blaring through their speakers at decibels typically reserved for the ghetto, this is that hands in air, “oh, s@#t! That’s my song,” kind of dance, that makes you stop and break out your 80’s moves. The cyclo drivers fluidly move from MJ to Prince to P-Funk, like a radio stuck on the soul station and afternoon in Melaka quickly becomes only for the grown and sexy.

Smooth Operator -  Karokee is super serious! 

The rhythm of the city is carried by the sounds of construction and the five o’clock rush hour and settles into evening, where the neighborhood karaoke clubs compete for air every night. Eyes closed, mellowing out to the crooning of an Asian Sade, Lionel Richie, or some local Malaysian favorite. No one needs a radio or a watch in Melaka; listen to the beat and you know what time it is. Midnight has arrived when the sounds of stores closing barely eclipse those of dogs barking and howling in unison; it’s their turn to sing the night away.

Melaka, Malaysia is music and I fell in love with its soul.


(Highlights from the Ultimate B-Boy Competition in Melaka, Malaysia)

K-POP is huge EVERYWHERE in Asia!

The karokee crowd on Jonkers Walk

The listening room of my little place in Melaka :-)