| Poetic Ammo | |
|---|---|
| Genres | rap, hip-hop |
| Labels | Positive Tone |
Poetic Ammo (previously known as PMO or Poetic Ammunition) was a Malaysian rap/hip-hop group. The group consisted of Yogeswaran Veerasingam (a.k.a Yogi B), Chandrakumar Balakrishnan (a.k.a Land Slyde), Nicholas Ong (a.k.a Point Blanc), and Sashi Kumar Balakrishnan (a.k.a C. Loco.) Although most of the groups songs were written in English, they also released tracks in Malay, Tamil, and Cantonese.
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The group was founded by Yogi B in 1990. The original members of Poetic Ammo were Yogi B and Anand, and they were formerly known as DEFX. They became popular amongst local clubs and pubs such as Piccadilly, Canton City, Party Box and others in Petaling Jaya. The first singles they released with Kenny Music (Kenny Remy Martin) were "Run" and "Only You", released under Positive Tone.
Anand later left DEFX and set up another underground rap group with Amoo Tha (also known as Jason), and they called themselves THA 2.O, with a music style of hardcore rap and g-funk. Anand was the vocalist and Jason was the turntablist in the band. Their shows were arranged by Siva Saga Entertainment. Anand left the group after he married Sherina, and Jason continued solo, but his solo album was never released due to censorship issues.
Their first album, entitled It's a Nice Day to be Alive, was released in 1998, and received positive reviews and several awards. This was followed by their second album, entitled The World is Yours (2000). Their third album was entitled Return of Tha' Boombox. The band has won numerous awards including the "Best English Album" award in the Malaysian Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Music Awards 1999, and the "Best Music Video" awards in the AIM in 2000 and 2001.
Recently Yogi B released an album titled Vallavan, in collaboration with Natchatra, after which he was approached by Kollywood (Tamil) music director G.V. Prakash, to produce and perform in a song alongside S.P. Balasubramaniam, for the movie Pollathavan (2007), starring Dhanush. They are often referred as Kavidhai Kundargal. Yogi B also made an appearance with Emcee Jeszin in the movie Kuruvi, starring Vijay, during a song number.
Point Blanc started his independent Voyeur Records, and came out with several singles like "Ipoh Mali" and "KL Leng Chai" in 2007. Later that year, he released "Straight To The Point", his solo LP, and also released his clothing line "Voyeurizm".
Landslyde formed his own rap metal band, Dragon Red. They won the Best New Local English Artist in the 2007 AIM Awards. Landslyde is the only person who has won the award twice.
C Loco, now known as Sashi C Loco, pursued a solo career and released a single, "Legend of Boo". He was also featured in the soundtrack for the movie "Sumo-Lah" with the song "V.V.I.P". He recently released his next single in Malay, titled "Bintang" and featuring Moe Nasrul. Reportedly his next English song is titled "Hip Hop", and it features a Hindi chorus sung by a new talent named Rekka.
There has been talk of the group reuniting since early 2007, although no official confirmations of denials of this have been released by any of the members.
In late 2009, Landslyde was interviewed with his band Dragon Red, on the Hitz FM MET 10, during which he explained the reasons why the band split. That year, Sashi C Loco was interviewed on the same show, and mentioned that he is keen on the idea of a reunion should matters within the individual members be resolved.