Cover image via Moghul Miz (Provided to SAYS)
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Some artistes wait for their moment. Moghul Miz didn't.
Before the EPs, before the collaborations, before Rasam & Rice became a fully-formed project with its own identity, there was just a kid, a guitar, and a growing stack of lyrics no one else seemed in a hurry to touch.
So he did what any restless creative would do.
He took matters into his own hands.
He started off as a guitarist long before any idea of becoming a rapper entered the picture
Rapping, he says, wasn't even the original intention. It began more casually. Writing lyrics. Making beats. Sitting with ideas that didn't really have anywhere to go yet.
"I never recorded them or anything. I just liked writing and making beats.
"Eventually I got tired of waiting for rappers to jump on my beats so I just started doing my rhymes," he told SAYS.
Ask him to describe himself and he keeps it simple, almost blunt, almost like he's still surprised it worked out:
"A guitar-wielding, alternative hip hop artiste."
There was no fancy setup waiting in the background. Just improvisation. A lot of it.
"My first EVER setup was my mum's laptop (I didn't own one), and a pair of headphones," he shared.
That was it.
But even then, he had a guitar. So he made it work however he could, he added.
"Since I was already playing guitar, I had an amp. So I'd use the mic on the headphones to record the sound coming out of my amp."
It wasn't clean. It wasn't correct. But it was something. And that slowly turned into stacks of sound.
"I started off purely making guitar-centred tracks, literally a million guitars stacked on each other," he said.
For Miz, inspiration doesn't always show up in a studio.
"Probably once mid-conversation with my girlfriend. She was telling her stories, and my brain just clicked. I had to excuse myself to write down the lyric ideas. It has yet to be turned into a song, but I'm sure it will," he shared.
The title of his latest EP, Rasam & Rice, sounds simple on the surface, but for Miz, it carries a lot of weight
"For one, it's actually my favourite combo; if you add a fried fish in there, I'm beyond set," he laughed.
But there's more under it than just comfort food cravings.
"Every household makes their rasam differently, at least that's my experience. I love the rasam my mum makes, and I have yet to taste anything similar elsewhere," he reflected.
That difference became the emotional core of the project. And, unintentionally, how he sees his own music.
"There are many of us out here doing music, rapping, but my music can only be made by me. I don't sound like anybody, and nobody sounds like me," he added.
It's comfort food, but also identity. The idea that something familiar can still be completely unique depending on who makes it. That same philosophy runs through the EP.
That sense of identity even shows up in the smallest details, like the way he writes his lyrics.
For no particular reason, he casually name-drops brands like KDK, Kinokuniya, and Lingham's sauce in his songs.
"These are brands that I grew up with, and it also gives that authentic Malaysian flavour. References we as Malaysians would understand immediately," he said.
If there's one track that captures the heart of the EP, it's Emperors New Groove
"It's got, what I call the 'brown royalty' of Malaysia, on the song. Saint Kylo, MISTER TWO FIVE, and MURTY, all people I admire and embody the meaning of the song. We're out here to show who we are."
There's pride in the way he speaks about it. Not just in collaboration, but in representation. Even the title has a layered meaning.
"I'm the emperor with the new groove, lama-lama I've just improved."
It's a playful reference to The Emperor's New Groove, paired with "lama-lama", which in Malay means "over time".
It's fun, but intentional. A reminder that growth is slow, and transformation is rarely linear.
At the end of the day, he hopes listeners walk away feeling like royalty
"I hope they feel like royalty, that they can take on anything, feel confident."
Even as Rasam & Rice settles in, he's already moving forward. "To be honest, I've already started working on the next solo project. I've even got a collab EP coming up with MURTY, that's all done and waiting to be released.
"It's a completely different sound for me, leaning more into the R&B vibes. But I'll let the people enjoy Rasam & Rice first, haha."
Behind the music, there's something heavier.
"This EP was supposed to come out a lot earlier actually. It got delayed due to my own health reasons, and I honestly had the best people around me.
"I'm back and I'm better, and I couldn't have done it alone. So this project means a lot to me, it's almost a 'thank you' to those who believed in me. And everyone who played a part in the making of Rasam & Rice."
Listen to Moghul Miz's latest EP and his other songs here:
This feature is part of the #saysplaylist series, providing your playlist with a breath of fresh Malaysian air
