Close X

Interview

Thaitanium rolls loud in Thailand

“Hip Hop is something that is embedded in our DNA. We grew up with Hip Hop. We eat from Hip Hop. We built homes from Hip Hop. We breathe Hip Hop.”

LiFTED | Marcus Aurelius | 14 Apr 2023


Thailand is the center of the Hip Hop universe right now. As the biggest concert in Asian Hip Hop history descends upon The Land of Smiles, LiFTED got to chop it up with the group that is responsible for making Hip Hop the biggest genre of music in Thailand - Thaitanum.

DaBoyWay, KH, SD, Big Calo, and DJAYBUDDAH just recently celebrated their 23rd anniversary of doing Hip Hop music with a showcase featuring them and their friends showing out. While they’ve had ups and downs, the crew is family and still loves doing music together after all this time.

LiFTED had a chance to catch up with the OGs and discuss their history, how Rolling Loud came together, and what the next 23 years of Thaitanium look like.

23 years of Thaitanium


What’s up, fellas? Thanks for doing the cover for LiFTED in April, which is a very special month. You just celebrated your 23rd anniversary as a group with a thank you concert. How did the show go?

What’s good, LiFTED! Appreciate you having us! We are blessed to still be doing concerts together 23 years in and still have fans who supported us throughout the journey. There was a lot of love in the building from the OG fans to new fans and it was a special feeling being on that stage. Besides just being together as a group we had a bunch of special guests who jumped on the stage also like Mindset, Def Jam Thailand, Hype Train, Gunna, Wonderframe, Engfa, and Popstar Kratae so shout out to them.

What were your feelings like as you looked back on being in the game for 23 years?

Doing anything in life for 23 years is not always a smooth ride. There are ups and downs and highs and lows. It’s about managing the difficult times and finding ways to move forward. We have moments in our lives together that will stay with us forever. As a team, I feel like we prioritized pushing the Hip Hop culture in Thailand forward since the beginning, and now seeing Hip Hop in Thailand become the biggest it’s ever been really feels like an accomplishment. It’s most definitely an honor to have paved the way for the younger generation and see them thrive. For us to still do what we love is the best feeling ever.

Besides sticking together for so long, what have been some of the highlights of Thaitanium’s career over the years in your eyes?

Damn! In 23 years, we got a lot of highlights! We were the first group in Thailand to be independent and just be distributed by labels. So to own our own masters and be able to grind it out for this long is an accomplishment. Working with the legendary Snoop Dogg on the track ‘Wake Up Bangkok City,” and also working with MOP and Blahzay Blah on ‘No Stoppin’ Us.’ We even put together an Asian Hip Hop Festival which featured acts from all around Asia and was headlined by Nas back in 2008. We toured around the world and worked with some amazing artists.

You recently remixed your own song, ‘Ta Lueng,’ and gave it a more 2023 feel. How did that idea come about? Was it easy getting Miss Grand Thailand 2022, Nong Ingfah Waraha, in the video?

‘Ta Lueng’ was that song that really gave us wings to fly into another stratosphere. Before that we were huge in the underground scene but ‘Ta Lueng’ exposed us to the masses. You can still hear that song today when you go to clubs in Thailand! I think we really just wanted to modernize it but still keep true to the original. DaBoyWay worked with Engfa on a previous project where she was featured in his music video ‘Cake Diet,’ so the relationship was already there. When we had the idea to remake ‘Ta Lueng’ we knew she fit on the hook perfectly. Getting Fiixd, Saran, and Twopee on the song also was dope because we made that song when they were kids and we were living that rockstar life. Now they are grown and they are all-stars themselves enjoying every minute of it as they should. So it was dope to bridge the gap. Shout out to Bossa on the beat.

Thaitanium has been on tracks with MOP, Blahzay Blahzay, and Snoop, to name a few. Are there any international artists that you want to work with? How about other Asian Hip Hop artists?

As far as collaborating there are so many talented artists we would love to work with internationally and in Asia. I think we all idolize Jay-Z so working with him would be incredible. Doing a collab with Lisa from Blackpink might be crazy because she is Thai like us so would be lit to do a worldwide banger representing Thailand.

Thai 2016x1334

As Hip Hop celebrates its 50th birthday around the world this year and next, what does Hip Hop mean to you?

Hip Hop is something that is embedded in our DNA. We grew up with Hip Hop. We eat from Hip Hop. We built homes from Hip Hop. We breathe Hip Hop. Hip- Hop is about expressing yourself and being unapologetically you in the rawest form while looking fly doing it. It has evolved so much since it started and we are blessed to be able to make our mark on it in Asia.

In 2022, Thaitanium came back with ‘POR MEUNG’ and has been running wild ever since. Are there any plans for a new Thaitanium album in the near future?

Right now we are just focusing on making music. Whether it’s singles or song remakes like ‘Ta Lueng,’ we are just in the studio being creative. I’m not saying we won’t possibly have another album in the future but that is not in the plans as of yet.

Rolling Loud season is here. Tell us how you feel about the biggest Hip Hop concert in the world coming to Thailand and your group playing a big part in getting it here.

All I gotta say is it’s gonna be massive! Travis Scott, Cardi B, Chris Brown, Fat Joe, and Uzi Vert! And these are just some of the acts. This the biggest lineup ever for Hip Hop in Asia. We gotta really give it up to DJAYBUDDAH and DJ ONO from the Bangkok Invaders for making it happen, they really did the groundwork to put this together. Make sure y’all get your tickets at www.rollingloud.com and book your hotel in Pattaya because they are filling up fast.

Will you be doing anything special for the show when you hit the stage? Can you let us in on your preparations?

Nah! We gotta keep that a surprise! But we definitely will be giving y'all something memorable.

What are Thaitanium’s plans for the next 23 years?

Trying not to get old! We're gonna continue to make music and work on individual projects. Actually, we have a documentary that we just started getting into talks about that so we plan on making that happen in the future. Other than that just being with family and enjoying life.

Thaitanium cover2