Ramayan, Tuju and Sekumpulan Orang Gila nominated for Best Album at Malaysia’s AIM awards

Malaysian post-hardcore band Sekumpulan Orang Gila, K-Clique rapper Tuju and psychedelic rockers Ramayan have been nominated for Best Album at the 23rd edition of Malaysia’s Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) awards.

Sekumpulan Orang Gila’s ‘Second Voyage’, Tuju’s ‘Tuju Untuk Kamu 18/19’ and Ramayan’s ‘Di Persiaran Cakerawala’ were announced as part of a five-album nomination list that included rapper Yonnyboii‘s ‘Yonny’ and A.Limin’s ‘Sesudah Melakar Langit’ at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (September 1). Yonnyboii and Sekumpulan Orang Gila were also nominated in the Best Engineered Album category for the deluxe edition of ‘Yonny’ and ‘Second Voyage’ respectively, alongside actor-turned-singer Naim Daniel‘s debut effort ‘Fobia’.

The awards show will be held at the Auditorium Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam this September 11.

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— Gina Yap Lai Yoong (@GinaYapLaiYoong) September 1, 2022

The AIM Awards, which first began in 1994, has primarily recognised some of the most prominent names in Malaysian music, including multiple wins by diva Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza in a list that also includes rocker Faizal Tahir and Jaclyn Victor. In 2011, Yuna‘s single ‘Penakut’ was stripped of its Best Song award after a “vote counting error” found that although ‘Penakut’ had scored highly, the Best Song award must go to the winner of either the Best Pop Song, Best Rock Song, Best Ethnic Pop Song or Best Nasyid Song categories.

The award was eventually given to veteran singer Anuar Zain for his song ‘Sedetik Lebih’.

This year’s nomination list represents the first time a post-hardcore act has been nominated in Sekumpulan Orang Gila, as well as the first time a rap act has been nominated in Tuju and Yonnyboii as the award show went on hiatus after its 2016 edition before announcing its return earlier this year.

Other categories that will be contested at the AIM Awards this year include Best Local Chinese Language Song, Best Bahasa Malaysia Song by a Foreign Artist, and Best Electronic/Dance Pop Song.

Sekumpulan Orang Gila’s fourth and most recent album ‘Second Voyage’ was released in 2021. The post-hardcore outfit first shot to prominence in 2012 following the release of their single ‘Sumpah Pendekar’, which featured lyrics written by the iconic rocker M.Nasir. An acoustic version of the song was included in their 2015 sophomore album ‘Bahtera’.

Tuju of Sabahan rap crew K-Clique released his debut solo album, ‘TUJU UNTUK KAMU 18/19’ earlier this year in January. He mainly concentrated on projects outside of K-Clique in 2021, releasing three singles including the aforementioned ‘Khayalan’ and ‘Jiwa Pusing’ throughout the year while also finding time to hop on DJ CZA’s single ‘Veto’ in June as part of the duo TujuLoca alongside fellow K-Clique member MK.

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