Namewee mocks “political frogs” in music video for ‘Hidup Katak’ featuring youth politician Syed Saddiq

The track also features verses from hip-hop groups 5Forty2 and The Real Masta Clan

Malaysian rapper Namewee has released a new music video for his single ‘Hidup Katak’, featuring an appearance from youth politician Syed Saddiq.

Released August 12, the new single sees the controversial rapper taking aim at “political frogs” – a term commonly used in Malaysia to describe politicians jumping between parties for political or material gain.

On the Malay, Mandarin and Tamil trilingual track, Namewee raps of “frogs at the backdoor” who “suddenly come and go“, while Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) party founder Syed Saddiq gives a speech in Bahasa Malaysia that says in part: “Frogs are a protected species in Malaysia. They have a super high IQ, and are extremely skilful in hopping acrobatics with their abundance of collagen, and most importantly they are very rich.”

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“Under the care of our beloved nation for years, Frogs continue mating here and there without shame, reproduce rapidly, and increasing in numbers over the years.”

Watch the music video for ‘Hidup Katak’ below.

The track also features verses from hip-hop groups 5Forty2 and The Real Masta Clan. Dusun Tua assemblyman Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof was notably a former member of 5Forty2, performing under the stage name Orfeus.

Namewee also shared that he had sampled the croaking of a real frog for the song in an earlier Instagram post.

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This is not the first time the rapper, producer and filmmaker has criticised Malaysian political culture with his art, having first entered the public eye with his 2007 YouTube parody of the Malaysian national anthem ‘Negaraku’, titled ‘Negarakuku’. It was accused of mocking Islam and Malays.

He also previously surrendered to the police during an investigation over his film Babi in 2021. The film was one he wrote and directed, and was the subject of two police reports alleging elements of racism. It was later nominated in the Berlin International Film Festival, Bangkok International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards.

He also attracted the fury of BLACKPINK fans last year when his track ‘You Know Who Is My Father?’ referenced the K-pop group.

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