KRU

Their interest in musicmaking was sparked when they were very young, when one of their aunts bought Norman a keyboard which also attracted his other brothers. They spent their teenage years in London where they were exposed to various genres of music, in contrast to the Malay music scene at that time which was dominated by classic rock and ballads.

They continued to write original songs and were unaware that one of Norman's college friends sent a demo to EMI. Calvin Wong, International Label Manager and now vice-president at Warner Music Asia Pacific, was very impressed by the song and called the brothers to audition. KRU was formed on 19 May 1992. KRU (addressed by the initials K.R.U and not "kru") stands for Kumpulan Rap Utama or "Major Rap Group", but it is also the Malay word for "crew", borrowed from English.[4]

In 1993, KRU started their ReKRUed Rap Tour,[5] followed by the Awas Da' Concert tour two years later. In 1997, they released the album Viva Selangor as a tribute to Selangor F.C. and Everest for Everest project and commenced their KRU Mega Tour, sponsored by Peter Stuyvesant. The following year, their song "Never Let The Spirit Die" was used as the theme song for the 16th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur;[6] they also collaborated with Sharifah Aini, Zainal Abidin, Amy Search, Ning Baizura, Ella and Sheila Majid to create the soundtrack for Silat Lagenda.[7] In 1999, the song "Fiesta" was made the official theme of the Tour De Langkawi[8] and the group started their Jammin the Nation tour.

In 2000, they formed a virtual band named Tyco, whose members consisted of computer-generated alternate versions of themselves.[9] On 26 October 2002, they kicked off their fifth major tour at Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur.[10] In 2005, Artis Bersatu—made up of Anita Sarawak, Raihan, Ning Baizura, Misha Omar, and Erra Fazira—performed KRU's song "Suluhkan Sinar" in dedication to the victims of the 2004 tsunami.[11]

In 2011, "Gemuruh Suara" was used for the Malaysian contingent participating in the 26th Southeast Asian Games and KRU re-produced "Di Manakan Ku Cari Ganti" by P. Ramlee as part of the Tribute to P. Ramlee Project.[12] The Konsert Ulang Tahun Ke-20 started in 2012.[13] "Kuasa Juara" was used at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games for the the Malaysian contingent. KRU toured Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from 2016 to 2018 for Konsert 24 Tahun Gergasi, after which they disbanded.[2]

They also diversified their ventures into producing large-scale and high budgeted films such as the Cicak Man series, Duyung, Magika and Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.

Songs KRU has composed have been performed by a number of artists: Cyndi Wang,[14] Az Yet and Jaclyn Victor, Caliph Buskers, Yuki[15] Sharifah Aini, Anita Sarawak, Ezlynn, Alex To,[16] Erra Fazira, Ella, Tiara Jacquelina, The Indigo, Anuar Zain, Zainal Abidin, Amy Mastura, Ning Baizura, Rabbani, Feminin, Imam Muda, Shahir, Elite, Adam AF2, Forteen, Adira, Mawi and Diana Danielle, Mawi and Akhil Hayy, Tomok, Syura, Sofaz, Indah and Ewal, Melly Goeslaw and Yusry, Slam, and Arip.

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