COLD WAR is an Unapologetic Cheer to Opulence and Machismo in the Time of Political Correctness

          In 2016, UrboyTJ released what is probably his biggest song till date, “Rebound”, a love song with slower, mellower beats. Likely it became an instant hit because it was so different than what Thai listeners were used to when it came to Thai hip-hop.Before UrboyTJ, funky beats and playful lyrics of Joey Boy and American-styled rap group Thaitanium ran the scene, and Thai hip hop did not share the same sappy lyricism as the rest of the music industry. Around the time of UrboyTJ’s newfound popularity, an underground rap competition, Rap is Now, helped launched hip hop into Thailand’s pop culture again. Despite the grittiness of the YouTube show, YOUNGOHM, one of the contesters, became a rap star overnightwith his song, “เฉยเมย (ChoeyMeoy),” which later won him an award from JOOX Thailand Music Awards in 2018. “เฉยเมย (ChoeyMeoy)” with its low-fi beat and lovelorn lyrics became somewhat of a blueprint to Thai rappers who wanted recognition from main stream media, and YOUNGOHM himself now is indisputably the biggest hip-hop artist in Thailand today.

In November of 2020, COLD WAR was released. After years of hip-hop love songs dominating Thai pop culture, COLD WAR’s heavy beats and aggressive lyrics proved to be the breath of fresh air we all needed. Originated from Atlanta, trap is a subgenre of hip-hop whose name comes from a slang meaning a place that sells narcotics, and as a trap album, COLD WAR hits every checkbox of what the trap genre is all about: wealth, drugs,violence, and street life. It is a debut album by 1000 CHASER, but it is the third album by FIIXD, a veteran in Thai hip-hop scene and the artist behind this go-getter persona of 1000 CHASER. A semi-underground rapper, FIIXD does not exist much as himself on the radio nor the charts, and not at all on both under the name 1000 CHASER. But, on the flip side, this anonymity affords him the liberty to be brutally and relentlessly megalomaniac; 1000 CHASER entirely abandons the sentiments FIIXD has shown from time to time in his handful of love songs, and instead embraces the power he procures for himself. “I want to get to know my Maker”, he raps in the first track of the album, 1000 CHASER feels himself as powerful as God.

COLD WAR is stereotypically what you would think about when you think about rap music: it is explicit, violent, and cocky. The album opens with FIIXD chuckling, and a verse about how his life is more exciting as he conquers all obstacles in “COLD WAR”. In “Takes Notes”, FIIXDtells “the kids to take notes” and the track is dripped with so much arrogance you just know he does not offer free lessons out of the goodness of his heart.In the third track, “ขออภัย (Apologize)”,FIIXD boldly states “I will fuck who you want to fuck, look at the money I count/I am rude, I have no decencies, my apologies for not saying krub”,which, by this point, is on brand. Unfortunately, it is comically ironic because he actually had to apologize in a 2019 video for acting rude in an interview. In “พลิกล็อค (Plot Twist)” and “FIRST CLASS”, English does not come in lines but in verses and it does not seem out of place which is due to the fact that the beats and FIIXD’s flow flawlessly imitates American hip-hop. The album continues keeping its pace until the sixth track, “SKIT,” which is somewhat the audio representation of the lights dimming as FIIXD prepares us for something greater. “SKIT” is a spoken-word track with FIIXD repeating the same messages as all the tracks before and the sound of him sucking Hennessy from a baby bottle before it transitions into the next track seamlessly. However, the tracks before and after the interlude are still similar both in themes and in style, so sadly the interlude only does sound edgy, but bring nothing to the album. The only meaningful change of pace FIIXD gives us comes at the end of the album where he ends with the most personal track on it, “ฝันเดิม (SameDream)”. “I never forget when I was down, being overlooked/I was not different from you, I just worked/I remember my stack was flat but now it is too thick/…I always had the same dream,” he raps over old-school beats, repeating the lines until the music fades. The song is out of place and sticks out of the album like a sore thumb, but I can appreciate the old belief of meritocracy that is rare in this economy.

Thematically, COLD WAR is FIIXD’s trophy flaunting his wealth, success, and superiority over other men. The album is consistent in its themes, both melodically and lyrically, to the point that it is borderline on being repetitive. The first track, “COLD WAR,” with only the runtime of a little over two minutes perfectly captures the subject matter of the whole album, which is telling of its drawback: this album is of very little substance. All 13 tracks feel like a reiteration of the track before. It is one of those albums that you either like all the songs or none of the songs because they are not that much different from each other. This, however, is the smallest problem this album has to face. COLD WAR, as different as it is from other Thai hip-hop albums, still falls under the same trap of completely disregarding the concern for political correctness. Because their demographic is young cis heterosexual men who can afford and tend to share the same view of political correctness, culture appropriation and misogyny have become a pattern in Thai hip-hop. Women in COLD WAR does not serve other purposes than being a form of sexual currency for FIIXD to boast and leverage with other men he is competing with in the game of power that really does not have a place for women.And while COLD WAR’s immaculate emulation of the genre trap is a compliment stylistic-wise that a Thai artist could produce a piece of art that holds up to international standards, it also hints that COLD WAR is hollow,merely adopting the aesthetics of working-class black people but neither of the philosophy nor their political causes. Perhaps COLD WAR is all theatrical and 1000 CHASER is only a role to perform, but this insinuates an even worse standpoint for the artist himself: COLD WAR is an attempt at imitating black culture which offensively falls exactly into the age-old stereotype of black gangsters. Perhaps COLD WAR is merely an escape for men who are expected to win in this patriarchal, capitalistic game, but are struggling and losing.

Yet, this lack of awareness and the seemingly naïve worldview despite all the curses and audacity make up for something. COLDWAR offers a glance into what it feels like to be a cisgender,heterosexual, rich man through the sense of carelessness induced power and freedom that are only affordable to those not marginalized by neither class nor sex. COLD WAR reminds you of simpler times when hard work guaranteed rewards and reckless spending and hoarding wealth did not seem so insensitive. The outright display of condescension is undeniably freeing. When FIIXD raps about driving a Ferrari or making millions at 26, it is the same tale of self-made man but told differently. Most tales of its kind end on an optimistic note with a message that encourages us to believe in ourselves to make it big; COLDWAR does not care for that. “You can’t be like me,” FIIXD raps in the hook of “NIKE,” reminding us that we can never be as successful. COLD WAR is definitely a great escapism and one of its kind, even empowering in its twisted way. However, I completely understand if the album is too offensive to stomach,so personally, it is not an album which I would blindly recommend to just anyone. You could listen to Iggy Azalea’s In My Defense, for example,which is problematic in all the same ways but a little more friendly in the sexism area.

So, there is not a way to defend COLD WAR’s inconsiderateness when what makes it stands out is this very same fact. It will perpetually be in this limbo territory where its best qualities lie in its worst characteristics.Until something changes, Thai hip-hop can only remain a guilty pleasure of mine and COLD WAR remains both the worst and the best of all the guilty pleasures that I have. As mentioned before, nothing sums up COLD WAR better than that it is stereotypically what you think about if you think about rap music, so COLDWAR is either paying respect to the culture which it takes its aesthetics from, or it is an album done carelessly without any profound insight behind the scenes. And while COLD WAR is definitely not unique, it deserves props for holding its own against trap albums from international artists. There is a lotto turn a blind eye to if you want to immerse yourself, but if you are able toignore the problematic aspects of it, COLD WAR is definitely an experience.