You know them for their music video parodies like “Minahconda” and “Minah Funk”. After a decade of shenanigans, comedy duo Munah Bagharib and Hirzi Zulkiflie tell us why they are bidding YouTube goodbye and closing their channel with a final curtain call… literally.
You know them for their music video parodies like “Minahconda” and “Minah Funk”. After a decade of shenanigans, comedy duo Munah Bagharib and Hirzi Zulkiflie tell us why they are bidding YouTube goodbye and closing their channel with a final curtain call… literally.
The first obvious question is, why?
Munah: It’s something we talked about a lot when we first started this. We allowed ourselves time to really create something. And honestly, seeing how much our channel has grown over the years and the stuff that we’ve been through, I feel like we’re on a nice high to celebrate what we’ve built over the past decade.
Hirzi: I mean, if you think about The Supremes, Destiny’s Child and Backstreet Boys… it wasn’t a longevity thing for them. You should expect a breakup, or a long pause before a reunion again, so the members can pursue their own things. We’re about to turn 30, so we want to explore who we are as individual artistes.
So what’s next for Munah and Hirzi, as individuals?
M: (laughs) We don’t want to jinx things by talking about it!
H: I’m going to drop “Crazy in Love”, then “Dangerously in Love”, and find a rapper.
Munah is going to do “Dilemma” with Nelly (who, in this case, will be Shigga Shay), and we’re never going to hear from Munah again.
M: It’s basically a race to see who becomes Beyoncé.
One thing fans love about your channel is the social commentary. Was it a conscious decision?
H: It’s very natural, and not something I consciously decided for our videos. When I feel something, I create something.
For example, “Epic Malay Girl Anthem” was because people were commenting on the leotard worn by the gymnast Farah, who won six medals in the Southeast Asian games in 2015. They spoke about her leotard, instead of her achievements.
And when the singer Yuna hugged Usher, that made the news. So I wanted to create an anthem for Malay girls, and show powerful Malay girls celebrating each other. It’s also because I have a younger sister, so I like to do videos like this for her.
You started out when the Internet wasn’t woke yet, and you were controversial from the start. Was there a time when the backlash really shocked you?
M: The first time that happened [in 2012], it took us by surprise because we’d never encountered anything like it before. To us, we were just doing our own thing and having fun creating content. But we saw it as a chance to grow, and thankfully, we had each other.
H: We had our first TV show, and it was also the year where our names were just blowing up everywhere. People were saying, “They don’t deserve their own TV show; they’re not setting a good example,” so that became a thing. There was an entire boycott of our show. We thought it was funny because we were among the first people in the country to get a “Say No to...” Facebook page.
Did that make you feel like you were doing something right?
H: I wouldn’t say that. I like to call what we do “noise”. And noise is important. Noise is art – it disrupts ignorance.
You were YouTube stars before it became a thing. How do you feel about the rise of social media influencers, and how it has become a legit career path?
H: That depends on which wave you’re talking about... up until five years ago, you hardly heard of anyone trying to make money from social media. People were trying to get their work on social media to get exposure, so they could get on traditional media.
M: There’s also the mentality that going online is the easy way out. People think that they don’t need to have other skills or grow in their craft; they just need to get online and make money. But in order to garner that support in the first place, you need to be doing something valuable and put in a lot of hard work.
H: Basically, you need to earn your stripes. We started out by knocking door-to-door for auditions, while doing YouTube videos at the same time. But now you have people going, “I have 50,000 followers, why should I audition?” They think those numbers justify and warrant [certain privileges] but that’s not the case. Nathan Hartono has over 125,000 followers, but he’ll still go for an audition if he has to.
What’s your fondest memory of your channel from the last decade?
M: We can never pick one.
H: It’s such a difficult question… but you know what, it always touches my heart when our friends come down for cameos or ensemble scenes. Recently, we did a parody of “Look What You Made Me Do”, and we got all our friends to get together. They had to sing the dumbest line: “So I work smart, not work harder, no more overtime. I make sure Sunday is my rest day, Bangla boyfriend time.” And people like Nathan Hartono were singing that line! Seriously, the stuff we put our friends through!
M: They were so serious about rehearsing and getting it right.
What’s the video about?
H: It’s Leticiacia’s goodbye. She’s going to close the channel. It’s my favouritest work ever. I dare say it’s my magnum opus.
When you close the channel, will everything be gone?
M: You will know on January 24!
H: We don’t know. Life is too short to confirm anything. Just put in your article “TBC”, lah.
Complete the sentence: In 10 years’ time, I’ll be…
M: 40.
H: I think I’ll be an uncle to Munah’s kids.
M: Oh! Hirzi! I was going to say I’d have kids!
H: We know someone’s still gonna be single in 10 years’ time – ME. It has been like that for the last 10 years, and it can be like that for the next 10. It’s OK, I’m fine with that.
M: You see? Triggered.
H: [voice gets an octave higher] I get it! I’m not the most attractive thing, OK? Even when [our Minah series on YouTube] ended, which character didn’t get a spouse? Mine!
M: Oh no, this is not going to stop...
H: [rants in the background]
Munah & Hirzi Live: Curtain Call is on January 24.
Get your tickets at mho10.peatix.com.
"Up until five years ago, you hardly heard of anyone trying to make money from social media. People were trying to get their work on social media to get exposure, so they could get on traditional media.”
Images Hisham Osz (@_6ix6ix_), Munah Bagharib (@munahbagharib) Text Compiled By Sophie Hong.
