Despite achiveing success in pursuing his passion in the Hip-Hop scene, Ah-Boy has been putting his musical career on hold and doing his due dilligence as the son of the family by leading a business. In many ways, the happy going youth that many fans grew up with is now a mature young man putting the needs of his family at the forefront. Today, we take a look at excerpts from an interveiw with him.
Kyaw Phyo Tun, more famously known as Ah-Boy, was born on January 13, 1986. Born in Myeik after two older sisters, his family moved to Yangon when he was three years old. He was a very active child and, according to his parents, were always looking for an opportunity to play.
His dreams of being an entertainment, a recording artist, started out very young. It may have been influenced by his blood relation to his uncle, the actor Lwin Moe, but he did not want to be an actor. While his passion for music started at a young age, he was afraid of a good scolding by his mother so he would always study enough to excel, regularly topping the top ten highest grade students list despite academics being not his strong suit.
"Singing songs is a professional passion of mine that I will never be apart from. I love everything; writing songs, going into the studio for a recording session. But right now, I cannot do time management properly so I'm limited in what I can do there," said Ah-Boy.
He goes on to explain how he first started out. "I had very good mentors. During my generation, there were so many people that wanted to be singers. My very first mentor was Kyat Pha. He taught me everything; from A to Z. Next was J-Me that trained me. I would be backstage whenever he performs, rapping along to his rhythm and rhymes. So when it was time for me to appear on stage, I had no fear. The other one was Ko Hein Zaw from ACID. He gave me opportunities to appear in his labels. The first show I performed at was at an invite from Ma Ngal Ngal. I memorized every single bits of her and Ko Zayar Thaw's songs. And it was overseas; we performed in Singapore too. It was very memorable for me."
When asked, he admitted that he did many mistakes as a young person but never touched drugs.
"What I believe in is that whatever I do, I do so because of I like it. Not because of influence by friends. I prefer to sleep a lot to the point of forgoing food for sleep. I would tend to get sick if I don't get to sleep. And drugs, especially those that keep you awake, is the direct anti-thesis for me. I guess my weakness turned into my strength," said Ah-Boy.
"I'm the son of the family. So starting my music career from around 16 until like 30 years of age, my parents had to endure a lot. I didn't get into drugs or anything but I was wild in a different way. My dad is a bonafide businessman and he is getting old. Now that I'm of an age where I'm supposed to take charge, I've jumped into his business. Now my father trusts me with and I feel like I've learned many new things and am proud of myself. Instead of messing about with my life, I'm swamped with work," said Ah-Boy frankly.
Ah-Boy, while confessing that he is not perfect nor the type to regret his wrongs, made it clear that he learns from them. Ah-Boy made a pointed note on how his mistakes shaped him into someone that will strive to never again make the same mistake twice. He thanks his fans for getting him to where he is now and continuing support, vowing that he will strive to keep making songs when possible.
This has been a brief look into Ah-Boy's past and current life and hope that the audience will enjoy it.
