AWARD-WINNING artiste Joe Flizzow had dreamt of becoming a rapper since he was 15.
"I remember when I told people then. More often than not, they just laughed at me.
"But after they heard me rapping, they'd shut up," recounts the 44-year-old artiste whose real name is Johan Ishak.
His more-than-two-decade journey as an artiste was built up by sheer passion and perseverance.
Since his humble beginnings, Joe is now a well-known rapper and music producer in the hip-hop music genre, both abroad and in Malaysia.
Expectedly, his journey has been filled with ups and downs.
EARLY PAIRING
Joe's foray into the limelight began when he was half of the duo named Too Phat, a hip-hop act established in the late 1990s.
They soon caught local music fans' attention and started to grow bigger and bigger.
However, by 2017, he had to go solo after his partner, Malique, left the group to embark on his own journey.
This impacted Joe's life and career but the steady lad continued to pursue his love for the genre.
"It was lonely. But I knew I had to do a few things to safeguard my career path," says Joe, whose single, 'Sampai Jadi', is a reflection of his persistence to champion hip-hop.
SHARING STRUGGLES
Yet, not many know about the struggles he had to go through to continue to remain relevant in the industry.
As such, Joe finally decided to document the ups and downs of his life as a musician and rapper in the documentary titled 'This Is Johan', which takes viewers on a tour of his musical pathway.
The two-part, two-hour documentary gives fans a glimpse into the life of this creative man from various perspectives, including family and close acquaintances.
Joe says he was happy after the filming process, carried out by the film production company Mojo Films, which took about two-and-a-half years to complete.
"The filming process of this documentary was supposed to take six months, but there was a time when the production crew had to fly to Singapore, Bangkok and Thailand just to get reaction footage from the artistes in these countries to say something about me.
ALIVE AND KICKING
"We were not in too much of a rush to complete this documentary because we wanted it to be viewed as the best script, and ensure that the storyline was accurate," says Joe.
Wanting the story of his career as a rapper to be produced while he was still around, with words coming out of his own mouth, Joe, who is also fondly known as Mr President, did not want the story of his career to be told by a third party, which is usually made after an artiste has died.
"The narration of this (documentary) comes from my own narrative and not from a third person, like most artiste documentaries made after their death," he says.
Meanwhile, director Barney Chua says 'This Is Johan' is his first experience, as well as for the production house, in producing a documentary film.
This is opposed to the company's main focus of producing short commercials since it was established 17 years ago.
"The total original footage to produce this film is around 400 hours, and it was difficult for us to condense it all into a two-hour package.
"The most difficult part was after Joe was no longer with Too Phat. Joe was struggling at the time, and many people we interviewed also didn't know what he was doing then.
"But, eventually, we completed the filming and when I look back, I can see that it's all there, intact," he recounts.
'This Is Johan' parts 1 and 2 can now be streamed on Viu.
