Meet shazza, the S’porean singer whose music has the attention of Coldplay’s Chris Martin and PM Wong
Synopsis (headphones recommended): Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio.
In the 12th episode of Music Lab, ST’s music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi hosts Singaporean singer and songwriter shazza.
Remote video URL
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The past year has been quite eventful for the 22-year-old - her music caught the attention of several high profile personalities, including Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Chris Martin, the frontman of popular British band Coldplay.
A video that she did with Canadian pop duo Crash Adams went viral worldwide, earning her new fans from as far as Brazil.
As one of the artists fronting Spotify’s Equal campaign, her face was featured on a billboard at Times Square in New York City.
In July 2023, she put out her debut album Chapter One, a release that includes Right Person, Wrong Time, a song that has clocked over two million streams in Spotify alone.
The hijab-wearing singer, whose real name is Shareefa Aminah, speaks about how people assume she makes Malay music because of how she looks, as well as her drive towards inclusivity in the pop music world.
Home-grown singer and songwriters shazza and Umar Sirhan performing their latest single, Rain In Manhattan on ST’s Music Lab Podcast at Studio+65. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
She also sings for our Music Lab Podcast, a live rendition of her latest single Rain In Manhattan, a duet with fellow home-grown singer-songwriter Umar Sirhan.
Highlights (click/tap above):
0:58 On having to turn down an invitation to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s swearing-in ceremony
3:25 How singing in the viral Crash Adams video made her famous worldwide
5:28 Chris Martin calling out her name at one of Coldplay’s Singapore concerts
9:45 On being featured on New York’s Times Square billboard
11:24 Being a hijab-wearing singer making English pop music
13:26 Realising her calling for music at a young age
16:00 On choosing the unconventional path of music as a career
20:39 How juggling school and a music career can get overwhelming
27:58 On plans to nurture new artistes in the future
Listen to shazza’s live performance of Rain In Manhattan with Umar Sirhan here:
Discover home-grown artiste shazza at:
YouTube: https://str.sg/JS8i9
Spotify: https://str.sg/wKh4d
Instagram: https://str.sg/uoqd
Produced by: Eddino Abdul Hadi ([email protected]), Ernest Luis, Eden Soh, Hadyu Rahim & Amirul Karim
Recorded by: ST Podcast Team
Edited by: Amirul Karim
Follow Music Lab Podcast here every month:
Channel: https://str.sg/w9TX
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB
Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Feedback to: [email protected]
Read Eddino Hadi’s articles: https://str.sg/wFVa
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Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE
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Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX
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Special edition series:
True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T
The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2
Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn
Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB
Singapore’s War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa
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