Synopsis (headphones recommended): Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio.
In the 14th episode of Music Lab, ST’s music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi hosts Singaporean rapper Shigga Shay.
The 31-year-old hip-hop artist speaks at length about his experience as the first Singaporean to take part in The Rap Of China 2024, the popular Chinese reality show (2017 to present) that looks for the country’s next rap star.
He was among the 72 contestants out of 600 who passed the first round, and reached the 41st spot before being eliminated in the third round.
It is still a win, he says, because his time on the show gave him a platform to reach out to a whole new fanbase in China.
He still makes regular trips to China to work with his counterparts there on his upcoming release, a mixtape titled Hanyu Pinyin.
Featuring verses in Mandarin, English and Hokkien, this new batch of songs reflect his identity as a multilingual rapper from Singapore who is ready to take on the global stage.
Shigga also discusses how hip-hop helped him overcome his shyness, and how his late father gave him his stage name.
In the episode, he also performs a rendition of his latest single, Overachieve, which will also be included in his upcoming release Hanyu Pinyin.
Highlights (click/tap above):
1:54 On being the first Singaporean to take part in The Rap Of China
14:24 How his multilingual songs tells his story as a rapper from Singapore
18:15 On how he has been rapping for half is life
26:17 Why he calls himself Shigga Shay
30:20 He started making music videos in school
34:47 On running his own music company
Listen to Shigga Shay’s live performance of Overachieve here:
Discover home-grown artiste Shigga Shay at:
YouTube: https://str.sg/bnA6
Spotify: https://str.sg/BQLe
Instagram: https://str.sg/vMyR
Read Eddino Hadi’s articles: https://str.sg/wFVa
Host: Eddino Abdul Hadi (dinohadi@sph.com.sg)
Produced by: Eden Soh, Hadyu Rahim & Amirul Karim
Recorded by: ST Podcast Team & Studio+65
Edited by: Amirul Karim
Executive producer: Ernest Luis
Discover previous artistes’ live performances featured on Music Lab Podcast:
Channel: https://str.sg/7m92
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB
Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6
Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg
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Follow more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa
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Get The Straits Times’ app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:
The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
