Music Lab The Straits Times

The winner of the Best South-east Asia Act award at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards is our second guest in this new music channel.

Synopsis: Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio.

In the second episode of Music Lab, ST's music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi hosts award-winning Singapore singer, songwriter, and producer Jasmine Sokko.

Jasmine made her debut in 2016 with a self-released single 1057. Over the years, the self-taught producer has risen from cult local favourite to regional pop star, amassing a large following after reaching the finals of Rave Now, a Chinese reality television programme for electronic music acts.

In 2019, she became the first Singaporean to win Best South-east Asia Act award at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards held in Spain.

The enigmatic artiste is also known for covering part of her face with a mask, and has never revealed her full face in publicity photos.

The singer, who shuttles between China and Singapore, almost had her music career derailed during the pandemic lockdowns. But she is now back in 2023 with new music with Winter, a single that marks a new chapter in her artistry.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:49 Listen to Jasmine Sokko's new single in 2023 - Winter - which Eddino describes as having a different 'industrial rock-type' sound compared with her previous works

2:13 How Winter marks the end of a chapter in her music career and the start of a new beginning

6:45 How her music is inspired by everything that she absorbed growing up as a Singaporean

11:55 How she ended up making music in China despite not being fluent in Mandarin

13:46 How the pandemic lockdowns almost derailed her music career

15:46 Why she covers her face with a mask

21:00 On juggling school and her music career

26:20 The moment she realised she wanted to make music full-time, no matter the odds

Discover Singaporean artiste Jasmine Sokko at:

YouTube: https://str.sg/iZgT

Spotify: https://str.sg/iZgq

TikTok: https://str.sg/iZgc

Produced by: Eddino Abdul Hadi (dinohadi@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai and Eden Soh

Edited by: Teo Tong Kai

Follow Music Lab Podcast episodes here every month:

Channel: https://str.sg/w9TX

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB

Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9T2

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Eddino Hadi's stories: https://str.sg/wFVa

Music Lab theme: Eden Soh (composer/arranger-guitar), Ernest Luis (guitar) 

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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Special edition series:

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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Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#musiclab
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore's award-winning hip-hop artist, producer and songwriter is our first guest in this new music channel.

Synopsis: Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio.

In this first episode, ST's music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi hosts award-winning Singapore hip-hop artist, producer and songwriter Alyph.

Over the past few years, he had focused instead on making hits for regional acts. Alyph’s produced songs have amassed more than 45 million streams on Spotify and 2200 million views on YouTube. 

Signed to the South-east Asian wing of iconic American hip-hop record label Def Jam, Alyph, 33, teamed up with Malaysian cosmetics mogul and social media personality Dato Seri Vida for his latest single Swipe - released on October 21, 2022.

It has sparked a TikTok trend too, and even made an impact on Malaysian politics in the run-up to the country's general election late last year. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, gamely danced to Swipe on his channel.

In the short clip, whenever Alyph sings “swipe”, the 75-year-old chairman of Perikatan Nasional would “swipe” away the logos of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.

On social media, users have been doing their interpretations of the catchy lyrics that go..."Kalau aku like (if I like), aku like (then I'll like), Kalau tak (If not), Aku swipe (then I'll swipe), Swipe 

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:10 How he appreciates different people interpreting his song Swipe; the message behind Swipe

5:15 The idea of working in Dato Seri Vida's infamous laugh and her eventual collaboration for the song

8:25 How is TikTok important for an artiste today?

13:16 On why Alyph makes music, to challenge normalcy in the music industry

17:45 How Alyph started writing and producing hits for artistes outside of Singapore, such as Kaka Azraff or K-Clique

21:48 Alyph on Singapore's hip-hop scene evolution, on being more serious as a pro artiste with Def Jam South-east Asia

Discover Singaporean artiste Alyph at:

Website: https://str.sg/wFV9

Spotify: https://str.sg/wFVC

Tik Tok: https://str.sg/wFVy

Produced by: Eddino Abdul Hadi (dinohadi@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim, Teo Tong Kai and Eden Soh

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Music Lab Podcast episodes here every month:

Channel: https://str.sg/w9TX

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB

Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9T2

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Eddino Hadi's stories: https://str.sg/wFVa

Music Lab theme: Eden Soh (composer/arranger-guitar), Ernest Luis (guitar) 

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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Special edition series:

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

---

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#musiclab
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's a trailer as our podcast team composed a theme song for this new music podcast channel. 

Synopsis: Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio.

Find out which renowned Singapore hip-hop artiste we speak with first, in the full episode that will drop on Jan 25.

The next act to be featured in our series is being lined up by ST's music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi, so follow us on your favourite audio apps below to be notified of the latest episodes.

Produced by: Eddino Abdul Hadi (dinohadi@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim, Teo Tong Kai and Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

Follow Music Lab Podcast episodes out here every month:

Channel: https://str.sg/w9TX

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB

Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9T2

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Eddino Hadi's stories: https://str.sg/wFVa

Music Lab theme: Eden Soh (composer/arranger-guitar), Ernest Luis (guitar) 

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

---

Special edition series:

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

---

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#musiclab
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.