The Great Music Mashup: When Beethoven Meets Beyonce
The Great Music Mashup: When Beethoven Meets Beyonce
Fusion music comes alive as 10 of Singapore's next generation of emerging music acts play quirky mashups such as 1819 indie and 1300s pop music in The Great Singapore Replay’s second season.
Growing up, he was bullied, changed school several times, and had to adapt to a single-parent family. But despite his circumstances, Shazuan Shiraj channelled his energy into his voice and blossomed.
In 2017, he became the first Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student in 31 years to reach national public speaking competition YMCA Plain English Speaking Awards. He won the second spot – beating out other competitors from junior colleges and polytechnics.
Today, his confidence has skyrocketed – first as a TEDx speaker and also as rapper ABANGSAPAU.
“There are a lot of stereotypes about rap and hip-hop – people always say rapping involves drugs and all sorts of vices,” he said. “I try to speak from the heart about life.”
The 20-year-old is one of 10 music acts on the second season of The Great Singapore Replay (TGSR), a music accelerator programme presented by Temasek with the support of major music labels and Singapore’s music industry.
ABANGSAPAU (right) with his mentor Shabir (left) and whirring (centre), a duo that specialises in electronic music and one of the music acts for The Great Singapore Replay (TGSR) Season Two. Photo was taken during a public event on 14 Nov 2019 at Temasek Shophouse to reveal 10 selected music acts and the pairings with five established artists. Photo: Temasek
“Temasek is part of Singapore's story. We do things today with tomorrow in mind," said Mr Ross Gan, Director, Sustainability & Stewardship Group at Temasek. "Apart from an active role as a community-builder through Temasek Foundation, TGSR is a meaningful way to give Singapore’s next generation of music talents a hand up, while including new works that add to our heritage."
These young talents have 10 weeks from November to January 2020 to compose an original song from a mashup of time periods and genres—think orang laut-era electronic music and Beethoven-styled indie music—voted by the public.
They are paired with five local artists – Charlie Lim, Joanna Dong, Kelly Pan, Sezairi Sezali and Shabir Tabare Alam – who will work with them through their journey. It culminates in a final showcase concert on 18 January 2020.
Speaker of Parliament and TGSR community ambassador Mr Tan Chuan-Jin (back row, third from right) and Mr Robin Hu, Head of Sustainability & Stewardship Group at Temasek (back row, fourth from right) with the ten music acts from TGSR Season Two and the five established artists. at a public event on 14 November 2019 at Temasek Shophouse. Photo: Temasek
Evoking Emotions Through Rap
For a relative newcomer, Shazuan has already released a couple of hits. His first single “Aura” was streamed more than 13,000 times across all platforms as did his latest single, “BUAT APE?”.
“I just needed an avenue to spill my emotions and I thought rapping would be a good way to do so,” he said. “There’s been a surprisingly good reception so far.”
But the Nanyang Polytechnic student, who made his debut only in October 2018, remains grounded as he tackles his latest challenge – a mashup of electronic music with the era of 1400-1700.
“I listen to a lot of rappers like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, so electronic is new to me,” he added. “I also didn’t know much about the 1400s to 1700s so I had to do some research for inspiration.”
As the time period coincides with great journeys across the world such as Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America in 1492, Shazuan chanced upon the lives of nomads and was struck by how they traversed for years before settling down.
“It reminded me a little about how Singapore was founded, so I based my song on these travellers,” he explained.
As a novice in the world of electronic music, Shazuan will be guided by his mentor Shabir. A multiple award-winning singer-songwriter, record producer and music composer, Shabir plans to help his young charge make a breakthrough in the music industry with discipline and focus.
A total of 26,000 votes were cast by members of the public for their favourite mashups between 23 October and 10 November 2019. Photo: Temasek
“Contrary to what people think, the industry isn’t just all fun and vibes,” said the 34-year-old, who performs a range of genres, including indie pop and rock. “TGSR will teach them (the mentees) studio etiquette, the importance of being punctual and having extreme focus.”
It is an invaluable opportunity that Shazuan relishes.
“I initially didn’t know how Shabir could help me as we have different styles,” he noted. “But he has a good ear and is a great thinker, so he can really develop more ways for me to present my emotions.”
A roving TGSR boom box made its way to four locations across Singapore from 23 October to 10 November 2019. The TGSR boom box provided an immersive DJ experience, allowing the public to mix and vote for their favourite mashups. Photo: Temasek
Pop Music Mixologist
Another mentee excited to link up with her mentor is Rene Wong, who is paired with singer-songwriter Charlie Lim.
“From the start, he always asked if a certain sound was ‘me’, and if this was what I envisioned,” said the 23-year-old pop artist who started performing at 14. “I’m familiar with his style so it was interesting to see him apply it to my music during the first session.”
Wong, whose stage name is RENE, was assigned a 1300s-indie mashup, which she described as a combination that was “far from what I do”. She usually leans towards modern bands such as McFly and Paramore, but is keen to explore more experimental sounds with her Renaissance-period TGSR original.
“I subconsciously incorporate elements from music I listen to and try to develop something new altogether,” added Wong, who released her debut single “Lonely” in 2018.
RENE (left) with Charlie Lim (centre) and Marian Carmel (right), a singer-songwriter and one of the music acts from TGSR Season Two. Photo: Temasek
Despite being trained as a guitarist and pianist, Wong tried different instruments and immersed in the sounds from the 1300s – gamelan, flutes and calls of the birds – to create an indie twist that “would have been what people heard back then”.
She hopes TGSR will boost interest in local music, as many Singaporeans seem unaware of the thriving talent here.
It is a sentiment echoed by singer Joanna Dong, who will mentor Namie and Zalelo, who are jazz and pop singers respectively, in the art of jazz music.
“Nationwide campaigns such The Great Singapore Replay is useful to help focus the limited attention spans of local audiences on a thoughtfully selected group of promising talents, and also set the emerging music acts up with some important connections or opportunities within the industry,” said the 2017 second runner-up of Chinese singing competition ‘Sing! China’.
“The programme picks out 10 outstanding music acts for Singaporeans to pay attention to, and this awareness will have a positive impact on the local music scene.”
The 10 original songs will be distributed on music streaming platforms in January 2020. Photo: Temasek
TGSR Season 2 will culminate in a Showcase Concert to be held at Gardens by the Bay on 18 January 2020. Catch these aspiring young talents as they take to the stage to unveil their original TGSR songs to Singapore.
Five webisodes on the transformational journey of the emerging music acts will be released fortnightly starting 21 November 2019 on thegreatsingaporereplay.sg.
