TheLionCityBoy Roars - Men's Folio
News, Interview

TheLionCityBoy Roars

  • By Yong Wei Jian

You’ve been busy lately.

It’s been good man. Back in 2015 I was involved in school outreach with the *Scape Invasion Tour — that’s when I started to build fans and grow as an artist. The following year I dropped a single called “Yaya” with Benjamin [Kheng] of The Sam Willows which lifted my profile, and so last year we milked it and went all out by playing at F1 and lots of other cool festivals. We’re starting this year the same, with Laneway 2018 and my own live show — that’s where I want to be as an artist.

Do you feel that there’s a lot of hype surrounding you right now?

There aren’t many rappers in Singapore, so I’m lucky in that sense. There’s also some buzz with the new song that I dropped [“Bitch, I’m on an Obike”], which went to Spotify Number One and is being featured on a lot of different playlists. So there’s definitely something happening that’s starting our year off well.

How would you describe yourself as a rapper?

I want to be an artist that tells honest stories. Other artists — or at least other bands — can talk about anything they want in their songs, but when it comes to rap music, the rapper is immediately associated with what he raps about. So if I’m Singaporean and I rap about driving a Lamborghini, people will tell me to shut my mouth. [Laughs] And in Singapore, there’s always that local essence regardless if the song is in Mandarin, Malay or Tamil; I can’t pretend to do that because that’s not how I grew up here, so I use local lingo to paint the Singaporean picture.

You incorporate local lingo into your lyrics seamlessly.

I hope that’s what people say. I don’t want people to think that I’m doing it just to create buzz. I want to make sure that the words I use are relatable to anyone sitting at this table right now, all coming from different backgrounds but still able to see the picture I’m trying to paint. That’s always my goal as a songwriter.

What’s the most Singaporean thing about you?

Teochew porridge, my friend. [Laughs] I don’t know, the food? I feel like that’s the thing that connects us as Singaporeans, and there’s something about our hawker environment that’s unlike anywhere else. My name doesn’t sound Singaporean, so that’s why [the moniker] “TheLionCityBoy” was important for me to tell people who I am.

Tell us about the hiphop scene in Singapore.

The early birds like Sheikh Haikel are better suited to tell the whole story, because they started before everything went digital. When I first started out, there were maybe two other rappers, so it wasn’t much of a scene. But that’s changed in the last two years because of social media and Spotify. Now there are rappers both above-the-line and underground, even some outside of it all — the “f*** the system” kind of artists — so the scene is starting to build.

There’s a lot more happening.

Definitely. Two weeks from now, there’s going to be a weekend full of hiphop music with young artists. Even when we do hangouts, I try to get everyone to sit down together and play new demos. I remember these Secondary Three kids who said they were a manager and mixing engineer, but however they organised themselves, I feel it’s important to help them keep that energy. Because most of the time life happens and that’s nobody’s fault. Life will happen, so I want to feed that energy as much as I can, and this year we’re working with a brand to organise monthly networking sessions. Most people don’t see it yet but there’s an energy that’s happening, and within the next two years you’re going to see more artists — including rappers — coming up in Singapore.

What is needed to bring up local music?

That’s a major question. [Laughs] There are many factors, but I believe it starts with a good song. Other than those we already know of, there are many other artists who pop up and disappear simply because they don’t have that one good song. That’s the thing that connects everyone. I feel that artists immediately rush to release a song they wrote, when what is needed is more critiquing and discovery of their own identities. At the end of the day, if I just rap words without saying anything, people will click next — it’s that easy, and that’s not me hating on digital. So what’s important is a good song first, no matter what.

 

[Credits: Dolce & Gabbana Wool sweater, cotton pants, leather shoes]

 

Photography Cher Him

Photography Assistant Jacqueline Chang

Styling Belda Chung

Grooming Benedict Choo using MAC Cosmetics