ALYPH, in an honest conversation about his latest single, “Swipe”, the innovative and collaborative hip-hop culture and the importance of self-respect.
For the Singapore-born rapper, producer and songwriter, confidence is something people exercise regularly but without enough mindfulness and intention. Having an opinion without acting on it could still mean succumbing to the herd mentality, and everyone is inherently different. But it takes courage to acknowledge that, especially when the subject is the self.
Hence, the song “Swipe” — a self-assured swag track that ALYPH masterfully conducts in collaboration with the bold presence of makeup mogul and social media personality Datuk Seri Veda. It encourages listeners to be quiet more often, to stay in tune and truer to the self.
Despite a smooth start, he shared that the creation process took a little longer than expected, but not without the merits of a deepened understanding of himself and what music means to him. In this honest conversation, ALYPH shares how “Swipe” brings him one step closer to his most authentic self and a body of work he can fearlessly call his own.
We’re here for “Swipe”, your new single. Could you tell me what the song is about?
The song is about having confidence in what you like and don’t like and not succumbing to pressure from anyone. Naturally, we have always been in societies that pressure us to like a certain thing or follow a certain way. But it won’t hurt to say, “let me do me”, once in a while, just to keep quiet for a minute. Maybe, I will discover something new that we all can learn from.
How did this song come about? Were you already planning to release a new single? Or did this song’s idea just come out randomly one day?
I was already in the process of recording a couple of songs, so I was already in the groove of it. I had a whole outlook of all the sounds I would use, even the topics, but this song specifically came to me when I was in the shower. I was freestyling the chorus, “If I like it, I like it. If I don’t, I’ll swipe it.” It wasn’t even in English at first. But then I didn’t waste time after that. I opened my voice recorder app and recorded it.
Two days later, I was in the studio and remembered I had it, then popped it open. Made a beat and, on the second try, found the right tempo and right melody, and the song was done in one day. Although it was only two minutes, I wanted it to feel complete. I felt like something more could be done. So figuring that backend took me a good six months.
I guess the step-by-step process for this song was probably quite different from your usual since it is a collaboration with someone as bold as Datuk Seri Veda. What was it like making “Swipe” as a collaborative piece?
This is a collaboration with her character, not her talents. She embodies the song’s theme; she is a strong businesswoman, the breadwinner of the family, and she also takes care of the children well. People don’t talk about these things, and this is what the song is about. So I think this marriage is perfect.
As for why her, I just love the way she communicates. Her unique accent and laughter. I grew up listening to hip-hop, and one of the things we constantly try to do is challenge norms and introduce something different in the hopes of pushing the boundaries of the art even further. I decided this song is one of my efforts in doing so, so this is where I am, trying to marry a song with a character.
I think that’s quite interesting because, in the context of hip-hop, it’s always about borrowing a famous voice or familiar style to pique interest or show relevancy. But you doing this with a character is pretty different. Since this is about confidence, did the process of creation lead you to learn anything new about yourself as a person?
I think it is how much I actually care about music and what it can do for people. How it might change someone’s day or mood, make something sound a little brighter or happier, all through music. So I think this process deepened my understanding of how much I appreciate and care for the music-making process and how much I protect my passion for it.
To give an example, I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me how otherwise to finish the song. I was stubborn in that sense. I had a lot of arguments with the people involved in the song-making. So I also realised that the song was actually what I go through in life.
That is so cool. I love it when musicians put out something and then learn something new about themselves, especially if they never intended to. That shows sincerity, and here it makes your music and its message more compelling. Even though “Swipe” is so laid-back and the music video is so unabashedly assertive, I somehow got the feeling that there was some inner work being done before you could perform it.
Yes, you’re right. But confidence could also get dangerous. While everyone has something they want to do, it is not always right. There’s a fine line between that following a gut feeling backed up by past experiences and knowledge that can point you in a certain direction versus approaching a decision at a fixed angle. Toeing this fine line is hard, especially since everything I do is still with the guidance of others. So I still try to have my personal opinion take precedence in my work.
So how about the music video? What was your input for that?
I just requested one thing from the director — a hip-hop performance video. I haven’t had a proper one done before, with nothing abstract and no storylines. It’s funny because I tell this to every director I work with, but they are all just too creative and artistic.
This director kindly adhered to my requests and made something quite conceptual, swiping through the scenes and even having me swipe through different outfits and positions in the video. Datuk Seri Veda was also shot with that iconic Missy Elliot camera angle. The epic fisheye lens pays tribute to the culture and the great directors of hip-hop, so we just wanted to make a fun and exciting music video.
I definitely felt that watching it. And since we are on the topic, who are some hip-hop greats that you look up to or influence your work?
Anywhere in the world?
Ok, I acknowledge that this is hard. Let’s do your top three.
Michael Jackson, Scott Storch — he’s a producer — and Kanye West.
To wrap up with the topic of collaborations, are you looking to do more in the near future? Since you mentioned something about a debut album before.
Have I? (Laughs) Well, I’ve been recording a couple of songs. But it’s mostly me for now since I’ve done many collaborations in the recent few years, even produced for many other artists too. So I think it’s time for me to just do me for a bit.
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