Yung Raja cannot believe what he has achieved in the short half a decade that he has been in the music business. Besides a steady string of infectious raps in his trademark Tanglish – a mix of Tamil and English – he has had buzzy gigs in Malaysia and India; got a shout‑out from Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show; earned a billing at this year’s Rolling Loud festival in Pattaya, Thailand (where the headliners included Travis Scott and Cardi B); launched his own streetwear label Peace Oeuvre and then his own Indian‑Mexican restaurant, The Maha Co; which might all explain how he landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list last year. (Oh yes, and he has performed at the National Day Parade, or NDP, here a cool four times.)
“Typically, people have to grind for a long time – they put out albums and mixtapes, and work hard for a record deal. My team (comprising producers as well as fellow musicians such as Fariz Jabba and Flightsch) and I, on the other hand, have been so blessed to have had some of the most amazing opportunities just line up for us,” he says. “I count myself mad fortunate, but it has also got all of us thinking, what next?
“There’s no reference because how many rappers do we have in Singapore? I’m at a stage where I have to figure out certain things and, without saying too much, my team and I have been preparing for our next couple of moves that will be very important in laying down the foundation to the next chapter of our careers. Very soon, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”
TELL US THE TRUTH, RAJA: JUST HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE IT AS A MUSICIAN IN SINGAPORE?
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Esta historia es de la edición September 2023 de Female Singapore.
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She Calls The Shots
Since The 2000s, Rihanna Has Been Making Dance Floors Work, Work, Work With Her Infectious Electronic And R&b-inflected Pop Hits. For Another Side To Her "Queen Of The Night" Persona, There's Her Role As The Latest Face Of Dior's J'adore Perfume And Its Accompanying Campaign Film. Shot By Her Long-time Friend Steven Klein, It Features The Barbadian Baddie Striding Through The Gilded Halls Of The Palace Of Versailles Dripping In Gold. Here, She Shares More About How The Famously Feminine Fragrance Embodies Celebration.
GOOD VIBES
EVERY YEAR, CHANEL PICKS A PLACE ON THE WORLD MAP NOT ONLY TO INSPIRE, BUT ALSO TO SHOWCASE ITS ANNUAL CRUISE COLLECTION (IT’S A TRADITION THAT’S ROOTED IN THE MAISON’S EARLY YEARS WHEN COCO CHANEL PRESENTED A LINE OUTSIDE OF THE USUAL FASHION CALENDAR TO INCITE WANDERLUST FOR TOASTIER, MORE PICTURE-PERFECT CLIMES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS). THE LATEST DESTINATION: VIBRANT MARSEILLE – THE FRENCH CITY THAT RECEIVES THE MOST SUNSHINE; HOME TO AN ECLECTIC REPERTOIRE OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND LANDMARKS; AND A MAGNET FOR EMERGING CREATIVES WITH ITS MIX OF GRIT AND GLAMOUR, LAND AND SEA, AND YOUTHFUL BOHEMIAN ENERGY. THE RESULTS? A COLLECTION THAT MAKES US WANT TO LET LOOSE AND DANCE. NOELLE LOH REPORTS FROM THE PHOCAEAN CITY.
THE PARTY EDIT
Club-appropriate hits from the Resort 2025 collections
THE VIPS
SOME OF THE 17 PEOPLE SPOTLIGHTED ACROSS THE NEXT 26 PAGES HAVE BEEN IN THE NIGHTLIFE BUSINESS WAY BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DECADES EVEN. OTHERS LESS, BUT HAVE BEEN FOR MUCH OF THEIR LIVES DEEP INTO MUSIC, VIBING IT OUT ON DANCE FLOORS AND MAKING SURE EVERYONE AROUND HAS A HELLUVA GOOD TIME. THEIR ENDEAVOURS RANGE FROM A MODEST NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR TO CONGLOMERATE-BACKED, MULTI-CONCEPT SPACES AND A MULTIFARIOUS NETWORK OF POP-UP PARTIES, ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MAKING AN EXTRA-LOUD SPLASH IN THE PAST YEAR. WHAT ELSE THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON: THEY'RE RETHINKING AND RESHAPING PARTY CULTURE FOR THE FUTURE - OR, TO PARAPHRASE CHARLI XCX, THEY'RE BUMPIN' IT. KENG YANG SHUEN AND NOELLE LOH PUT THE CAMERA FLASH ON.
THE NIGHTS
ROUGHLY TWO YEARS ON SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, FOLKS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE ARE STILL TAKING IT UPON THEMSELVES TO THROW THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT PARTIES WITH MORE EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS, AND MORE INTENTIONAL AND INCLUSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT INJECT A ROUSING UNDERGROUND ENERGY TO SINGAPORE NIGHTLIFE. KENG YANG SHUEN TURNS THE SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR OF THE NEWEST ORGANISERS ON THE SCENE AND TELLS YOU WHY YOU SHOULD HIT THEIR PARTIES.
THE SOUNDS
THEY'RE ALL UNDER 30, MOSTLY SELF-TAUGHT AND EMERGED PROFESSIONALLY ONLY AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. MOST DON'T EVEN HAVE A REGULAR GIG (YOU'D HAVE TO CHECK THEIR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS TO FIND OUT WHEN NEXT THEY'LL BE PERFORMING), BUT DON'T YOU DARE CALL THEM BEDROOM DJS. KENG YANG SHUEN SPOTLIGHTS SEVEN EMERGING SINGAPORE-BASED MUSIC SELECTORS AND MIX MASTERS WHO'VE BEEN TEARING UP DANCE FLOORS IN THE PAST YEAR AND SHOULD BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY.
A Not So Common Scent
For the first time, the singular house of Hermes has launched a chypre perfume fragrance type known for its complexity and dualistic nature a that comes in a first-of-its-kind bottle, no less. Keng Yang Shuen finds out more about Barenia, Hermes's latest scent that hit stores recently, from the brand's in-house perfumer Christine Nagel.
Strange Love
The six names in this story create wildly different works that tend to blur the boundaries among disparate disciplines. All have little in common except one thing: a certain wondrousness and sense of curiosity that inspire audiences to look at familiar things anew. Keng Yang Shuen reports.
The artist
Johnny Depp is certainly far from the conventional leading man: the iconically quirky on-screen roles, the rock musician persona (he was a guitarist before becoming an actor), the unexpected neoexpressionist portraits in 2022 (these paintings of cultural heroes ranging from AI Pacino to Elizabeth Taylor sold out in a day), and of course the title of being Dior's long-standing poster boy for its wilderness-inspired flagship men's perfume Sauvage for nine years and counting.
spirited away
Collaborations with the art world have become a trusted way of injecting novelty into fashion.
