The Real Deal

Her Steadily Rising, Self-made Career Has Taken Her To Many Places, Stages And Vip Events Here And Well Beyond Our Shores. The Home-grown Singer-songwriter And Producer Popularly Known As Shye, Though, Is Holding Firmly On To Her Independent, Diy Spirit And Creative Process, And Even Looking To Pay It Forward To Uplift Other Emerging Talents. Ahead Of The Release Of Her Latest Single This Month, We Got Her To Model Chanel's 2023/2024 Metiers D'art Collection That's Inspired By Manchester's Buzzy And Pioneering Rock 'n' Roll Music Culture, And Tell Us About The Evolution Of Her Own Artistry.

- KENG YANG SHUEN

It has been nearly five years since this magazine first discovered Trinity Shye‑Anne Brown and featured the home‑grown singer‑songwriter and producer in what was her debut fashion and beauty editorial. (We even created a little music video for her hazy bedroom pop ballad Momentary to go along with it.) The now 21‑year‑old, who performs under the mononym Shye, has crammed possibly several lifetimes’ worth of accolades into that half a decade.

Just last month, she performed alongside three older, more established names (Sezairi Sezali, Linying and Shabir Sulthan) at the Istana for the swearing‑in ceremony of the country’s fourth prime minister. In the year plus leading up to that, she had been racing around the globe on a creative musical streak. Her first stop was Austin, Texas, in March 2023 to perform at the prestigious South By Southwest Music Festival. She then rushed back to this side of the world for two reality TV competitions she had been invited to take part in:Youth π Plan in China, where she spent four months and finished in the finals, and the idol survival show Chuang Asia: Thailand, where she wrapped up as the sole Singapore contestant in the final round. Throughout that time, her dreamy alt‑pop tracks continued to rack up millions of plays on Spotify, while more and more invites to luxury fashion and beauty events here streamed in. It’s no doubt a lot to digest.

Meeting her on set again for this story, it’s evident she has gained a new‑found slickness and ease in posing for the camera. Being coached by the likes of Jackson Wang, who was the lead mentor on Chuang Asia, might have had something to do with it. (Of the superstar rapper, Shye says she has nothing but admiration for his humility, hard‑working ethos and no‑BS approach to life.)