Calling the Tune

SINGER-SONGWRITER, MODEL, AND LOVING DAUGHTER. ON THE CUSP OF RELEASING HER DEBUT ALBUM, IMAN FANDI LETS US IN ON HER MUSIC CAREER, RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE MEANING OF HAVING IT ALL.

- LYNETTE KOH

In the music video for her R&B-style single "Top Bop", Iman Fandi confidently leads a group of dancers, looking straight at the camera while belting out, in honeyed vocals: "So we ain't/ Never on the sidelines/ Put it out high/ Counting on the daily/ Taking what's mine/ Ain't got time to stick around/ I've been working all night".

"It's about somebody who wants to be famous and get up there, and has all these big dreams. It's a story of a girl who wants to make a hit song," says Iman, during our interview at the office of Universal Studios, which signed her on as an artist in 2021. "Top Bop" sounds like it could be a song about the 24-year-old singer-songwriter, who will be releasing her debut album this September. Not so, she says affably.

"It's not autobiographical. When it comes to songs like that, it's more of my alter ego." Is her alter ego similar to Sasha Fierce, the fiery and flamboyant alter ego and stage persona of superstar Beyoncé, who incidentally, is one of Iman's favourite artists? "Her name is Willow," Iman says of her other personality. "I'm really shy, but I become extroverted when it's related to my work. If I am nervous performing, Willow just takes over." It must have been Willow, then, whom we saw at last year's National Day Parade.

Performing a rendition of Dick Lee's classic song "Bunga Sayang", Iman held 27,000 spectators and many more viewers at home - spellbound with her commanding presence and clear vocals. She recalls, "I was so nervous, but it was such a great opportunity and experience for me." She also performed at the Marina Bay Countdown party last New Year's Eve and is now motivated to take on more this year.

GROWING UP FAMOUS