S1E12: Meet shazza, the Singaporean singer whose music has the attention of Coldplay’s Chris Martin and PM Wong

Home-grown singer and songwriter shazza is the 12th guest in this music channel. Synopsis (headphones recommended): Each month, The Straits Times invites music acts to its podcast studio. In the 12th episode of Music Lab, ST's music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi hosts Singaporean singer and songwriter shazza. The past year has been quite eventful for the 22-year-old - her music caught the attention of several high profile personalities, including Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Chris Martin, the frontman of popular British band Coldplay. A video that she did with Canadian pop duo Crash Adams went viral worldwide, earning her new fans from as far as Brazil. As one of the artists fronting Spotify’s Equal campaign, her face was featured on a billboard at Times Square in New York City. In July 2023, she put out her debut album Chapter One, a release that includes Right Person, Wrong Time, a song that has clocked over two million streams in Spotify alone. The hijab-wearing singer, whose real name is Shareefa Aminah, speaks about how people assume she makes Malay music because of how she looks, as well as her drive towards inclusivity in the pop music world. She also sings for our Music Lab Podcast, a live rendition of her latest single Rain In Manhattan, a duet with fellow home-grown singer-songwriter Umar Sirhan. Highlights (click/tap above): 0:58 On having to turn down an invitation to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s swearing-in ceremony 3:25 How singing in the viral Crash Adams video made her famous worldwide 5:28 Chris Martin calling out her name at one of Coldplay’s Singapore concerts 9:45 On being featured on New York’s Times Square billboard 11:24 Being a hijab-wearing singer making English pop music 13:26 Realising her calling for music at a young age 16:00 On choosing the unconventional path of music as a career 20:39 How juggling school and a music career can get overwhelming 27:58 On plans to nurture new artistes in the future Listen to shazza’s live performance of Rain In Manhattan with Umar Sirhan here: https://str.sg/B3cx Discover home-grown artiste shazza at:  YouTube: https://str.sg/JS8i9 Spotify: https://str.sg/wKh4d Instagram: https://str.sg/uoqd Produced by: Eddino Abdul Hadi (dinohadi@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Eden Soh, Hadyu Rahim & Amirul Karim Recorded by: ST Podcast Team Edited by: Amirul Karim Follow Music Lab Podcast here every month: Channel: https://str.sg/w9TX Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/w9TB Spotify: https://str.sg/w9T6 SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Eddino Hadi's articles: https://str.sg/wFVa --- Discover more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7  The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX --- ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa --- Special edition series: True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2 Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa --- Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX #musiclabSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.