- Title: Hip hope: Universal Music opens Southeast Asia HQ betting on rap
- Date: 17th September 2019
- Summary: RAPPERS WALKING OFF STAGE YUNG RAJA (SINGAPORE), DABOYWAY (THAILAND) AND JOE FLIZZOW (MALAYSIA), STANDING FOR INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAI RAPPER, DABOYWAY, SAYING: "In the last four or five years definitely, in South East Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the emergence of hip-hop has been like crazy, you know. And I think like worldwide too and I think, maybe 10-15 years ago they were all looking to like the U.S. market, now in the past couple of years it's just been localised." RAPPERS LISTENING TO REPORTERS QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN RAPPER, JOE FLIZZOW, SAYING: "We, we both started off rapping in English, but I think rapping in our own language I think that kind of like empowers the local scene and local rappers as well, you get a lot more...you include (the masses) yeah the masses as well." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGAPOREAN RAPPER, YUNG RAJA, SAYING: "I just started rapping two years ago and these guys are people that I used to look up to and now I'm standing right, besides them. So lately what has happened was the bridges opened up and everyone is like sharing the energy of wanting to do rap and sharing the culture together and everybody brings in their own flavour." UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP'S EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT OF MARKETING DEVELOPMENT, ADAM GRANITE, STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP'S EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT OF MARKETING DEVELOPMENT, ADAM GRANITE, SAYING: "I think hip-hop is often about struggle and the streets and South East Asia has some challenging, you know, components. You know, you have some poverty in places, you have some difficult you know living situations, and where you see hip-hop really resonate is when it can be as authentic as possible. And so, whether that's coming from the slums of India or the streets of Jakarta, what we're seeing is that authenticity really resonate." PEOPLE AT THE UMG LAUNCH PARTY POSING IN FRONT OF SIGN READING (English): "MUSIC IS UNIVERSAL" VARIOUS OF PARTY GOERS IN FRONT OF SIGN GRANITE AT PARTY TALKING WITH WOMAN PARTY GOERS GREETING EACH OTHER GROUP OF PARTY GOERS GESTURING TO CAMERA
- Embargoed: 1st October 2019 18:21
- Keywords: Universal Music Group UMG Def Jam South East Asia Def Jam Recordings Singapore
- Location: SINGAPORE / UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: SINGAPORE / UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: Singapore
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA008AX1NQ19
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Korea brought the world K-Pop. India, the music of Bollywood. Could the chaotic, fast-growing Southeast Asia region be a new hotbed for hip hop? Vivendi's Universal Music Group (UMG) likes the sound of that idea.
The unveiling of its Southeast Asia headquarters in Singapore on Tuesday (September 17) included performances from six newly-signed rappers - appearing on stage with bleached hair, gold jewellery and baggy clothing - in contrast to the backdrop of the corporate presentation.
Of the artists signed to UMG's flagship hip hop label Def Jam, Thai rapper Daboyway is the most well-known with one million followers on Instagram. He said appetite for the genre has been "crazy" in recent years as listeners expand horizons away from long-established U.S. acts to focus on home-grown talent. As such, many of region's artists now sing in their mother tongue.
UMG's Executive Vice-President of Marketing Development, Adam Granite, said language is no longer a barrier for international audiences, as exemplified by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi's 2017 hit 'Despacito' and 'Gangnam Style' by Korea's Psy in 2012.
(Production: Pedja Stanisic, Soraya Ali) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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