Singapore’s Regina Song, Abangsapau treat ST readers to songs and stories at ST Podcasts Live
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(Foreground, clockwise from left) ST music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi with Singaporean rapper Abangsapau and indie-pop singer-songwriter Regina Song during the fifth instalment of the ST Podcasts Live series on Oct 7.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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SINGAPORE – The latest recordings of The Straits Times’ Music Lab podcast saw two rising names in the Singapore music scene take centre stage.
Local rapper Abangsapau and indie-pop singer-songwriter Regina Song performed for some 90 ST readers at Esplanade Annexe Studio on Oct 7. The pair also shared the stories behind their work and answered questions from the audience.
The free event was the fifth instalment of the ST Podcasts Live series, which was launched in February and kicked off ST’s 180th anniversary celebrations. Kiss92 radio DJ Shawnia Seah was the event’s emcee.
Rapper Abangsapau (left) and indie-pop singer-songwriter Regina Song (centre) answered questions from the audience at the event at Esplanade Annexe Studio.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
The evening showcased a double feature of Music Lab recordings. The music-centric podcast series started in 2023 and is hosted by ST music correspondent Eddino Abdul Hadi.
During the three-hour show, Song performed a stripped-downed version of her ballad Before I Leave, released as a single in August. The 21-year-old also treated the crowd to an unreleased number, Midsummer Mansion, which was inspired by a long-distance relationship.
Regina Song performed a stripped-downed version of her ballad Before I Leave, and an unreleased number, Midsummer Mansion.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
During the interview segment, Song recounted how her romantic ditty The Cutest Pair, released in June 2024, went viral on TikTok around October that year. It has since been streamed more than 52 million times on Spotify, making her the most-viewed Singaporean artiste on TikTok in 2024.
Around three months after The Cutest Pair was released, she decided to film a music video for it because she saw a lot of other artistes putting on performance videos on the social media platform.
She said: “I thought to put out a video of me singing the song, with a cute storyline of walking with a crush (in Gardens by the Bay), and that was the start of how the song picked up. The video did so well that it started to waterfall into a lot of things.”
During the event, Regina Song recounted how her romantic ditty The Cutest Pair, released in June 2024, went viral on TikTok around October that year.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
The School of the Arts, Singapore alumna spoke about her passion for music, as well as balancing being vulnerable in her lyrics with keeping parts of her life private.
She said: “I am okay with having parts of my life out there. I mean, my ex might see it, but hey, at least someone else is relating to the song and it is helping them.
“Most of my songs are about love and maybe only that aspect is a little bit more like public.
“For everything else, I get to choose what I share and what I don’t.”
Abangsapau, whose self-titled debut album is set to drop on Oct 10, gave the audience a glimpse of three tracks on the work: reflective rap One Minute, high-energy hip-hop number Wow., as well as Malay love song Selamat Sayang (Peace, My Love). In addition, he also performed a freestyle number titled Runway.
Rapper Abangsapau (right), seen here with guitarist Harist Sunil (left), performed three tracks from his debut album, set to drop on Oct 10.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
During the interview, the 26-year-old, whose real name is Shazuan Shiraj, recounted how he once studied to be a social worker, but decided to make music instead.
The musician said he started rapping for fun with his best friend when he attended the Institute of Technical Education. When both of them entered Nanyang Polytechnic, they continued rapping and one day decided to post their work online for fun.
“So I started by taking the big risk of posting my freestyles on my private Instagram account of 16 followers. And everyone asked me to post them on my public account, and that was how it started,” he said.
Rapper Abangsapau (left) shared that he once studied to be a social worker, but decided to make music instead.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Abangsapau has performed at major events such as 2025’s National Day Parade (NDP). He also sang his track Each Other – which he composed in one sitting during 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic circuit breaker – during that year’s NDP.
He said his mission is to create a Singapore which is proud of its artistes. “I hope that by the next generation, we are not cringing at them and we are not laughing at a Singlish accent. We’ve got to represent, we’ve got to love us. And I pray that we will get there one day.”
The Music Lab podcast featuring Abangsapau will go live on Oct 22, while the recording with Song will premiere on Oct 29.
Previous episodes of Music Lab featured conversations with home-grown musicians Nathan Hartono, Shye and Alyph.
To watch Music Lab and the other ST Podcasts Live events, go to str.sg/uGmo
