CATCH #SINGAPORESTREETSTYLE

Yeaaaahhhhhhh so if people know me, I can dress street but I can’t be street.

That being said, I was editor-in-chief this time.

I hope you enjoy!

Welcome to CATCH’s Singapore Street Style issue. This November we’re focused on the growth of a culture.

“Street” emerged from the masses, and gained popularity in recent years. These days, the culture can be divided into different aspects like art, sports, fashion, lingo and food. And we’ve covered it all!

When I think of what it means to have your own style, no matter what part of the streets you represent, it’s so important to have your own individuality. The team chose artistes as street as they come, but we looked for more than random strangers; we’ve chosen to feature people who’re really something else. We’ve got stories showing how there’s more to someone, beyond the bling that they wear.

CATCH chatted with some rappers who dispel all stereotypes that come with the job; after all, when they perform their songs, it’s personal because they usually write their own lyrics, drawing inspiration from memories and experiences; which includes renown Singaporean rapper ShiGGa Shay (pages 46-47). We also got talking to some street dancers, and there ended up being a story that moved us. A now-famous breakdancer persevered through hardships – like living on the streets when he was just 14; he never gave up till he made it to the big leagues in Singapore, joining Radikal Forze (pages 34-35).

How you integrate your flair into what you do is essentially what it means to have your personal style. You can be as playful, bold and inventive as you want. Many people want to fit in they lose sight of how being different and unique are things to really take pride in.

True creativity is hardly found in your comfort zone – it’s found around the edges. You be your own person.

I hope you enjoy!

SO much issue to get the Ed’s Note together. I had written an essay and rewrote it 5 times. I just couldn’t rap (PUN) my head around it. I looked at almost all the magazines we had in storage, which included the seniors’ works. But I’m extremely proud of how it turned out. That picture though……

The Wheel Deal

There are many reasons why you take up something new, be it friends or new-found curiosity. When you have both, like longboarder Nazryl Lim, the love for the hobby grows.

Story and photos by Jade Teo

The urge to board came to Nazryl Lim more than four years ago when he bought his first “deck”.

“It’s all about the thrill.”

Not wanting to go in blind, he’d done his research online and just went to a store at *Scape to get the one he wanted. So, before the current slick, black long- board came the hot-pink penny board with sky-blue wheels.

“It wasn’t popular at the time and it was really expensive, $175!” said the 19-year-old Nanyang Polytechnic Multimedia Infocomm Technology student. “This was the only board I bought till now.”

So, it was obviously disappointing when he lost it at a fast food joint after just three years, despite using it mainly for transportation while he studied in secondary school.

“I (just) felt lost,” Nazryl admitted.

Fortunately the tough times didn’t last and it was only a few months before his close friend gave him his second board. Nazryl said his friend had this old board laying right beside his shoe rack.

“So I asked (Xavier) if he uses it, instead he told me to take it. I was stunned,” he told CATCH.

“I brought it out to cruise one day and film with my GoPro for the very first time, (and) I got hooked.”

Rather than learn from skateboarding videos, his friends trained and taught him everything they knew, from safety to slides and the different parts of a long- board. And for his birthday, they even got him a deck board as a present.

“I felt our friendship was really special because no one would go that kind of extra mile for me.”

According to Nazryl, it’s also been “way easier” to ride a longboard, since it has a larger surface area to stand on and it’s easier to balance.

Donning on his skate shoes, snapback and oversized tee, he

was prepped and dedicated in learning to shred.

So much so that during the holidays, they would spend up to six hours practicing, overnight and at deserted hills or roads. He’s gotten good enough to even practice on his own, though it’s an hour or two a month right now.

“Sometimes after studying or (if there’s too much) stuff running (through) my head, I’ll grab my board and head out to get fresh air.”

And not once has he gotten a serious injury, though he has tripped many times before.

From the first time he stepped on a board, “I wasn’t nervous. You must feel confident or accidents will happen.”

To him, the whole experience was “smooth (sailing)”.

And then came the longboarder. So there was issue getting one even though some members wanted one, so I sourced around and found a kind guy who’s the owner of his own store, though it specialises in making ramps than skateboards, skateboarding, etc. being a skateboarder. So they didn’t want the idea and I had to roll with having a junior’s friend (who was really nice, and I hope I conveyed him in a great light). IT WAS SO HOT BLISTERING THAT DAY. He was sweating – not perspiring, Sweating! So was I and I had my hoodie on to keep my face from melting from exposure. I have to say I LOVE my pictures, they look fantastic, so it was worth it! And that skateboard and glove shot was just randomly done at the very end of the video interview BUT it worked perfectly for the sudden huge banner picture in the layout. Thankfully.

More Than What You See

For small-time fashion blogger Steph Leong – better known as Mianbao – what matters most to her goes beyond the latest street style

She’s in one of the most throat-cutting industries around. Even so, having individuality and a good heart are ultimately what Steph hopes to achieve. “I don’t want people to remember as the girl who dresses very street, I would rather they remember me as the girl who helped them when they’re in need.”

But that doesn’t mean she still can’t work where she loves. The 26-year-old is a marketing executive at local web store ‘A for Arcade’, which means that on top of the usual marketing projects, she also styles the product shoots.

She’s able to inject fun and creativity in her job and said that otherwise “just doing a desk job then sooner or later it’ll become a routine (and) it gets a bit boring”.

If that wasn’t enough she does fashion blogging on the side, specifically ‘street style’; and she does “feel happy people are reading (her posts) cause now I (found) my direction”, something she only recently figured out.

Relying solely on passion is how she believes it’ll bring people further than mindlessly working. She said once you expect returns from what you like to do, it’ll make you unhappy and stressed out.

Then again, not many her age can say they do what they love for a living; the more she does it the more enthusiastic she gets, and it was evident as she chatted with CATCH.

“In Singapore, everyone says they’re a fashion blogger but they don’t blog anything about fashion!” she exclaimed. “You’re wearing (Nike) huaraches because everyone’s wearing huaraches, but you don’t even know the origins.

Steph commented bluntly, “There’s no individuality in Singapore.

“It’s all about injecting your own style into street wear; that’s what street wear is about.”

That being said, she was obviously easily able to rattle off style combinations throughout the interview. From pairing bomber jackets with dresses to boyfriend shirts with loafers and a fedora.

And yet, getting down to it, none of these are what she cares for more than the relationships she has with family and friends.

She said, “I just hope I’ll be remembered as a good person – a good mum and a good friend. How you are to people is more important than the superficial things.”

Fashion pet peeve: SLIPPERS

“I can’t stand people wearing slippers! I don’t even wear slippers to go downstairs; I wear Vans. But then again, I stay at Ang Mo Kio Central… “I can’t stand it most when people wear slippers to town! I don’t care if they’re Havanas, Gucci or Chanel. Slippers are still slippers. The worst is jeans with slippers.”

Kay… Blogger chick. Fashion is also not one of my strong suits so when I had to interview a blogger and transcribe after… it took awhile. Not to say she wasn’t a sincere person. She is, hence the article. I didn’t want to just take a normal spin on a fashion article and knowing me, I had to absolutely bring out her best side and I was grateful she gave me such sweet quotes. It matters more to me, and her, after all.

Voxpops – or my Strangers on the Street (I was inspired by something I heard on a show but I can’t remember the details). That day I went out with my photog to Orchard (where it had to rain, duh), Arab Street and Bugis to find strangers. I was really worried in the first few moments that I would find anyone but when I did, boy, did I run for the hills! I chased after all, stalked pretty much most of them, and got everyone to say yes. Most are truly kind to us and they were forthcoming in sharing about themselves (the irritating part was that this was easier than my damn internship. How is a school magazine letting me get so many quotes!) The Instagram layout is to die for! Getting the info on it, yeah you can die too I (moved from the photoshopssssss to the indesign). Hahaha. I had to photoshop the Catch Online logo and take out just the C and fit it to the tiny TINY circle (profile pic); edit the overexposed/slightly dull/orange/dark pictures and fit them into the slots (it doesn’t do the Instagram thing where you can put a long pic in, after all haha); and then I had to caption it myself (my gosh that was the weirdest thing because I had to be funny and think like everyone else).

Beyond the Bling

Would you often describe a rapper as… humble?

He entered a tough industry but his talent got him noticed.

Despite being one of the biggest names to come out of the music industry in Singapore, one-and-only rapper ShiGGa Shay still remains a very approachable guy, despite his appearance.

ShiGGa – whose real name is Pek Jin Shen – exudes more of a humble personality than a boastful swagger, even though he’s been in the scene for almost 10 years, and gets to take a trip to cities like Los Angeles (which he was really looking forward to) to perform.

ShiGGa doesn’t let fame get to his head. He would practice his craft “every single day, without fail”. In fact he has been busy in the studio recording new music and shooting new music videos at the same time!

However, he told CATCH he would “wake up every day with too many songs in my head I want to create”, but it didn’t mean all songs came that easy for him.

He might be able to freestyle, “but writing a song is a whole different ball game. How long I take to write a song usually depends on how much I feel for that particular song”. And he can get pretty emotional.

Since all his songs are “very personal” to him, because of how related they are to his own experiences, it gets “pretty intense” when he performs live.

Of course being as well-known as he is it wasn’t surprising when he was talent-scouted for Royston Tan’s film 3688.

The 23-year-old said, “It feels great to be doing something out of my comfort zone. I’ve learnt so much from the entire experience.

“I guess the best moment was to be able to be in the presence of so many talented actors and being able to learn how to direct from Royston Tan.” He added that he was “really, really honoured to have a role specially done up for me”.

For his acting debut, ShiGGa played the nonchalant son of auntie Ah Luan and in one scene had to rap in Mandarin.

“It was very challenging, worse than Chinese Oral Exams,” he said at 3688’s press conference.

Though he’s not considering it an alternative career just yet, “film is (still) something I definitely have a passion for too”, but the “craft (requires a lot of) time and dedication”.

The bottom line was “I can’t imagine a day without music”. After all, he’s still making headway in his own industry, with a new Grizzle Grind and solo EPs to be released next year.

“Nowadays everyone in the crew is so busy with their own careers that we barely even have time to meet up as whole crew,” he said.

“But when we do, we catch up, have a great time together and al- ways motivate each other to achieve greater heights.”

ShiGGa’s simply a modest guy, if it wasn’t apparent enough.

No matter how many times he’s been called the Kanye West of Eminem of Singapore, he’s still “humbled to be compared with artists that are the greatest in our generation but I’m not trying to be anyone else but ShiGGa Shay from Singapore”.

If things do get tough, though, ShiGGa said his mother is the source of his motivation. He perseveres for her too.

To others he would say to “always, always believe in yourself”.

I was happy to get a chance to ‘chat’ with ShiGGa Shay, even though it was through email. Though I was sad I couldn’t meet him or take original pictures, them pictures are AWESOME. The black and white gives everything a new feel.

Something I live for

The Power of Three

When they met in Poly they realised they had something special, “a knack for putting words that rhyme together (with) a beat”.

Mediocre Haircut Crew (MHC) – consisting of Omar Amir, 19; Fahim Fazil, 19; Aditya Rodrigues, 20 – stared to gain more traction this year. They’re always inspired by lots of genres, though there’s not a particular favourite musician for them (unless they can count each other).

“We all make up MHC with our different styles, lyrics and voices that we bring to the table.”

They’ve managed to do two music videos, one of them dubbed WANNABES which was filmed on their trip to Melbourne; and it still “brings back a lot of good memories” for the three of them.

But they don’t just stick to videos, just because they’re Mass Media Management students; MHC has also performed live, including their first performance at the kaleidoscope invitational at Velvet Underground.

Though “we were all pretty nervous for awhile” since they never planned to perform in public in the first place, their fears were allayed once they received support from the crowd. ”We just went for it and didn’t hold back, and it went pretty well.”

The trio said they’ve also been blessed to perform for HYBRDTHRY, at Zouk and even for Lush99.5fm. And they don’t plan to stop any time soon. When rapper Oddisee visits Singapore MHC will open for him!

These boys thoroughly enjoy making music and they said that being able to do it, experiencing this with each other makes it “so much more enjoyable”. They agreed wholeheartedly that “We’re being ourselves so we’re always having fun, and the fact that people can see that and appreciate that is an awesome feeling.”

Even if they haven’t made it big just yet, they still have supporters. In fact their “biggest fans, besides each other are our friends, family, and the people in the scene who continually go for our shows and show their love and support by just being there”.

The raps MHC come up with, however, aren’t always squeaky clean. And the crowd they invite, mainly their families, tend to criticise them for their explicit language.

“It’s always hilarious when (they) come up to us with concerned looks about our swearing. We always have to explain that our explicit language is just a form of expression and we may even consider it to be art,” they laughed.

At the end of the day, would they ever be bored of performing? “Never. That rush of adrenaline is what we live for.”

I WANT TO RAP FOR A LIVING

Let’s just say, to Nick Tanusaputra – A.K.A. Nick Nack – the stage was always a part of his life, whether he was a storyteller for a play at age seven or dancing in front of an audience.

He finally stopped that passion to pursue another: rapping.

He told CATCH, “I do it half for the money, twice for the art. If I could quit my day job and do this full time, I would.”

Though the lyrical writing only happened when he was 15. The NYP alumni – Motion Graphics Artist was inspired by world-renown rapper 50 Cent, and the “relation of hardships in his music”. But it wasn’t just that. Nick was fascinated with rhymes, and later rap music just grew on him.

“Anyone can rap. Anyone can write rhymes. But making a song requires a different skill,” he said.

So he continues to work hard at the craft he loves. He’s also planning on releasing an EP (short for extended play), which is a musical recording that contains more music than a single, but usually too short to qualify as a full studio album.

Nick’s truly more than meets the eye. He might seem intimidating, but he’s one of the more sincere people I’ve ever met. His grandma is still his biggest supporter too.

“She’s the one who believed in me the most. The last time I talked to her, she was advising me on girls and finding love. She’s not around anymore but I’d like to believe she isn’t far away”.

Now the solo artist, though he does work with others from time to time, isn’t affected by the stereotypes that come with the job. He laughed at how “there’s stereotypes everywhere in everything. For rappers it’s obviously having seven gold chains hanging from your neck, diamond glittered sunglasses” but people seem to lose the idea of what a rapper’s about.

The struggles you face come with anything you’re trying to do.

Even with other musicians or rappers. Nick gets “inspired by people who made goals and achieved them”. He added “craving that success, working towards it and looking back at how many times you fell down and kept going till you reach the summit”.

Ah MHC MHC MHC… Nick was so sweet. The others… MY GOSH the waiting time for them to show up for the interview (which ended up being through Google Doc instead). TWO hours I waited for the collective to show up; and one lives just 10 minutes away from the interview location. But the articles turned out great. I had issues with how they were gonna be so I took inspiration from one of my articles in the newspaper.

For the “long haul”

Six months ago, he stepped further out of his comfort zone – singing in school – to going out in the streets.

Story & photos by Jade Teo

The talent was always there.

His family either loved to sing or play instruments; even his late father used to listen to records and the radio all the time. So for Mr Mohammad Said Bin Rahim, it was only natural to sing – something that started in primary school – and strum his guitar – which he picked up when he was 12.

And his love for music hasn’t stopped since.

Talking with the 41-year-old, his quirky behaviour and quick wit was apparent to me, as well as to his secondary school students, who were occasionally treated to his little performances during classes.

“I teach Literature and Geography. Both subjects – maybe more so Literature – have a strong connection to songs whether lyrically, rhythmically (or) metaphorically. The issues that these areas deal with are equally important and moving,” said the teacher of 18 years.

He’s also performed for St. Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School’s festivities, from Arts Fiesta to concerts and celebrations, yet it’s possible it wasn’t enough.

The notion of busking was additionally inspired by his limited travels to countries such as Australia and New Zealand, where he found busking quite a common sight in the cities.

“I’ve always wanted to perform in public,” he admitted. “I learnt about the busking scheme in Singapore last year, and so I thought I would just give it a go and so I went for the audition.”

Mr Said is one of many buskers who are officially approved by the National Arts Council. These people are given a permit and right to perform at certain times and in designated areas, such as Shaw House and Tampines.

“Maybe I was unsure how the public would respond but I was not worried.”

So during the weekends, he would sing his heart out in town, usually with his main supporters, his own family, nearby. During sets his youngest daughter, 3-year-old Ismah would sometimes race towards her father, giving him snacks and hugs.

“It is not frightening anymore, though I was nervous at first, but the thrill is when people deliberately stop to listen to your performance,” said the father of four.

“Some come up to you and give you encouragement. That gives you a wonderful feeling.”

He would belt out adult contemporary ballads from musicians like Sting, U2 and Ed Sheeran, usually to mix things up. Though the oldies are closer to his heart, the “latest songs are closer to the hearts of a con- temporary audience”.

However, busking isn’t as easy as it seems. Mr Said commented that the haze also doesn’t help. “Sometimes my asthma gets in the way and I start coughing uncontrollably.” And he would get criticisms from shops in the malls that his music was too loud.

Yet, he agreed, it was still worth it at the end of the day.

“Your passion never gets extinguished,” he told CATCH. “It may be put on hold for some period of time like how I put mine on hold for many years. But it will always come back as you try to get back to your ‘original’ self.

“I believe I’m in it for the long haul.”

I INTERVIEWED MY fave EX TEACHER. Actually he was meant to be interviewed by my classmates unfortunately. That meant I couldn’t do a video interview. So when the team mentioned they wanted a busker, I was happy to ask him – all I had to do was hope he said yes. Though it was meant for someone else to do I ended up being the one to do it (they were too ‘busy’). Glad I did though. His article was the easiest to write by far, and I bullet-trained straight through it. I actually am quite excited to show him. Better share it on Facebook now

#interview #photography #magazine #editorinchief #editing