Singapore based musician / rapper / producer Masia One returns with a brand new track ‘Go Girl Go Get It’, due this November through Nusantara Records. Upbeat, heartfelt and brimming with positivity, Masia One is unafraid to break all the rules, merging elements of old school hip-hop over pop fuelled melodies and unfiltered lyricism.
Masia shares, “This song is the awakening of your best self. Literally! Get up in the morning and put this on while brushing your teeth and feel energized and empowered to face your day.”
Masia One has been on quite the personal journey over the last year. She took time off during the pandemic after being told she had a tumour found in her body and would undergo a major surgery. She changed her lifestyle, delved deep into learning about healing, balancing feminine energy and spent a lot of time in reflection. She emerged from this difficult time, cancer free with a fresh perspective on life and new music to share. ‘Go Girl Go Get It’ embodies the realisation of having another chance and getting back to a healthier hustle.
What’s your story as an artist?
Discovered Public Enemy and Peter Tosh when I was 8 years old in Singapore, and the rest is history. Been blessed to have worked with some of my Hiphop and Reggae heroes coming up in the business, from Toronto to LA, New York to Kingston Jamaica, and have returned back to SE Asia in recent years to reconnect with my roots.
What inspired this single?
I think with the changes society is currently going through, we are all collectively experience tough times. I felt the inspiration to make a song that could try to bring some encouragement and energetic reminders to ourselves to appreciate the little things and keep going. The song is a Hiphop affirmation to inspire creative talents to pursue their holistic hustle.
On a personal note, I faced a major surgery over the last year, and I saw that little bad habits built up to create an unhealthy environment around me and in my body. As a result I wrote to this because it’s the little daily things we do, that build the heath and mental capacity for us to thrive.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
The colours of the culture around me, especially here in the heart of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where jungle meets city and many SE Asian heritages mix and mingle. I love reconnecting with nature, just to feel a nice breeze or dive into the ocean. I still think like an 8 year old kid when it comes to telling stories and speaking through imagination, so I think as long as I’m well rested and eating lots of fruits, I’m probably feeling inspired.
Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?
“Go Girl Go Get It” is the first of 3 songs I’ll be releasing under the #EmpressTribe title; songs from the female perspective. This series kicked off when I freestyle rapped about vulvas, and an ad exec in Singapore overheard and felt the song was very vulgar. I asked him why it was vulgar if he came out of one when he was born? He looked horrified. I think it was only then that I realized how taboo it is for women in SE Asia to be able to even identify their female body. I wanted to write lyrics celebrating women to reclaim the parts of ourselves we have suppressed and deny.
I’ve since recorded all the songs with producer ALX, ranging from this first one “Go Girl Go Get It”, a Hiphop affirmation song, the second “Vulva Vocabulary” a celebration of true self care, and finally “THICCIE”, my ode to my curves that will drop over the next few months. I’m working with UK based @LeahSams_Illutrator on all the covers, because I’ve how her images portray ethnic diversity and attitude and that cause she has her NFT game on a hundred.
Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it ?
We have been at home under a “movement control order” here in Malaysia, so it has been harder to get out or make productions happen. With a humble budget, we invited 3 everyday Kuala Lumpur women to show how mundane daily chores like brushing your teeth, making breakfast, getting ready for work, and how it would change if we chose to wake up dancing all the way. The mundane transformed through perspective and movement.
The talent casted for this video are all local female entrepreneurs, Jodie a choreographer & online clothing retail, Pei a PhD in social psychology and lecturer, and Elle a fitness coach and mom of four. I told them to just go through their day but dance and put their personal style to it. They are so amazing! Finally we worked with an all Malaysian crew from director Joe @moderntraditional to the production crew at @studioshabba. I wanted a video that shared a positive and joyful vibe in these times, and from the actual shoot we laughed with each other from the start to the end.
What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill because it showed me as a female artist, she did not have to be boxed into singing or rapping or a typical physical image. She showed her song writing skills, and let that take her voice to where it needed to go. Years later I was blessed to work with Che Pope, one of the main producers behind this record and every day going to the studio I would have to walk by the platinum plaques won for this LP.
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
Tanya Stephens @iamtanyastephens: She was my favourite artist when I was younger just discovering Dancehall and Reggae. “These Streets” was my anthem for half my young adult life. More recently, I am inspired how she is so unpretentious and uses her platform to speak on behalf of survivors and against injustices. I think it’s remarkable to be a fan of an artist as a kid, and as a grown woman, respect and understand this singer to deeper depths.
Kuno Kini @KunoKini – This Indonesian group plays contemporary music using traditional Javanese instruments, to produce gorgeous musical tapestries that hold both heritage and relatability. Look out for their upcoming release “Beautiful Energy”.
Toke @tokemusic – This artist moves seamlessly between rap and singing with impeccably shot video and photoshoots. His songwriting hits home to many topics and themes that are relevant for me from “Brown Face” to “The Sun has Died”.
Odreii @itsodreii – I love watching young empresses on the come up, not only expressing themselves through their music, but showing their understanding and savvy for the music business. Besides she’s from Toronto, so I’m riding for T.O. talent forever.
Lawrence Wright Jazz Ensemble (LWJE) @lwjazz – My label Nusantara Records recently picked up our first fully instrumental project, and the musicianship speaks without any lyrics or vocals. Their first single “House of Tribes” is an Afro Jazz piece that has a liberating feeling.
Mighty Crown @mightycrown: This sound system from Japan that took over the world of sound clash, winning pretty much every battle they’ve entered, recently announced that their 30th anniversary will be the last time they will be performing together. These Dancehall-Reggae ambassadors took a subculture in Japan and grew it from a few friends in a Tokyo underground bar to a full movement filling up Yokohama stadium annually for their anniversary. I have so much respect for these guys and their last send off is going to be with an Asian Reggae cruise!
Any future projects?
I’m currently back in the studio working on a full length album with ALX titled “Fly Phoenix”. The concept focuses on songs you listen to or sing when your world is totally destroyed, you’ve hit rock bottom, and begin discovering the small things that get you back up again. Expect me going back to heavy bass production, warrior chants and a clash of Hiphop meets Reggae.
Top 3 dream collaborations?
Damian Marley – Junior Gong doesn’t know this yet, but we’re gonna make the baddest duet to represent Warrior Kings & Empresses worldwide.
Audrey Nuna – She looks like this emo Korean girl that suddenly produces some of the most gangster things ever said. I love it.
Koffee – It’s so inspiring to see how this younger generation of Jamaican talent emerged totally defying expectations on all levels from wardrobe, sound, flow and outlook. I don’t know Koffee, but I feel proud like she’s my lil sis every time she drops a banger.
Jay Shetty- I’m throwing this in there, cause outside of musical collaborations I need to chill one time with this “Think Like a Monk” author. My life will be better for it.
What does music mean to you?
Music is life. It has been my passport around the world to so many cultures, and a means of connection. It is also spiritual healing, which is often forgotten when drowned by the voice of entertainment. Although “Go Girl Go Get It” sounds like a happy go lucky pop-rap song, the lyrics are written to have a mental, emotional and even physical effect on the body just as positive affirmations and kind words from a friend might do.
Conversely when I think of the music business however, I think of some of the non-equitable business structures ever set up, where the creators are making the wheel turn but make non-sustainable amounts from streaming platforms and corporate entities. These days, music has come to signal an opportunity for progress, as I delve deeper into how the blockchain might offer a better future for artists and creators.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Music to make people feel brave, confident and free.
Yin Yang music…but mostly Yang. (I’m working on that Yin part).
