KUALA LUMPUR: Popular soul singer Najwa Mahiaddin hopes that the upcoming international music festival Soulfest Asia 2015 becomes a platform for local acts to showcase their talents.
“If international artistes get to see what we have to offer, hopefully there would be a bridge between them and Asian musicians to cross-collaborate,” she said at the music festival launch at Le Meridien Hotel here recently.
Najwa is one of the artistes set to perform at Soulfest Asia 2015 which will be held at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre on Oct 17.
Organised here for the first time by Soulnation Asia and the exclusive sister to world-renowned Australian festival Soulfest, it is a neo-soul, funk, hip-hop and R&B music festival which will see performers like American R&B and hip-hop artistes Mary J. Blige, Omarion, Jhene Aiko, Talib Kweli and De La Soul.
From Malaysia, Najwa will be joined by hip-hop maestro Joe Flizzow and all artistes under his music label Kartel Records including Altimet and SonaOne; and hip hop girl group De Fam.
Soulfest Asia 2015 will also feature regional superstars such as Singaporean rapper Shigga Shay, Indonesian R&B artiste Raisa and Thai hip-hop group Thaitanium.
“I’ve been pushing R&B, jazz, soul and hip-hop to be known for as long as I can remember,” Najwa said.
“To finally have a festival that offers these kinds of music and to be part of it, I’m very much excited and looking forward to it.”
Sharing the stage with artistes like Mary J. Blige is something that she had never dreamt of.
“I am a huge fan of hers,” she said. Naturally there is pressure for Najwa to be representing Malaysia. “I just hope to receive the same kind of support from the audience as they give international artistes.”
At the festival, Najwa will be singing tunes from her debut album Innocent Soul and her EP Aurora. “I’ll be backed by a four-piece band.
We’ll have lots of fun on stage and hopefully the audience will too.” After Soulfest Asia 2015, Najwa is set to release a new single titled Sama Saja.
There are also plans to begin work on her new album. Her bigger dream is to tour, not only locally, but also internationally.
A big supporter of new local talents, Najwa plans to collaborate with new jazz, R&B, hip-hop group Bassment Syndicate, and independent musician Ali Aiman. “All these new up-and-coming acts are the ones we have to support the most,” she said.
Tickets to Soulfest Asia 2015 are priced from RM198 and are available online at www.soulfestasia.com.
For more information, visit www.soulfestasia.com, www.facebook.com/soulfestasia or www.twitter.com/soulfestasia.
-http://www.nst.com.my/
