2010s: Early beginnings, LimPeh and impact on local culture ShiGGa Shay is an onomatopoeic play on the Chinese words, "是个谁" from "你是个谁," which translates to mean "who is it" or "who are you". Shay made his national television debut on Live N Loaded on
MediaCorp as a 16-year-old, which was one of his early public performances. He discussed how his initial appearance on public television inspired him to perform more in an interview with Mothership. He was approached by Dr. Sydney Tan, the
National Day Parade's music director that year and Don Richmond when he was 17 years old, to take part in the parade for the first time. On 16 December 2012, ShiGGa was named the "Unsigned Talent of The Week" by
WorldStarHipHop. ShiGGa is the "youngest hip-hop artist to have made it on the Singapore radio charts [...]", according to Aging Youth. The accompanying music video was one of the first from the local music industry to go viral. During his two-year compulsory
National Service, he was a member of the SAF
Music & Drama Company (MDC). In his interview with
COLORSxSTUDIOS, Shay shared how his experience in MDC sharpened him as he became more familiar with performing on stage. He was given the opportunity to host, rap, act and dance - performing over 600 shows in different army camps. He said in an interview with The Straits Times, "Before MDC, I was just a rapper but my time there made me an all-round performer," In the years that followed, he released several singles,
Lion City Kia (2014),
ShiGGa Morning (2015) and the official theme song for
3688,
Tapau (2015). In 2015 Shay released his first full-length self-titled album. In 2015, he was part of Sing50 concert and performed in the hip-hop segment with
Apl.de.ap from the
Black Eyed Peas. During that year he also collaborated with
Dick Lee during this performance. He was also part of the SG50 album, "Sing, Love", where he collaborated with
Stefanie Sun in a duet titled "Simply Love" which they also performed live during the albums showcase. In 2017, Shay was also featured on Stefanie Sun's album on the song "Levitate (漂浮群岛)". In August 2016, Shay performed at the
White House state dinner after-party. He was invited to perform by the US Ambassador to Singapore,
Kirk Wagar. Recognised for his stage presence and talent, Shay has opened for esteemed hip-hop legends, including
Wu-Tang Clan, and shared the stage with cultural influencer
Jaden Smith during the Singapore leg of his World Tour. He has performed at several prominent events including Singapore's
National Day Parade, performing on five different years,
Singapore Day,
Ultra Singapore, and the
Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix Concert.
2020 - 2022: $S, uRight and I AM U In 2020, he dropped a 12-track mixtape, S$. Shay has also experienced considerable commercial success on an international scale. In 2021, he released 'uRight', a transformative collaboration with Korean-American rapper
Jay Park. This release coincided with his inaugural collaboration with
Hugo Boss, where he curated a capsule collection exclusively available in Singapore. In 2022, he released an EP titled I AM U. The 5-track EP features previously released singles in "uRight" which notably features South Korean rapper Jay Park. 'Mercury' featuring Taiwanese-American rapper
ØZI, 'Birthday', 'uKnow' and 'Passive Aggressive'. The track 'Mercury' was produced by London-based producer JB Made It, who has production credits for
Drake,
Fivo Foreign, and
Chief Keef.
2023 – present: COLORS Studios and Rap of China In April 2023, he became the first Singaporean artist to grace the stage of
COLORSxSTUDIOS and was also the first to perform a song in both Mandarin and Hokkien. In June 2023, he was invited to perform as a special guest alongside rapper E.SO on "
The Rap Of China", which stands as one of China's most popular variety show produced by
iQiyi. On that episode, the duo debuted their single "BO BEH ZAO" (Hokkien for "No Horse Run" 没⻢跑). == Artistry and influences ==