Over a Zoom video call one afternoon in November, Aisyah Aziz, the Malay singer-songwriter, speaks to me from within her home. What struck me instantly was her casual, confident disposition, perfectly set off by her head of bold, vivid yellow hair cropped into a pixie cut. In a loose, white T-shirt, she is snacking on a pack of roasted almonds. Her face, devoid of the graphic, daring makeup looks she often wears in public, is dominated by wide, round eyes, softly angular cheekbones and a pointy chin. Her speech is laden with Singaporean colloquialism and often ends in laughter, conveying a sense that the 26-year-old doesn’t take herself too seriously; one is instantly put at ease by her relaxed presence.
Another notable trait of Aisyah is how she likes to answer almost exclusively through anecdotes. She recounts instances to me as though she’s thinking out loud, her self-referential responses — “And I was like… And she was like…” — marked by a spontaneity in word choice and in her animated facial expressions.
This hyper-candidness might lull one to imagine that her career as a musician, which she embarked on at age 19, has been an easy course.
This story is from the December 2020 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
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This story is from the December 2020 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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