Spotify Spotlight: Yams Turns NDP Favourites Into A Perfect Lo-Fi Hip Hop Playlist
You can always tell when National Day is coming - there's a certain spirit in the air. Or, at least, there are roaring RSAF jets to explicitly tell us so. (Thanks, guardians of the sky!)
But now there's something else way less deafening - but no less rousing - that's pervading the sound waves in Singapore.
We're referring to a playlist (put out by NDPeeps, the parade's official channel) of beloved National Day songs ingeniously reimagined as lo-fi instrumental tracks, which simultaneously serve as unobstrusive study/work music, and make you want to sing along in hushed tones too - cuz, hey, you can never silence the #SGunited spirit ok!
We got in touch with an NDPeeps spokesperson to tell us more about this awesome project that's got us - we can't believe we're putting these two words together - chilling patriotically.
How was the NDP Lo-Fi Hip Hop Beats playlist conceptualised?
Inspired by the iconic lo-fi beats girl studying at a desk (shown above), NDP21’s Lo-Fi Hip Hop Beats playlist was created as a creative way to revisit our favorite NDP songs.
Other than getting listeners into the spirit for NDP celebrations, it has also been put together specially for students studying for exams, or those working from home.
Aside from being a playlist, the lo-fi beats also manifests as a video, where listeners will find an animation of August the NDP mascot at his desk with a mash-up of lo-fi National Day songs playing in the background.
August is a student studying for his PSLE, and hopes that the playlist will help other students studying for exams to concentrate better, the way it has helped him. Can you spot the secret message from August?
There are so many great National Day songs. How was this playlisted shortlisted?
The 10 songs featured in this playlist are some of Singaporeans’ favorite NDP songs from the past two decades, including the iconic "Home" from the 90s.
The playlist has also been arranged in chronological order, starting from "Home" (1998) to "Everything I Am" (2020), to bring listeners on a journey of NDP through the years.
These songs are selected as they are tunes that are familiar to most Singaporeans, and we hope that the iconic and recognisable tunes will bring back fond memories for those tuning in.
The tracks are too short! Each track gets good just as we’re enjoying it – any reason why they’re so brief?
That was our intent - to have people wanting more! The playlist is put together by sampling key hooks of each song, which allows us to pull out the most memorable and familiar parts of each song.
We hope that this makes the songs in the list more recognisable and enjoyable for listeners.
If you like this playlist, do follow NDPeeps on Facebook, YouTube and Spotify for more coming up!
Finally, let's give credit where credit's due! Who's the awesome musical talent behind this playlist?
The playlist has been produced in collaboration with multi-hyphenate producer and local singer-songwriter Yams, who helped to reimagine 10 NDP songs as lo-fi beats.
Read our Spotify Spotlight piece on Yams and his vibey debut album here, and find out how this talented 25-year-old artist stays "alive" by creating and volunteering.
Wonderwall.sg on Spotify
Yes! We're on Spotify. Check out our "I M SGPN" playlist comprising all the cool local artists we fetaure in our Spotify Spotlight series:
Click the tag "Spotify Spotlight" below to read all our other Spotify Spotlight articles.
For the latest updates on Wonderwall.sg, be sure to follow us on TikTok, Telegram, Instagram, and Facebook. If you have a story idea for us, email us at [email protected].
