From safety announcements at MRT stations to the call of the Asian koel — popularly known as the ‘uwu’ bird — some sounds are just recognisable to most Singaporeans.
And recently, these familiar notes have made their way onto one of the world’s biggest electronic dance music (EDM) stages — Tomorrowland Belgium.
During her set at the festival’s House of Fortune by JBL stage on July 25, Singaporean DJ Likie Low, who goes by stage name Likki, gave her performance a distinctly local touch, weaving snippets of these sounds into her music.
In an Instagram post on Aug 6, she dedicated the set to Singapore’s 61st birthday. “Making an international crowd rave to our MRT at Tomorrowland was amazing. Majulah! Happy National Day,” she wrote.
But her tribute to home didn’t end there.
As an erhu (Chinese violin) soloist, the 27-year-old also brought out the instrument during her set, blending traditional Chinese music with EDM.
In another Instagram post shared nine days before Tomorrowland Belgium, Likki described the performance as a “love letter to Singapore”.
“We often hear Singapore doesn’t have much of an arts scene,” she wrote.
“But the truth is I wouldn’t be the artist I am today without growing up in Singapore.”
From Chinese orchestra and conservatory training to community performances and larger productions, the DJ said many of the experiences that shaped her as an artist happened here.
“This track is my way of carrying a little piece of home with me to Belgium.”
Likki’s use of cultural twists is not a one-off occurrence either.
As a former member of the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra and student at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, the Singapore-based DJ and producer is known for combining EDM with Asian cultural elements, predominantly with her erhu.
She describes her sets as “genre-bending shows” that make live orchestras and Chinese instruments “come together and emerge” through EDM.
Her work has taken her from bars and clubs to concert halls and most recently, the stage at Tomorrowland Belgium.
She is one of only three Singaporean artists known to have performed at the festival.
In 2018, Manfred Lim, also known as Myrne, became the first Singaporean to take the stage at Tomorrowland Belgium, while Bryan Chin, known as DJ Toska, followed in 2024.
Besides her recent tracks at the festival, Likki has also remixed tracks with other hyperlocal themes, such as one inspired by the Hougang ‘block ABC’ cheating scandal that took over Singapore’s social media last month.
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carol.ong@asiaone.com
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