Mizz Nina started her career in her home country of Malaysia as a rapper in the hip-hop crew First Born Troopz. She rose to local fame as an MC and singer in the group Teh Tarik Crew and launched her solo career in 2010 with a duet with LA-based singer Colby O'Denis, "What You Waiting For," which made her a national star. "Takeover," the lead single from her 2012 album of the same name, was another international collaboration, this time with pop/rap star Flo Rida.
The video for "Around the World," her latest release, merges her fierce personal style and and collaborative spirit with rapper Jay Park's K-pop bravado—all on top of an infectious beat from Park's producer, Cha Cha Malone.
We spoke with Mizz Nina about the video, her influences and upcoming first solo concert:
Where did the idea for the song "Around the World" come from?
It came from when I met Jay at his performance at MTV World Stage in Malaysia last year. At the time I knew who he was, but I never really saw him perform live. When I saw him on stage, I thought, "Wow, this guy is really talented! I want to do a song with him. And I want it to be about what we do and about how we could build bridges between Malaysia and Korea."
Photo Courtesy of the Artist
You've also recently become an ambassador in Malaysia. Does this connect with the theme of the song?
Yes, it's actually an ambassadorship called 1Malaysia for Youth and myself and my husband [singer Noh Salleh of Malaysian indie band Hujon] have been named ambassadors. At first, I was like, "Huh, what do you mean?", but it's a big responsibility for my husband and I to be examples for the younger generation and let them know that that community work is important.
The video for "Around the World" was filmed in Seoul. What was the experience like?
It was my first time in Seoul and doing the video was fun and humbling. The team that I worked with was really professional and really fast. Generally when you work with big stars, especially K-pop stars, it's really hard to get their time. But Jay would come down to the studio and rehearse with me and later we'd see each other at the video shoot and he gave me more than 100 percent. In terms of K-pop culture, it's such a different world from other music cultures that I've experienced. I've heard that many artists train from a very young age and they work so hard their whole lives just to be in the industry.
There were a lot of fashion-forward looks in the video. I know you're also a fashion designer. Did you have any input into the video's look?
A lot of thought went into styling the video. If you look at a lot of K-pop videos, they really go all out with their fashion and I really wanted to do that, but not in an obvious way. I brought in a lot of pieces I liked from designers like Dior and [Malaysian designer] Michael Ong. And I worked very closely with my stylist Wee Chee and put together some outfits that go well for myself, but also some for my dancers, because they also represent what the song is about. Jay brought in his favorite pieces too, and everything really gelled well together. There's nothing really colorful in this video, if you notice. We wanted really simple, dynamic colors–black, crisp white, and greys here and there.
Are your dancers going to be performing in your first solo concert in Malaysia that's coming up in May?
Yes, yes they are. The choreography is going to be a lot of fun with a mix of different types of dancing. Hip hop, house, popping, locking, whacking… everything is there. I hope people don't get confused, but it's going to be a really fun concert. I've never really had my own concert before, so this is going to be a very personal thing.
Photo Courtesy of the Artist
You'll be joining with your former hip-hop group, Teh Tarik Crew. Does hip-hop still influence some of your work?
I think it definitely does. Hip-hop has always been my roots and where everything started for me. But of course, now my music has grown from hip-hop to pop. But pop is something that's always taking from different genres and keeps changing, so if you ask me if hip-hop is a big influence for me, I'd say yes.
Do you have any dream collaborators that you would want to work with?
Wow. If you want to know my dream list, my real dream list, I would love to have Justin Timberlake sing on my track, I mean love love. I'm a huge fan of Justin and I love his music and his latest album. I'm loving his whole new look. That would be my dream wish.
Mizz Nina's Around the World Concert is on May 18 at KL Live @Life Center in Kuala Lumpur.
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