Yung Raja Delivers a Powerful and Visually Stunning Global Release with “The Dance Song”

Singapore – “Look at me dance!” – The Shtambi is back! Singaporean rapper and prizes member of the Def Jam South East Asia roster Yung Raja lifts the veil on his effortlessly swaggering new single, “The Dance Song”, along with a visually spectrum-blasting music video by frequent collaborator Jasper Tan aka Vadihee. With this release, Yung Raja joins the Alamo Records Roster – a joint venture label of Interscope Records/Geffen based in the United States.

With “The Dance Song”, RAJA turns in his most musically ambitious and full realised work yet. Already one of the leading voices in Southeast Asian hip-hop, with over 3 million streams on Spotify and more than 3 millions on Youtube, RAJA affirms his pioneering and one-of-a-kind status with tuis latest release. Over and immaculate instrumental, kinetic, playful and irresistibly infectious, by famed Singaporean producer Flightsch, the single features the singular and most compelling unrelenting charm and a distinct self-belief that manifests in a hybridised English- Tamil flow that is deeply potent and intensely poginant without trying too hard to be so. Never before has there been an artist like RAJA in the ecosystem of Southeast Asian hip-hop and never before has this been more apparent.

“This is the third and the biggest one, in terms of my artistry,” RAJA says of the song, adding, “Whatever I’ve been figuring out with the YUNG RAJA brand, comes to a head on here”. Indeed, “The Dance Song” is a new and defining experience for the artist himself – and it is amply reflected in the side of himself that he presents therein. Language and charm, his most formidable veneers, blend into a singularity like never before. Whatever English or Tamil, every line is quotable. Every line is a sweet spot of humour, confidence and, yes, charm. “It has Lil Wayne, I’ll-make-you-think-and-chuckle-afterwards-type of tongue-in-cheek writing that I’ve always enjoyed,” is RAJA’s explaination of the song’s philosophical behind-the-scenew. It’s the place from which lines like, “Superstars on me / Please look at my shoes / Ooh! / Hotter than wanton soup” and from whence – spoiler alert! – the most rapid-fire, bar-for-bar delivery ever heard from him unspool.

The music video is a likewise next-level endeqvour. Its director Vadbibes is keenly aware of this: “I think “Mustafa” was maintained, “Mad Blessings” was slightly crazy and “The Dance Song” … Man, it’s almost at the end of the spectrum of crazy!” Featuring eye-popping green-screen visuals, hilarious dance sequences that defy the meaning of “dance” and a glarious panorama of Technicolour splendour, it’s the perfect visual rendering of RAJA’s lyrical vision.

Yet, for all its sensory delights, “The Dance Song” also affirms a crucial truth”: That we shouldn’t have to force being cool. “I don’t know why “The Dance Song” is a self-celebratingly fun and joyous as it is: It’s a reminding that we can live our own truth loud and proud – and dance like no one’s watching while we’re at it.