The Beat Singapore's Up-and-Coming Artist: Rapper-Producer J.M3

The Beat Singapore’s Up and Coming is a series where we feature rising talented artists from Singapore, giving them a platform to share what they’re passionate about and promote the music they (and us too!) would love for the world to hear. Do you want or know someone who wants to be featured? Email us at [email protected] or slide through our DMs on Facebook or Instagram!

To say Singapore’s hip-hop scene is criminally underrated is an understatement, and this is being proven by one of the Lion City’s emerging music artists. Armed with lit verses, a unique voice, and a talent for making fiery tracks, this talented rapper is making big waves not only in Singapore but in the global music scene.

Her music journey began one fateful day while she was strumming on her guitar. With an inkling of composing tunes and a skill for playing with words, J.M3 turned these stringed melodies into songs that bring confidence to those who listen to them. Now, not only is she doing what she loves, but she’s also going places with it.

For The Beat Asia’s latest Up-and-Coming Artist feature, we spoke to Singaporean rapper, composer, and producer J.M3 to find out more about her beginnings, her passion for music, her Hollywood track, her future goals, and many others.

Hi, J.M3! Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi! I’m J.M3, a rapper who writes, produces, and performs my songs in both English and Mandarin. Right now, I feel blessed, and I am having a beautiful time of my life doing what I love. I don’t take all these for granted and am appreciative of every moment and opportunity that comes my way.

What ignited your passion in music and how was making your first song like?

It felt unusually natural. I didn’t know it was something that I could do until I did it, but it came randomly while I was strumming on the guitar one day and thought that a song with rap would go well with it. I still am not sure what came over me, but I just wrote. Every thought and feeling just seemed to spill out, and that was it. It was the most cathartic [feeling] I have ever felt. And that was when I knew this was something special for me.

We listened to your 2023 EP, ‘180: Athena,’ and we're loving the sick beats! How was it creating this album? Any behind-the-scenes stories you'd like to share with us?

Time was a concept that didn’t seem to exist while working on this EP. At times, it felt [like] I was always rushing and everything came together in a blink of an eye, yet at [other] times, it felt like we had all the time in the world, and we worked to perfect it as best as we could. We had almost 30 versions of “Hot Sauce”! But I did also feel like I grew alongside this project; as I worked on it, I learned more about myself, challenged myself, and, through the process, strengthened the beliefs that I have about myself and the world.

For the last single of the EP, I also traveled to Taiwan and did a collab with a good friend of mine named KIRE. We co-wrote remotely on the track “X” and filmed the publicity photos and music video in Taipei over the course of one day. [It] was a cool collab experience and I got to learn about another country’s music scene on a deeper level. I would love to do more overseas collabs in the future.

Congratulations on being featured on the ‘Joy Ride’ soundtrack! How do you feel having your song, ‘Tap Out!,’ in a Hollywood film?

It was surreal. It’s something that even now, when I look back and think about it, I feel like it still hits me, and I go, “Did that really happen?” Hollywood as a concept feels so far away from me as an Asian kid, so to have a work of mine be part of it like that is huge. I would have never imagined.

We heard that aside from your fiery raps, you also have a knack for composing music. Out of all songs you released so far, which one holds a special place in your heart and why?

That is like asking you to choose your favorite child! They are all truly special in their own ways, though: one brought me a label contract, one gave me the most catharsis, one brought me to Taiwan, one’s my favourite to listen to, and one got me into a Hollywood project. The last one is a no-brainer. As to which song belongs to which category, I will leave it to the listeners to take a guess!

If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

DEAN. His music is sexy, cool, smooth and makes you feel [them] all at once. Love it.

If there’s one thing you want your listeners to remember about you, what would it be?

That I always make them feel like the coolest they could or should be. Not in a superficial way, but I feel like a lot of the trivial sadness or holding back that we do stems from people feeling like they ain’t cool enough in whatever situation or circumstances it may be. We would be a lot less sad if we didn’t feel that way.

What's next for J.M3? Any gigs, shows, or new music we can look forward to?

I just dropped a new track called "You Make Me Feel" on December 1st and it’s one that I really enjoyed writing a lot. I got to experiment and explore new styles with this one, and writing this song was part of a special project that even brought me to Macao, a new city that I visited for the first time earlier in November.

I love traveling; being exposed to new sights, sounds, and soul of a place invokes different perspectives and emotions, and it allows me to feel renewed and more inspired in a way. When a city has [its] own special soul like Macao, it makes you feel things. So that’s my love letter to Macao for giving me this experience — “you make me feel.”

Other than that, I am also working on a music video for my current track “Pick ‘Em Up” that will be out sometime at the end of the year. I will also be playing a lot more live shows come 2024. Stay tuned to my socials to find out more!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To know more about J.M3, follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and stream her music on YouTube and Spotify.