Songwriter JJ (aka KEAT) on K-Pop songwriting, and his journey as a queer musician

JJ is a classically trained vocalist, pop singer, producer, and songwriter from Singapore. After reaching #1 on the SG TikTok Hot chart last year, he's doubling down on songwriting, having just completed three months at the renowned Swedish songwriting school Musikmakarna. The school boasts 13 Grammy nominations for its alumni in 2024 alone.

In this episode, Hazel chats to him about:

His experience collaborating with international songwriting talent at Musik Makarna.
The cultural and linguistic influences in songwriting for Asian and Western markets.
The complexities of navigating the music industry as a queer Singaporean musician.

LINKS
JJ on IG:   / kid.keat  
The artist that inspired JJ to attend Musik Makarna   / itsleonleon  
Musik Makarna:   / musikmakarna  
  / markronson  
  / sglewis  

LINKS TO JJ's MUSIC
bit.ly/iwasdumbbutnowimwoke
bit.ly/undecidedKEAT
bit.ly/idw2filagainKEAT
bit.ly/fmtmbmKEAT

CHAPTERS
00:00 Background to KEAT
04:39 A background in opera
11:28 Songwriting school: Musik Makarana
18:30 Journey from artist to songwriter
20:29 Writing for K-Pop: pitfalls and advice
32:22 Impact of cultural identity on songwriting
34:33 Challenges in Singaporean society
42:33 Embracing your identity
47:41 What's next?

Prefer audio only? Listen on SoundCloud below.
  / jj-keat-writing-k-pop