At Bijou Cafe in Ara Damansara on April 11, there was a thrumming atmosphere, filled with people in both Indian and Malay traditional wear, dancing to DJs remixing classic Raya songs with Bollywood music and classic 80s hits.
Beats & Bru, a culture collective for Malaysian Indian creatives and diverse communities, platforms and connects up-and-coming artists through art, festivities, and coffee.
Their latest event, Beats N Beraya, combines Malay and Indian culture into a Raya festival that feels both fresh and authentically Malaysian, a multicultural space celebrated through food, music, and dance.
The main attraction was the line-up of performances that featured both rising stars and established names: Moghul Miz, The Impatient Sisters, and a Gamelan x Dhol fusion performance.
Amidst this busy party atmosphere and before his set, I took time to interview the possibly only performer who hadn’t yet taken his SPM, Lawrence Anthony Paramanathan, a.k.a DJ Lollipop.
DJ Lollipop started his disc jockey journey at the age of 11 in October 2020, a way for him to destress after long online classes during MCO, but it eventually grew into something more.
At 12 years old, he was officially recognised by the Malaysian Book of Records as Malaysia’s youngest DJ, achieved through performing an intense 90-minute set that has since set a new standard for the record moving forward.
Today, at 17 years old, you can find him spinning at weddings, parties, and events, a baby-faced DJ with both seasoned experience and music tastes. That’s because despite being a Gen-Z, you’ll find classic 80s hits (influenced by his father’s tastes) mixed with global influences in his playlists, including Cantopop.
“Once, I had an event for a Chinese crowd, so I gathered up those songs to prepare, mixing it up with other retro songs and everything, and I found by the end that I actually quite enjoyed Cantopop.”
Catering his set towards his crowd is the heart of DJ Lollipop’s philosophy, serving as both his drive and inspiration.
“I really enjoy spinning in events, especially when it’s the one where people get to dance. It’s very nice to see when people are grooving to the music you enjoy.”
For him, DJing was a way to share his love of music, with a crowd that was preferably on the dance floor. I asked him whether or not it was difficult to get people to dance.
“With the older crowd, I feel like it’s easier to get them on the dance floor,” he laughs.
And so, like a siren luring sailors to the rocks, DJ Lollipop lures your uncles and aunties to the dance floor with ABBA mixes. And sometimes, it catches the younger crowd too.
“From there, I can switch up the genres, playing the late 2000s stuff. And when I move from one song to another, I’ll have the next song playing on my headphones, and I’ll be trying to catch the beat so I can enter at the right time.”
As for the music he listens to on his own, it seems to be as varied as his sets.
“The music I listen to is very vast,” he said. “I listen to a lot of hip-hop, including old school hip-hop. I like retro music, even when I’m not DJing, as well as R&B. And I listen to the latest stuff once in a while too.”
He believes having a varied taste in music is the secret to greater music appreciation, escaping that ‘TikTok playlist’ trap that many young people fall into. It’s his appreciation for the new and the old, the different and the nostalgic, that he feels has influenced his DJ style for the better.
But beyond that, tying in with his philosophy of music being a communal experience, he believes that live music is a contributing factor as well.
“I feel like if people want to appreciate more music, they need to go out to more places where music is being played,” he said. Not only does he enjoy other DJs, but he’s especially impressed with live bands, awed at their ‘raw’ performances.
I asked him, for Beats and Beraya, if we could expect anything special in the mix.
“I will be playing a couple of Raya songs,” he smiles, “Also, a few Bollywood and maybe Hollywood songs.”
During the interview, he had this polite youthful demeanour (which in some way made me feel quite old), but when he took the stage, it was enveloped by a serious stoic expression as he carefully manipulated the dials and knobs (we did not discuss DJ terminology).
Although I couldn’t catch his full set, I was glad of what I saw before I left, which was a dance floor buzzing with activity.
Leave a Reply