We Found Out How Long Bazzi Took To Make His Breakout Hit 'Mine'
The 22-year-old Detroit native performed at The Bee, Publika on 18 July.
By Jia Vern Tham — 23 Jul 2019, 07:06 PM
Detroit native Bazzi is fresh off his performance at The Bee, Publika – and one of our favourite memories from it was meeting the man himself
On the heels of his first-ever Asia tour, 22-year-old Andrew Bazzi performed to a full house at The Bee on Thursday, 18 July.
Bazzi's Malaysian fans were in for a treat as the 2019 Billboard Music Award nominee belted out his hit single 'Mine', 'Beautiful', as well as acoustic covers of Maroon 5's 'Sunday Morning' and Drake's 'Hold On, We're Going Home'.
In an exclusive interview with SAYS, the Lebanese-American singer talked about his most vulnerable record, co-writing songs for K-pop groups, and the first thing he learned about Malaysia:
SAYS: Hey Bazzi! We found out that you started envisioning yourself as a rockstar when you were only six years old. Did someone or something inspire that?
Bazzi: It's a good question! Honestly, nah. There's always been something in me, an idea in me and I was always obsessed with the entertainment industry.
When I was three years old, I'd stand in front of the TV, watch Ricky Martin with a comb, and I'd dance.
Puerto Rican singer-actor Ricky Martin, popularly known as the "King of Latin Pop".
Image via GrammyI've just always been obsessed with entertainment, I've always been obsessed with music.
It has kind of always been there, it's pretty weird!
SAYS: You play guitar, piano, drums, the Arabic string instrument Oud, and so many more. Which instrument is your favourite?
Bazzi: My first love is definitely guitar. I actually got an Oud when I was five years old and I immediately fell in love with music because of it.
It was the first little thing I did in music so, yes, guitar is definitely my first love.
SAYS: Speaking of first love, tell us about the first song you've ever written and its story.
Bazzi: The first song I wrote as Bazzi was 'Alone', and it was the first record I made for myself.
All the other music I made at the time, I was trying to get a record deal, and I was trying to get signed. I was trying to do all of these for other people.
Bazzi: I went to the studio one day and I told the producer like, "I'm just gonna make a record that I like", and I made 'Alone'.
To this day, it still stands out, it's still a record that I love. It changed my perspective about making music. A lot of my music is pretty vulnerable, but that one was specifically vulnerable.
SAYS: On a lighter note, let's talk about your breakout hit, 'Mine'! How did you react to it becoming an Internet meme?
Bazzi: I mean, the song going viral, it was crazy. It was the first time I've ever had success like that in music. Man, it was mind-blowing.
I wrote 'Mine' just like I make all my other music. An idea hits my head, I get excited about it, I voice-note it, and go to the studio. I made the song in like, eight hours.
SAYS: You've co-written songs for K-pop bands such as EXO, NCT Dreams, and more. How did you go from being a boy from Detroit to writing for K-pop groups?
Bazzi: It was crazy! It was actually my first time ever to have success in the music industry. I got invited to a writing trip in Korea, and I had never placed any music or released anything.
I went on that trip, and got like six placements for assignments. It honestly changed my life. I also released my first record as Bazzi when I was alone in Korea.
There were so many songs (which I liked)... We did this one song for Taeyeon called 'Fine', that was the first song I ever placed in Korea. It was really special to see my words, lyrics, and melody be transformed into something so magical and big. It was really cool.
SAYS: This is your first Asia tour! What have you experienced in Malaysia?
Bazzi: I learnt aku cinta kamu today! And I had my first show in Singapore yesterday.
It's the first time I've experienced how far my music has travelled, it's the first time I'm seeing it in person. You see things online but it's so much different seeing it in real life.
It's really special, and it gets me really excited for the show (at The Bee).
