The Z List: As a singer and creator, Yazmin Aziz is her own artistic muse

Wielding the power of music, manifestation and creative talent, she is more than ready to take on the world. Meet The Z List 2024, influential artist and your online ‘besprennn’, Yazmin Aziz.

Being in the presence of Yazmin Aziz is like engaging with a live firecracker. In other words, she’s practically fizzing with energy; vibrant and very chatty right from the get-go. She is excited, first and foremost, to be part of The Z List after setting her sights on it for the past year (“Like, I literally manifested this!”). She’s still reeling from recently graduating with her degree. She feels incredibly blessed. Now that she’s out of school, she’s been making more music and being a prolific content creator. The tide is turning, and she’s ready for whatever this wide world might conjure up for her.

There’s an instant familiarity that comes with chatting with Yazmin — I’ve met her only once before, but it feels like we’ve known each other for much longer. We measure out our star signs: she’s a Virgo, I’m a Libra. “Girl, no wonder; when we’re good, we’re good,” she says by way of explanation. “I heard Libras and Virgos, like, really gel when we work together. Especially when we agree on things, you know? Hey, not bad, girl!”

Yazmin has been singing for as long as she can remember (she is Filipino on her father’s side) and she was exposed to the industry as early as 12 years old. She used to sing abroad, repping our country at the Karaoke World Championships in Japan and Global Pinoy Idol in the Philippines. She has performed for world leaders such as President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, and Malaysian Prime Ministers Tun Mahathir and Dato’ Sri Najib Razak. To sum up, she’s done a lot.

“It is a crazy feeling, yeah,” Yazmin says, when I tell her how crazy it is. “But I’m all about really making my family proud. And making myself proud. Achieving things is really important to me. For example, I told myself, before I turned 21 I was gonna get a car, and that’s exactly what I did. I believe in that whole ‘strong woman independent’ route. I’m a very big motivator when it comes to, you know, always manifesting your dreams. Always doing what you love and putting in a hundred percent at all times.”

When the pandemic hit the nation, she turned to TikTok — though not without resistance at first. “I really did not want to be on TikTok,” she shares. “But my sister was like, ‘No, just try this dance.’ Then one dance led to another, and another. But when I started showing my Filipino side, I realised people were really loving it.”

Yazmin blew up on the platform when she began playing up her Malaysian-Filipino identity, fondly referring to her viewers as ‘besprennn’ and ‘bebe girls’ or ‘bebe boys’. “I speak fluent Tagalog as well, besides Malay and English,” she shares. “And that’s why I thought, you know what? I’m gonna make my page like an educational, entertaining kind of thing. At least while they’re watching my videos and they’re laughing, they’re also learning something new.”

The transformative power of music (and how to wield it)

The 23-year-old singer is very family-oriented, and absolutely adores her mom — she brings her up constantly and sweetly. She hasn’t been in contact with her biological father since she was four, so she always felt that it was up to her to make sure her family lives a good, comfortable life.

“I’m the breadwinner of the family,” Yazmin opens up. “I have two younger sisters, and obviously my mom and my dad. My biological dad was never there to financially support me. So, I’ve really experienced being from nowhere. It’s just been my mom and me, and that’s why I see her as, like, my superwoman. ‘Cause she really made sure that even with or without him, and with or without good financial status, she made sure I achieved my dreams. And that really means a lot to me.”

At 10 years old, Yazmin fully manifested her dream: to become a singer and finally set foot on stage. “It was for a Maybank competition,” she recounts. “I said, ‘Mom, I wanna join that competition.’ And she asked me, ‘What are you gonna do?’ I was like, ‘I wanna sing.’” Yazmin has always been into singing, ever since she was a very young girl, often doing karaoke — but this was the moment she believed she could do it seriously, on stage, as her career. “At the time, my mom was super shocked,” she says with a laugh, “but then after that, she gifted me singing lessons. And that was why I started taking it seriously. I really wanted to make it up to her, to live up to my passion.”

Fresh out of academic life, Yazmin is ready to dive head-first into music and discover her sound. She cites Lady Gaga as her biggest inspiration — both musically and strategically. “You see, Lady Gaga started off with pop, that’s when she went big, right?” Yazmin says. “But then even so, she knows how to work with every genre, like, she’s really smart in terms of movement. She went for pop first ‘cause she knows it’s the thing. And then after that she then went back to her roots, which is jazz and Broadway. And it’s really, really amazing.”

Yazmin’s vocal range is incredible — as it should be, proven by her ability to perform for world leaders — though most of her music on Spotify are within the lo-fi genre. “People don’t really know that I actually can sing Broadway, I can sing soul, basically things besides pop,” she says. “I can sing a few different genres. So it’s what Lady Gaga has, you know, and people adore her for it. It’s something that I want to do. I hope one day, people start to like that part of me, you know? It’s something I want to do as well.”

In her journey of more music-making, Yazmin also recently travelled to the United States and got the opportunity of her lifetime. She loves travelling, loves taking in the sights and sounds around her (befitting her outgoing personality). In the States, she took the roundabout route: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vegas, Connecticut and then New York.

“When I was in San Francisco, a producer, Hi-Life-Flo, wanted to work with me on a song,” she shares. “Like in a collaboration, together with singer-rapper Ishaq Ie. And it’s actually a song for Palestine. They wanted a female vocalist, and since I was in town, it was like, ‘Let’s just do it.’ So I went to the studio, we recorded the song. I really see potential in that song, it’s a really good song.”

The song, titled “God Send”, now has over 4,000 views and has been shared across social media prolifically despite its unsparing, clear-cut messaging. It stands to be one of the works Yazmin is incredibly proud to be involved in to date.

“One of the older songs I’ve written is finally gonna be out soon, too,” she tells me, just as proudly. “Because the producer really wanted to work on it as well. So, we got to record it on the spot. Both of these songs we did on the same night. We worked till the morning.”

Yazmin reveals that she has also been in touch with the artist JR, aka the king of R&B in the Philippines, who’s currently based in the US. They’ve met up once, and are currently working on a song together remotely. “If I have the chance, I still want to go back there and work on some more music,” she says with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Especially in San Francisco.”

A case of dual identity

Through TikTok, Yazmin learned to appreciate her Malaysian-Filipino identity to the fullest. She is Malaysian-born, but she lived in the Philippines for a while before moving back here at ten. “I was really badly bullied when I moved back from the Philippines, physically and mentally,” Yazmin shares, “because people weren’t satisfied that I couldn’t speak the language. I couldn’t speak Malay at all. They kept asking me to go back to the Philippines.”

Instead of letting that get her down, Yazmin channelled it into positive motivation to make her name in the world. “With all the bad things that happened in the past, I really wanted to prove everyone wrong,” she says, voice laced with steely determination. “I wanted to show them, you know what, it’s okay. You guys can stoop down to that level, but I won’t. I’m gonna make sure I get on top, and I will. Like, I told my mom, I said, ‘One day I’m gonna be a superstar one day.’ I literally told her that when I was a kid. So I really worked hard, I made sure to focus on my vocals, my performances, and as much as possible, I really touched on everything, like, dancing, acting, you know.”

Back in the Philippines, her mom taught her that “as an artist, you don’t just do one thing, you do everything, so whatever ‘rezeki’ that’s out there, I really just take it, ‘cause you never know what you’re gonna go big for”. Before TikTok, Yazmin was beginning to get used to comments like We hate you, Why are you Filipino? and Why are you not Malay? but the online platform changed her perspective on the whole thing.

“I realised that I suddenly became a role model to those who are also mixed Filipinos,” Yazmin shares. “And then a lot of people spoke up, like, mixed Filipinos started sharing their stories and everything. I was like, ‘There’s actually a lot of you guys here!’ And I also found out that there are so many Malaysians who love watching Filipino dramas. I was so proud of that. And I started doing more and more and more, yeah, just sharing what I know.”

The social media landscape is certainly not what it used to be. People — particularly the Gen Z audience — are much more embracing about a lot of things, and have also utilised social media as a tool to be known for something, and to deal with their personal struggles and be open about sharing their stories with others. “It pushes you, but, like, comfortably, you know?” Yazmin says. “‘Cause you can be in your own space, in your home. You don’t have to stand in front of a million people, you just make one simple video and show them your talent or tell whatever story. And then bam, if people love you, they love you. ‘Cause that’s literally what happened to me. Someone commented on one of my videos, and I just replied. All it takes is one video to get out there, you know. And lots of hard work.”

The strength of manifestation

Reflecting on how she got to where she is now, Yazmin credits her own clairvoyant powers of manifestation. She’s still all smiles and starry eyes about being on set with us, about finally getting to put her story out there for the world to see.

“I think my biggest strength is really manifesting things,” she says. “I really, really keep a positive mindset. I’m really like that, you know? I’m not a quitter. If I really want something, I will get it. I will get there no matter what. No matter how hard it is. So, really. The power of manifestation, I would say. If you believe in what you say, it will happen.”

Yazmin is a lot more comfortable now where she is than, say, three to five years ago. Back then, she didn’t have the connection she has today, but in terms of music and content creation — it’s a lot easier for her now. “I can reach out to whoever I want,” she says with a cheeky laugh, “and of course, another thing is now I can somewhat — like, I wouldn’t say I’m rich or anything, but at least financially, I’m more comfortable now compared to before. So, if there’s something that I need to do or I wanna do, it’s achievable. You know? It doesn’t feel impossible anymore. And I think it’s just the support. Now that more people know me, there’s more support. So there’s more motivation, and there’s more inspiration.”

interview PUTERI YASMIN SURAYA | editor-in-chief & creative direction MARTIN TEO | assisted by RONN TAN & MALLIE MARAN | stylist ISAAC CHONG | stylist assistant ZIYIN | photography EDMUND LEE (ONE3FOUR STUDIO) | videography POR JIA JUN | assisted by STANLEY LOH | makeup SHIYO JOO | hair CODY CHUA | styled in HERMÈS, BOTTEGA VENETA, MIU MIU

In its fourth year, The Z List 2024 continues to celebrate the inspirational and aspirational, as well as the most dynamic youths who find strength in empowering their communities through the work that they do. Working together, the Gen-Zers come in full force to make an impact strength on strength.