One of Malaysia’s most scandalous celebrities, Namewee (黃明志), was nominated “Best Mandarin Male Singer” at the 27th Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.
According to Sinchew Daily, many netizens were shocked when they found out that Namewee was nominated for the category and he is considered as the “dark horse” among the rest of the nominees.
The singer’s birth name is Wee Meng Chee and he was born in Muar, Johor. He is best known for his controversial hip hop remake on the national anthem, titled “I Love My Country Negarakuku” (我愛我的國家 Negarakuku), which was released in 2007. The song is about what he thinks about the government, racism, and the country’s “unfair” policies.
Besides making music, the artiste also showed interest in filmmaking. He directed and starred in “Nasi Lemak 2.0” in 2011. The film gained major success as it grossed over RM7 million. He even established his own artiste management company and an online supergroup called “RED People” (大馬紅人), which means famous person in Mandarin.
Local artistes such as Joyce Chu (四葉草), Amoi-Amoi, and P-High are all under his label.
According to The Hive, the Golden Melody Awards is considered as the Grammy Awards of Taiwan and this is not the first time that Namewee was nominated at the awards.
In 2014, the 33-year-old singer’s “Thai Love Song” (泰国情歌) from his “Asia Most Wanted” album was nominated “Best Music Video”.
Watch the funny music video for “Thai Love Song” below:
https://youtu.be/EYZQY35VQnI
The musician will be going up against popular Singaporean singer JJ Lin (林俊杰), Chinese folk singer Li Jian (李健), Taiwanese indie singer Ko Chih Tang (柯智棠), and Taiwanese reggae-fusion band MATZKA for the “Best Male Singer” title.
The 27th Golden Melody Awards is set to take place at the Taipei Arena on 25th June 2016.
For more information on Namewee, visit his official Facebook page.
Sources: The Hive, Sinchew Daily.
