R&B singer-songwriter Syaz Smooth credits his late brother – singer Mohammad Shahfiq – for his own success in the industry, and will be releasing an EP inspired by Shahfiq.

The 19-year-old, whose real name is Syah Riszuan, started singing and jamming when he was only five years old, accompanying his older brother who was playing the guitar. 

They had a close bond and shared a common passion for music. It was a terrible shock to Syaz Smooth when Shahfiq, who was 26 at the time, died in a car accident almost a year ago, in March 2024.

“When that happened... I didn’t know what to do. Everything was blank and it took me some time to start again,” said the up-and-coming artiste, who has two other older brothers. 

Just before Shahfiq died, he had encouraged his younger brother to join Kaki Nyanyi, a Mediacorp reality singing competition involving 24 singers and music content creators. 

“My brother was still around when I got the call and I was told I was one of the contestants, so I did it for him… I had to force myself to turn up for the competition, but it kind of helped as well,” he recalled.

“He’s what is really holding me on this music journey. What I’m doing right now is carrying on his legacy.”

Syaz Smooth said his brother, who was known in the Malay entertainment circle, had encouraged him to take part in competitions. In fact, Shahfiq, who participated in and won Malay talent competition Anugerah 2017, gave his younger brother the opportunity to sing in an interview for the competition.

This allowed the show’s crew to notice Syaz Smooth, and they started calling him to act and perform in Mediacorp shows like Raya Oh Yeah, a live Hari Raya performance.

Watching his brother perform in the 2016 edition of annual charity concert ChildAid also inspired Syaz Smooth to take part in the concert’s 2017 edition. This led to him taking part in four subsequent editions of ChildAid, in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2024.

In 2019, he performed at the National Day Parade (NDP) whe...