Thai and Cambodian Hip Hop will be on full display at this year’s ASEAN Music Showcase Festival [AMS], the lineup for which was recently released. Cambodia’s VannDa and Thailand’s Réjizz are the only Hip Hop acts featured in the lineup which has a wide variety of traditional and modern genres of music represented. The festival will take place on September 11 and 12 via YouTube.

VannDa is a force to be reckoned with in the - relative to the scenes of its neighbors - local music scene. Mixing Khmer and English, VannDa has grown his popularity a record-breaking amount since he signed with Baramey in early 2019. Since then, his YouTube channel has gone from 30,000 to nearly 2.5 million subscribers, and he has released the most-viewed Cambodian music video of all time with ‘Time to Rise’ feat Master Kong Nay. Master Kong Nay is a 76-year-old master of the Chapey Dong Veng, a Khmer traditional instrument. VannDa raps over the traditional instrument and other traditional elements, which seem to blend to make a piece of musical history for the small nation.

Réjizz is an up-and-coming Hip Hop artist out of Thailand. He released his Origins EP earlier this year, which can be found streaming in all the usual places. Réjizz is currently independent, and layers his raps with some old-school styles such as Boombap, Trap, and R&B. Get a taste for the feel of the album here with ‘Nobody Like Me Freestyle.’

AMS held its first edition last year, which came up as a means for artists in the region to showcase their work during a time they couldn’t be touring. Last year’s format was a live broadcast of pre-recorded performance videos and this year is looking to be similar, as it is going to be streamed live on YouTube. The festival lineup this year includes acts from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. See the full lineup on AMS’s website here.