Culture Accentuates Its Next Chapter With MOOD:LIVE, Singapore’s Largest Hip-Hop Festival

Here’s a huge one for the hip-hop community (Credit: Universal Music Singapore [Alyph], @zilhanz & @parag0n [AE$OP CA$H], @kbkillstar [Fariz Jabba], Azfian Anuar [background])

As new genres constantly spill onto the playing field and blend into a glorious potpourri of sounds, one can always count on the classics. It’s no surprise that hip-hop continues to be an unstoppable force in the local scene, and that’s attributable to an inundating wave of rappers, emcees, DJs and producers who keep its timeless spirit alive. And if you’re hunting for your cut of the action, how does Singapore’s largest hip-hop festival sound?

MOOD:LIVE has freshly surfaced to boldly take on that title, happening on 13 July at *SCAPE Playspace in Somserset. It’s already begun to tease a roster of local hip-hop hotshots such as AE$OP CA$H, Fariz Jabba and Alyph; all gigantic names in the homegrown hip-hop community who’ve paved the way for a new generation of rhyme-slinging talents. MOOD:LIVE goes beyond our shores to include coveted regional names as well, pulling in trendsetters in the Malaysian hip-hop circuit such as LUCIDRARI, SAIXSE and the 10-man FORCEPARKBOIS collective.

Who’s the one calling the shots behind this massive hip-hop quest? Turns out it’s a collaboration between Gushcloud and Culture, the latter whom you’d recognise as disruptive promoters in the party scene in recent years. The Culture crew are known for their themed parties spanning TikTok nights, Hallyu tributes and even a peculiarly-popular Disney gig series that we had to opine about. Culture reset its social feed earlier this month, deleting posts of all its past events and replacing them with a brand refresh of sorts promising a different kind of Culture.

Now if MOOD:LIVE is just the tip of the iceberg for the future of Culture, the scene should wait with bated breath about what’s next. But in the meantime, they’re blessing the community with a win for hip-hop – hooray.