Dayang Nurfaizah aims to reignite interest in traditional Malay music among youth

In January, Dayang Nurfaizah released 'Belagu II', another homage to traditional Malay music. Photo: Handout

In recent years, Malaysian singer Dayang Nurfaizah has reinvented herself from an R&B-pop singer to a champion of traditional Malay music.

It proved to be a winning move. Her 2021 album of reimagined traditional songs, Belagu (“singing” in the Sarawak dialect), won three prizes at Malaysian music awards show Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) in 2022, including best song arrangement for her rendition of classic song Tudung Periuk.