Malaysian singer Najwa Mahiaddin and her New York state of mind

Najwa Mahiaddin is making her mark as a musician abroad but the singer reveals life in the Big Apple is not all glitz and glam.

A warm summer day at the back of a building in the thriving art and music district of Brooklyn in New York, the exhaust fans whirred without relent while the stench from a nearby dumpster hung faintly in the air.