Malaysia has the music. Zamaera wants the world to hear it at SXSW

When Malaysian rapper Zamaera hit send on an email to South by Southwest’s (SXSW) music team in mid-December, she had already been told she was returning to Austin as a showcasing artist.

What she wanted was bigger: a stage for Malaysia, the kind Japan, Taiwan and Britain already had at the US music festival.

“They have a stage … for Japan. Taiwan already has a stage … even the UK and Germany,” the 31-year-old rapper, born Sharifah Zamaera, told This Week in Asia in an exclusive interview.

She said she had floated the idea in her artist application months earlier, writing what she called “an extensive essay” laying out a case for a Malaysian stage that could become an annual fixture, sustained by either the country’s government or “different brands and businesses in Malaysia”.

But there was a hitch. Her main contact at SXSW had left midyear and she found herself starting over with an entirely new team. When she finally emailed in December, the reply came fast – the festival was interested but time was short.

The green light only came in the second or third week of January, leaving a “very, very short window” to clear paperwork, submit applications and lock in a line-up before March, she said. Zamaera moved anyway.

Made in Malaysia

The result is a one-night showcase called “Made in Malaysia”, set for March 15 at Las Perlas in downtown Austin, Texas.

Joining Zamaera on the all-Malaysian bill are R&B singer Murty, indie-leaning songwriter Zoe Tan, hyperpop and hip-hop artist Lil Asian Thiccie and electronic producer I-SKY.

The line-up is deliberately eclectic. Selangor-born Zamaera’s pitch is not a single “Malaysian sound” but a demonstration of range: proof that the country’s music scene has depth as well as talent.

Lil Asian Thiccie has evolved from traditional hip hop into hyperpop, a collision of electronic production and high-velocity pop that Zamaera believes will travel well. Murty brings smooth R&B steeped in South Asian musical inheritance. And Zoe Tan, a Malaysian based in New York, works in indie and folk.

Zamaera herself is in a more experimental mode. Her latest single, Ikan Kekek, blends hip hop and electronics with a sample drawn from a traditional Malay children’s rhyme: the kind of singsong chant used in games and playful teasing. Ikan kekek refers to the ponyfish; ikan gelama, another lyric, means the croaker.

The repeated phrases “mak iloi iloi” and “mak ilai ilai” carry no literal meaning, functioning as rhythmic fillers, a Malay equivalent of “la la la”. The form it draws on is the pantun, a classic Malay verse structure built on rhyme and wordplay, where the opening lines set the rhythm and the closing lines deliver the meaning, often in the form of advice.

“I was trying to understand myself as an artist,” Zamaera said. “Like, where is it that I suddenly knew how to rap.”

None of this comes cheap. Zamaera put the cost of getting a single Malaysian artist to Austin – including visa, flights and accommodation – at 10,000 ringgit to 15,000 ringgit (US$2,600 to US$3,900). They are not getting paid to perform.

“We’re not getting paid to go there,” she said. “Instead … we have to invest in ourselves”. And why did it matter so much? To show the world “that we are capable”.

The long game

SXSW 2026, the festival’s 40th edition, runs from March 12 to 18 across downtown Austin, with film, tech, music and comedy folded into a single seven-day programme.

Organisers say this year’s event will feature 4,400 musicians across more than 300 live showcases. Attendance across the week typically reaches around 300,000, spread across a downtown sprawl of venues and conference rooms inside the Austin Convention Centre.

The festival has long functioned as a career launch pad. Kendrick Lamar, Lizzo, Post Malone, The White Stripes, Charli XCX, Cardi B, SZA and Lady Gaga all played SXSW before or as they crossed into the mainstream.

Billie Eilish appeared in 2018, playing multiple sets, and returned the following year as one of the most watched young artists on the circuit.

Zamaera first experienced the festival in 2025, performing on a Southeast Asia showcase stage – Sound of Southeast Asia – alongside artists from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Usually every year there’s at least a few Southeast Asian representations, but not that many

Zamaera, Malaysian rapper

She came away impressed by the opportunities the event provided as much as the performances themselves: the networking, the introductions, the corridor conversations that can change an artist’s trajectory.

She also came away thinking the region’s footprint was too small.

“Usually every year there’s at least a few Southeast Asian representations, but not that many,” Zamaera said. And the lesson she learned from the experience?

“Being prepared in terms of your skilful talent of performing is not enough for you to flourish,” she said. “You need to focus on all the aspects of an artist … how to network … how to carry yourself well in that kind of environment.”

Britain’s presence at the last SXSW was not just a stage but “a whole building”, she said. Taiwan operates Taiwan Beats, backed by a government-funded agency. SXSW itself describes its showcase partnerships as built with labels, agencies, media outlets and international export offices.

Malaysia was not yet part of that conversation, Zamaera said plainly.

She is trying to change that, and she knows the politics involved.

“When it comes to … getting government support, getting sponsorships or grants … you are actually utilising the taxpayers’ money,” she said. “And for you to utilise the taxpayers’ money, there is a lot of approval that you need to go through.”

What if no sponsorships emerge in time? “We’re still going no matter what,” Zamaera said. “[But] it would be great if we can get that financial support because it is a big team.”

The members of the delegation she is taking to Austin are not just performers, in her framing they are cultural ambassadors.

“It’s Visit Malaysia 2026,” she said. “So it’s like, OK guys, let’s support our tourism.”

A record deal would be nice, of course, but Zamaera has a different definition of success.

“For me … being able to provide this opportunity to five artists, including myself, is already a win,” she said.

And a bigger prize is already fixed in her sights: a permanent Malaysian stage at SXSW – not as a one-off favour, but an annual declaration that her country has arrived.