Singaporean Regina Song has become a TikTok sensation with her song “the cutest pair,” which she performed at the Peranakan Museum. The video, capturing her candid performance in chunky socks, has garnered over 6 million views. Despite her online fame, Song remains relatively unknown in real life. In a TikTok posted on September 11, she filmed herself on a crowded MRT train, quipping that no one knew she wrote the viral song.
Background
Regina Song, a former student at the School of the Arts (SOTA), has been writing songs since she was 16. She graduated from SOTA in 2022 and is now studying to be a pop vocalist at the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS). Her debut album, “fangirl,” has been released under a local label. Despite her growing online presence, Song maintains that she feels like the “same old me.”
‘Still the same old me’
“It definitely feels a little weird, but I still feel like the same old me,” Song admits. The 20-year-old has signed with a local label and released her debut album, “fangirl.” She shared in an interview that she graduated from SOTA in 2022 and is now part of the inaugural batch of students at UAS. “It has been quite fulfilling,” she says, adding that she has been expanding her theory knowledge and meeting new people. Some of her schoolmates recognise her and her song, “surprisingly,” she adds.
The love story
Song’s TikTok fame was both sudden and expected. “I definitely did not expect it to take off so much,” she says. The song idea came from a boy she was romantically involved with, who posted a photo of another girl on his Instagram Story. Feeling competitive, Song wrote the song’s chorus, verse, and bridge in various spontaneous moments. “It inspired me to write from the point-of-view of someone who feels so strongly about their love interest, who might be thinking of someone else instead,” she explains. The relationship didn’t go anywhere, ending as the song does: an earnest entreaty with no happily-ever-after.
The response
Although the song didn’t spur a romance in Song’s life, it might have sparked love stories for others. In one of her videos, Song encourages her audience to send the song to their crushes. Multiple people later told her that they had taken her advice, and it had worked. “I felt really happy for them, and as cheesy as it sounds, it reminded me of why I love music so much,” she says. “I just love expressing something that is hard to express through a song.”
Future plans
Song continues to write music and has a new song coming out in two weeks, which she plans to debut at her upcoming performance at Marina Central on October 5. She acknowledges the challenges of being an artist, especially in Singapore, but remains “glad and grateful” for her listeners. “It makes me realise that anything is possible and gives me so much drive to do what I do,” she says. “It’s all for the fans.”
