CHICHI Becomes the First Singaporean Artist Signed to HUGEL's Make The Girls Dance

HUGEL played it at Coachella and at Tomorrowland before it had an official release date. On October 30, 'She Like It' became the debut single from Singaporean DJ and producer CHICHI on Make The Girls Dance, the house label HUGEL runs with Juany Bravo and it makes CHICHI the first artist from Singapore the label has signed.

The track splits the difference between three sounds currently fighting for the same festival main stages: indie dance's loose swing, tech house's drive, and the rolling, vocal-forward percussion of Afro house. A vocal hook rides in from the first drop, built for exactly the rooms HUGEL was already testing it in ahead of the release.

A Decade of Sets Before the Deal

He started DJing during his national service in Singapore, the kind of apprenticeship that forces a DJ to learn what actually moves a room before anyone is paying attention to them. Since then he's played across the city-state's circuit: Avalon, Behind the Green Door, the Jungle Ballroom at the Mondrian, Tanjong Beach Club, and, across the water, Miss Fish in Bali. He's since opened for ARTBAT, Shimza, Alan Dixon, and Bun Xapa, support slots that put him in front of crowds well beyond the city-state's own circuit. He traces the sound on 'She Like It' to time spent on dancefloors in both Spain and Singapore, built on warm percussion and emotive melodies.

"I shaped this track around everything a decade of sets has taught me about what moves a room," he said. "Playing my own music for audiences around the world is something I've chased since I first got behind the decks. Being the first artist from Singapore to sign with this label is proof that chase was worth it."

View this post on Instagram

Why the Label Matters

Make The Girls Dance isn't a vanity imprint HUGEL parks side projects on. Singapore's house scene has exported DJs to international bookings before. It's rarer for an international label to put its own festival sets behind a Singaporean producer's track ahead of the release date.

'She Like It' is out now on Make The Girls Dance via Spotify and other major streaming platforms.