Listen to Airliftz’s emphatic new single, ‘Not Today’

Malaysian producer and rapper Airliftz has released a new single titled ‘Not Today’ in partnership with low-cost airline AirAsia’s #TimeToListen campaign.

• READ MORE: Shelhiel: The auteur riding a new “organic” wave of Malaysian pop music

The single was released on Thursday (March 10) under AirAsia’s Red Records imprint alongside an accompanying music video featuring the rapper performing at a rooftop gig complete with a mosh pit against the backdrop of Kuala Lumpur’s nighttime skyline.

“I won’t let my guard down today / I will take my steps ahead / Cause I remember how it was yesterday / Yeah, I won’t let you, not today,” Airliftz declares on the track’s chorus.

Listen to Airliftz’ ‘Not Today’ below.

In a behind the scenes video posted on the AirAsia Super App Youtube channel, Airliftz revealed that the song had been directly inspired by the airline’s #TimeToListen public awareness campaign, which aims to educate people on diversity and acceptance by highlighting the stories of people who have overcome social prejudice and bias.

“I was a part of the campaign, and my reaction was, ‘We gotta do a really good song for this’”, said Airliftz. “The campaign is about diversity, and that’s something I can relate to. Talk about differences and all that, right?”

“It inspired me to write a song to tell my part of the story… ‘Not Today’ is a song I wrote about having to go through a lot, but it’s not just about me.”

Airliftz most recently released the single ‘Rindu’ featuring singer-songwriter Alex Ungku on November 26 last year. The collaborative single followed three solo singles Airliftz released earlier in 2021 – ‘Lonely’, ‘Love Therapy’ and ‘More Than Friends’. He has also featured on an official remix of A. Nayaka’s ‘Orang Lain’.

The prolific artist also recently appeared on Shelhiel’s 2022 Valentine’s Day track ‘Runnin, Merindu’ alongside NYK following his stint as a lyricist for social media personality turned rapper Luqman Podolski on the track ‘Ring Ring’.

The post Listen to Airliftz’s emphatic new single, ‘Not Today’ appeared first on NME.