Like a dad to S'pore hip-hop: DJs, clubgoers & friends remember late turntablist Andrew Chow

The venue was an ordinary HDB void deck, but the hip-hop beats and DJ booth in the corner signalled that this was not your typical wake.

Old-school tunes flowed from the large speakers, true to the style that Andrew Chow had delighted audiences with for decades.

Chow, a renowned Singaporean DJ and turntablist, passed away on Aug. 3 at the age of 63, after battling stomach cancer.

In a Facebook post on Aug. 3, Chow's daughter, Abby, had invited family, friends and fans attending the wake to dress in "colourful and stylish" attire, "just like how Andrew would dress".

"Let’s celebrate the wonderful life of Andrew," she added.

'Everybody knows who he is'

At his wake on the night of Aug. 4, family, friends, fellow DJs, and more filled the space of the Ang Mo Kio void deck.

People grew quiet as they approached the casket to pay their respects, some bending their heads and wiping away tears.

But they later rejoined the rest of the attendees, smiling and even laughing as they exchanged stories about Chow.

Gesturing at the crowd, veteran Singapore DJ Aldrin told Mothership: "Everybody [from the local hip-hop community] knows who he is. Everybody respects him... He's much loved."

Aldrin had been a resident DJ at Zouk around the same period as Chow, in the 1990s.

Despite Chow's status as the three-time champion of DMC Singapore, a prestigious DJ competition, he remained "very down-to-earth, very approachable, very friendly, and very generous", Aldrin recalled.

"He always looked after the up-and-coming, gave them opportunities and shared his wisdom... He'd get them to come up and DJ alongside him."

Father of Singapore hip-hop

DJ Raw, who was spinning and scratching at the DJ booth, described Chow as a mentor.

As a pioneer of the local hip-hop scene, Chow "groomed" him at Zouk's Phuture nightclub and taught him the craft of mixing and performing, he said.

Felix Huang, a member of a local hip-hop crew that Chow founded, told Mothership he saw the late DJ as a respectable leader in the community, and wished he had worked with him more.

"He's like a dad to the hip-hop scene," he said. "Me and my other crew mates, we used to call him Pops."

"He was always there if you need him, always there to encourage. He was a very humble guy, never hogging the limelight... just doing his thing because he loves it."

Chow's first turntable

Occasionally over the night, a small group of people would gather around a table near the casket, where an old turntable sat, its paint peeling at the edges.

DJ Raw was often at the centre of this group, sharing the story of this treasured item that was Chow's first ever turntable, likely from the late 1980s.

He choked up as he told the story to Mothership.

Chow practised his craft more than six hours a day, DJ Raw said, and his first turntable, with all its peeled paint and rust, was a reflection of his hard work.

When Chow asked him to help him customise a new turntable, DJ Raw asked if he could have this one in exchange, as a keepsake.

Another attendee, childhood friend and fellow spinner Eddie Chan (aka DJ Small), recalled how Chow had picked up DJing by himself, in his youth.

Chan and a few other boys would hang out and "play around" at Chow's house, and Chow eventually taught them how to DJ.

Later, they'd go on to spin at clubs too.

"He was very gifted," Chan said. "All the DJing, he actually picked it up by himself. No one taught him. We couldn't figure out how."

The draw of his music

Perhaps due to the funky music and the lively energy of the attendees, the wake drew the attention of onlookers.

Some stopped to look curiously and snap a photo, one more colourful memory through which Chow's legacy lives on.

The wake, held at 406 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, began on Aug. 3 and will go on until the morning of Aug. 8, before the cremation later that day.