Twelve-year-old singer Alyssa Dezek is the youngest social media star to enter Malaysia’s YouTube top 10, having notched up more than 2.5 million subscribers.
The young singer entered the top 10 last week, coming in at ninth position ahead of Malaysian hip-hop artist Namewee. The feat comes less than a year after the Kuala Lumpur-based youngster received her YouTube Gold Play Button award, which is given to YouTubers with more than a million subscribers.
“I’m so excited that I get to be [on the same list as] other great YouTubers, like Upin and Ipin,” Alyssa says, referring to the iconic Malaysian animated show that’s No 1 on the country’s YouTube top 10.
Alyssa’s YouTube journey started when she saw a ukulele in a shopping centre and begged her parents to buy it for her. Only four years old at the time, she started watching ukulele tutorials on YouTube videos – and the rest is history. In the years since she has also picked up the guitar and keyboard, and is now learning to play the violin.
When it comes to singing, Alyssa credits her mother, Suzanne, as her main inspiration. “My mum used to be a singer, and she guided me and taught me how to sing. To this day, she is still my biggest supporter.”
Covering mostly Malaysian and Indonesian songs, Alyssa says Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza is her favourite artist. “She has always been famous in Malaysia and her voice is so good. Everyone likes her,” Alyssa says, adding that American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is another source of inspiration.
But Alyssa doesn’t just do cover songs – her first original track, Lagu Untuk Kamu, was released in November last year and so far received close to 35 million views.
She partly attributes the success of the song to the lockdown in Malaysia due to the coronavirus pandemic. With residents confined to their homes, views on many of her videos have skyrocketed – such as her covers of the Indonesian song Tak Tun Tuang and the Spanish hit Despacito, which have now received 34 million and 9.9 million views, respectively.
During the lockdown, Malaysian telecoms service provider Maxis also challenged Alyssa to conduct YouTube live streams for 20 consecutive days to keep her fans entertained. Apart from performing song requests, Alyssa chatted with different co-hosts each day and educated viewers about the importance of staying indoors.
The Malaysian pop sensation tells the Post that most of her fans are young, ranging from toddlers who enjoy bopping to her songs to teenagers. But she also receives a lot of feedback from older people, mainly related to her tender age.
Alyssa says one of the most common comments she receives is “She will definitely be a star when she grows up”, which serves as motivation for the future.
Her manager, Prashan Chitty, jumps in with a memory of an unforgettable fan experience: “Once, we were in Jakarta to record a track and one fan reached out to us online, asking if he could meet us. After meeting him, we found out he travelled by public transport for almost three hours to visit Alyssa. This is something we could never forget.”
Alyssa has also branched out into acting and taking part in television shows. She is well known for her role in the Malaysian TV film, Kasut Bola Pink, and in 2015, she appeared as a contestants on the reality show, Ceria All Stars. Still, Alyssa says that singing will always be her top priority.
Alyssa’s current goal is to get into Guinness World Records as the youngest YouTuber to reach the Malaysian top 10, and has a new single and music video coming out soon. And fans should keep an eye out for her debut tour around Malaysia and Indonesia sometime in 2021.
