Drawing on music and paint

For someone just turning 23 this year, Haneesa Abdullah already has plenty of achievements under her belt.
The aspiring songstress, known professionally as Neesa, juggled a lucrative side gig as a makeup artist and performed popular covers – both live and on YouTube – while studying advertising and design in university.
Recently, she debuted her first original song, Cinta Tak Sempurna.
Her love for singing and performing began in kindergarten, which eventually led to her posting cover songs on her YouTube channel at age 14.
“Back then, there were no Instagram and Twitter, so I was relying only on YouTube, where I gathered a few fans for two or three years,” said Neesa.
But when she entered university, she decided to hit pause on her YouTube channel, aside from performing the occasional cover song for The Stereo Folks, a record label founded by a fellow student.
Neesa was even invited to sing for the launch of Yuna’s hijab line, Yuna for LosraVelda, when her Stereo Folks cover of Yuna’s Crush gained popularity online.
Neesa next turned her attention to crafting makeup designs, which she shares on Instagram (@neesot).
Eventually, beauty brands like M.A.C Cosmetics, Sephora, and Make Up Forever took notice of her whimsical creations, and engaged her to design Halloween and daily makeup looks using their products, a feat the young artiste is certainly proud of.
“I have a micro following,” said Neesa, who has over 16,000 followers on Instagram.
“I’m still under 20,000 [followers], so I’m very proud of [being chosen by major brands] because they can always point out different makeup artists with a larger following.
“It’s really nice that these brands recognise my artistry, where they actually see and like my work.”
While at university, Neesa met 26-year-old Raja Hafizee from the record label August Tree Records. Raja eventually composed and produced her single Cinta Tak Sempurna.
“We met around two years ago,” Neesa recalled. “He approached me because I knew a lot of his friends, so we got together and jammed.
“Our [vision] for a song is very similar, so we just went for it.”
A ballad tinged with sadness, Cinta Tak Sempurna speaks of an unfruitful romantic relationship, despite both parties having intense feelings for each other, something the petite beauty could relate to emotionally when “a very special someone left” around the time the music video for the song was being recorded.
“It means a lot to me,” Neesa said of the song. “It speaks to me, and as for the vocals, he (Raja) really knew my best vocal range, so it’s nice that he inserted certain melodies where I could really form my own rhythm.
“I just want to make people feel, so I think that’s the best way for me to express myself, and for people to express themselves.”
Inspired by the likes of Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora, American R&B singer Jhené Aiko, and Australian singer-songwriter Sia, Neesa will be experimenting with different genres in her upcoming album, which is currently in the works.
“We want to have a feel-good song that doesn’t match any genre, that you could bop your head to, while still being very pleasing to the ears.”
Asking Neesa to choose between music and makeup design is like asking her to pick a favourite child.
“I’m just doing whatever I feel like doing … whatever I love. I feel like committing to music for now, because I feel like everything can be combined.
“When it comes to production, I can still do the design for the album because I studied design, and even for the video ... I did my own makeup.”
She added if she had to choose, she hopes it’s possible to combine both her artistic passions with design, the field she studied.