The song that brought Salomé Das home

PETALING JAYA: To her hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers, Salomé Das is best known for her viral accent-switching videos. But long before social media fame and modelling campaigns, she dreamed of becoming a singer.

Now, with the release of her debut solo single “Back 2 Malaysia”, that dream has finally come true. The upbeat pop track is a heartfelt tribute to the country she proudly calls home.

Born in Germany to a French mother and Indian father, Salomé moved to Malaysia when she was three months old. “I am a third-culture kid through and through,” she told FMT Lifestyle with a smile.

Music has always been part of her life. As a child, she performed for her parents at home and later attended singing lessons during family trips to India.

“I was constantly singing – so much that people in class would say, ‘Can you please stop?'” she laughed.

“Music was an escape for me because I was getting very badly bullied in school. I was listening to Adele a lot and I realised music can be a safe space for people.”

She knew at an early age that she wanted to perform. “Deep down, I always wanted to do this, but I was never brave enough.

“Growing up in Asia, saying you want to be a performer is very looked down upon, especially because I came from an elitist school.”

Her first breakthrough came not through music, but modelling. After a friend uploaded one of her photos to Instagram when she was 17, it quickly gained attention.

Soon afterwards, one of Kuala Lumpur’s leading fashion photographers contacted her.

“He posted my photos and it took off from there. Three weeks later, I was doing every campaign and walking every show.”

Salomé would go on to appear in “Vogue India” and “Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia”. Yet modelling was never the end goal.

Instead, she saw it as a stepping stone – working almost every day, saving money, and eventually moving to Europe to pursue music.

“On my 20th birthday, I blew out my candles wishing for a career in music. The next day, a manager randomly reached out asking if I sang,” she recalled.

After signing with a major label, Salomé featured on “Life Is Simple“, which topped the Beatport Afro House chart and has since surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify.

Now she is finally stepping into the spotlight on her own.

Although she wrote several songs while living in Los Angeles, she knew “Back 2 Malaysia” had to be her debut release, even when her management team had other ideas.

“Malaysia has shaped who I am as an artiste, as an individual. I grew up here, I have my happiest memories here, and I really felt like it was important for me to pay homage to my home.”

Her ambitions also stretch beyond music. Having grown up diving around Malaysia, Salomé hopes one day to establish a foundation dedicated to environmental conservation.

“I’ve seen firsthand jungles being wiped away, beaches and corals being completely bleached, and it makes me sick to my stomach,” she said.

“We don’t have a ‘planet B’. I hope to use my platform to really make some change.”

You can also listen to ‘Back 2 Malaysia’ on Spotify. Follow Salomé Das on Instagram and TikTok.