DJ maintains he was told to make way for Najib's son

Egyptian DJs Aly and Fila maintained that they were asked to stop their set at Zouk Singapore to make way for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's son, Norashman, on Saturday night.

Detailing the trail of events that evening, Fila or real name Fadi Wassef Naguib in a Facebook post agreed that his contracted set-time was 1:30 to 3.30am.

“First of, Zouk Singapore has been one of my favourite clubs in the world, so sad that my last time playing there ended this way.

“Zouk's new owner was hosting a 'VIP' guest (the Malaysian PM's son). I arrived at Zouk at 1am and had a quick interview,” he said.

Fila said a 'Byden' who works for Zouk to take care of their artistes told him that he could play until the end.

“I went to the DJ booth they introduced me to the VIP guest and the new owner of Zouk,” he said, adding that he started at 1.40am.

Fila said that at about 3.30am, Byden approached him and asked him whether he was willing to play back-to-back with that VIP guest.

“My answer was simple 'no way'. I continued playing, then 15 minutes later Byden told me that I will have to stop as the new owner wanted the 'VIP guest' to play,” he said.

“There was no misunderstanding! And instead of apologising, Zouk keeps posting those lame statements and articles trying to get away with it,” the Egyptian DJ said.

Rizal Mansor, aide to the prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor, denied that Norashman had asked to perform at Zouk.

Rizal, in a Facebook posting early today said that Norashman, 26, (photo) was invited by the club’s management to perform due to his turntable skills.

“Taking into account that it was an acknowledgement of his talent and hobby, Ashman agreed to do the performance,” said Rizal, referring to Najib’s son by his nickname.

'This is karma'

Following an uproar over the incident on social media, Zouk Singapore yesterday denied that the two foreign deejays were interrupted midway during their performance.

"Following up from our previous announcement pertaining to Aly & Fila's gig at Zouk on Saturday night, Zouk would like to clarify that DJ Fadi (Fila) was not at any point of time asked to end his set prematurely before the contracted set end time of 3.30am.

"Zouk has constantly held our invited artistes in esteem and respect their works. We understand that this incident has resulted in some discontent and disappointment but would like to give the assurance that Zouk will continue to value the importance and presence of all artists and our customers, and their interests," the statement said.

Fila in his Facebook post parting shot, urged Zouk not to disrespect artistes who helped build their brand.

“I'm not saying I built their brand, just talking in general. They need to respect their residents and local talents and their international guests.

He said that he did what he had done to defend his rights as a human being and not as a well-known DJ.

“I was insulted and I reacted. I didn't expect that it would go viral like that but this is what I call karma. I just wanted to let our fans who paid money to see me know the reason why I stopped my set and I didn't play the three hours like I did every time I have been there,” he explained. -Mkini