(1990-02-27) 27 February 1990 (age 34) Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Genres
Pop
dance
pop rock
Occupations
Singer
student
actor
Years active
2009–present
Labels
Astro Talents Sdn Bhd
Musical artist
Mohamad Hafiz bin Mohamad Suip (born 27 February 1990)[1] is a Malaysian singer, who won the seventh season of Akademi Fantasia, receiving 46 percent of over 4.2 million votes. His debut album, Masih Jelas, was released on 14 July 2009.[2]
Early life
Hafiz was born on 27 February 1990 to Mohd Suip, and his wife Halizawati HM Salleh. He is the oldest and the only boy in his siblings.[3] After graduating in SMK St Joseph, he joined the reality competition Idol in early 2009 after passing the audition in Kuching.[4]
Hafiz competed against thirteen other contestants to win Season 7 of Akademi Fantasia. His winning potential was shown from week 1 when he was named the 'Best student of the night'
Throughout the competition, Hafiz remained at top two when the voting session was closed at the end of every concert, with six collective highest votes. Before the final concert, most media buzz predicted Hafiz to be the winner of the season. At the end of the finale, the prediction came true when he was crowned as the seventh winner of the show, beating 4 other students, with a massive votes of 46%, the highest percentage of votes in the show's production. He took back the male dominate winner crown from previous winner fifth season's Mila Jirin and sixth season's Stacy Anam who are both females.
His first album, titled Masih Jelas was released on 14 July 2009.[5] He recorded 5 songs including, Masih Jelas, for the album, which also featured singles by 4 other AF7 finalists. Masih Jelas was nominated in the Best Pop Song and Best Arrangements in Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM17).[6] Hafiz also performed at the final of Anugerah Juara Lagu 24[7] as one of the strongest contenders. Being nominated as one of Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 2009's Best New Artiste[8] also added feathers onto his caps. Although he did not win any of these, it was a good exposure for the young artist.
His latest foray in the entertainment world was being involved in KITA : The Musical, a musical theatre which was inspired by 1Malaysia.[9] He played the lead, Rahman in the multi-racial ensemble play staged at the famous Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur. Also involved in the play were other ASTRO talents, Eric Lin, Michael Rao, fellow AF7 alumni Nas Adila and Amy Wang. The theatre was a success and it went into the Malaysia Guinness Book of Record.
2011 – present
Early in the year 2011, fans was shocked to hear that the young singer was involved in a traffic accident at 10pm on 3 January while he was driving home after a rehearsal.[10] The car that he had driven, a Honda Accord, was badly damaged after the car spun then smashed into a tree and a street lamp post on the Penchala Highway. The latter was fortunate after only suffering from neck injury and was taken to KPJ Damansara Hospital for treatment.
Prior to his traffic accident, fans was wondering if the young star could perform at the Anugerah Juara Lagu on the 9th. Although the doctors said their concerns on the young star's injured throat, he mention to the media that he would still go on with his performance and hoped that his injury would not affect his performance. On 9 January, Hafiz was spurred with winning 2 categories on the 25th Anugerah Juara Lagu at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil. He had won the Best Vocal Performance and had won 3rd Place with his song Noktah Cinta (composer: Ajai and lyricist: Sheikh Qalam).[11]
Later in January, the singer release his new music video for his single Awan Nano and had regain many interest from the locals. The video had regain a positive views among the viewers and many had praised for his good acting skills in the video. The music video also stars music legend Herman Tino who played his father.
The single Awan Nano which mainly composed by Malaysian famous composer, M.Nasir and lyricist Buddhi Hikayat prove to a success. On 15 July, Hafiz had won 2 awards at the Anugerah Planet Muzik (a music award in collaboration of 3 S.E.A country; Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore) where he had won the Best Song (Malaysia) and Best Song among the three country with Awan Nano.[12] However he lost the Best Male Artist (all country) category, which he was also nominated, to fellow local singer Faizal Tahir.
Hafiz also starred alongside his friends Aril and Akim in Astro Ria Teenage TV Show Kau dan Aku. This is Hafiz's debut acting project.[13]
Awan Nano was shortlisted as one of the semi-finalists for AJL26. On 18 November 2011, the song was nominated as a finalist.[14] However the list of the songs for the final will only be determined on 2 December 2011. AJL26 will be held in January 2012.
He won best vocals and his song Awan Nano won best song at the 26th annual Anugerah Juara Lagu (AJL).[15]
In April 2012, Hafiz won another prestigious award, Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian, ABPBH 25, as The most Popular Male Singer. This fan-voted award held annually by Berita Harian, one of the most popular Malay News Paper in Malaysia. He won the award over his senior fellow nominees such as Anuar Zain, Faizal Tahir, Black & fellow Akedemi Fantasia alumni, singer/ songwriter, Aizat.
Hafiz is currently competing against 15 other famous & established singer to become so called Super Star in MANIA. This competition offers RM500 000 to the winner & RM 300 000 to the Music Producer mentoring the winner. The 15 singers are divided into 3 groups of 5, each group called Galaxy is guided by one famous music producer. The 3 music producers are Dato' M Nasir, Aubrey Suwito & Ahmad Dhani. Hafiz in Ahmad Dhani Galaxy. His Stellar rendition of Adele's "Someone Like You" brought him to the top of the voting chart at the end of their first concert in week 4 of the game. Hafiz become champion of Super Star in Mania on 20 May 2012, winning RM500,000 and a Gold Trophy from the competition.
Hafiz once again won Anugerah Juara Lagu 28 on 26 January 2014 with his single "Bahagiamu Deritaku". He also won "mobile award" and "Best Performance" at the event.
In 2017, Hafiz will comeback with new single song title Kejar.[17]
Discography
Albums
Masih Jelas (2009)
Hafiz (2012) Indonesian Album, Warner Music Indonesia
