From Singapore to New York, singer-songwriter Adam Lim is carving out a distinct voice in the world of jazz and R&B.

Trained at Berklee College of Music and shaped by a cross-cultural journey, Adam blends the smooth sophistication of jazz with the raw emotionality of soul, creating music that feels both timeless and deeply personal. His debut EP Sunrise captures this spirit – offering listeners a sense of warmth, hope, and quiet resilience. The album is being hailed by audiences for its heartfelt compositions and genre-blending finesse.

Through performances at major charity concerts, Adam has used music not only as a creative outlet, but as a bridge for connection and healing.

In this interview, he shares the inspirations behind his sound, the experiences that shaped his creative lens, and how he continues to craft music with meaning and intention.

What first drew you to songwriting and performance?

I was drawn to songwriting and performance when I understood how it was a way to channel your creativity into something tangible, and the catharsis and joy of that act was what made me stick to it.

As an Asian artist from Singapore now based in New York, how has your cultural background shaped your musical identity? 

It has definitely been jarring coming from such a small country like Singapore, to now live in an enormous city like New York, but there is a message that I’ve felt from my time living here, and that is you can really make your own little space in this big city, and cultivate it to where you want it to be with time and love.

You blend R&B’s emotional depth with the sophistication of jazz. How did that style evolve? 

It started with my love for Nat King Cole’s Christmas album, introducing me to smooth jazz as a genre, with its tasteful chords, meaningful lyrics and powerful emotions evoked from minimal musical movements. I then started to really get into R&B’s evolution of this style, with more upbeat music but still channeling that raw emotion just like jazz, and expressing it in a slightly more contemporary way, through newer harmonies and instrumentation. I now enjoy blending both jazz and R&B together to create just that right balance of both to express my music.

What was it like studying at Berklee College of Music?  

It was incredible. Berklee opened my mind to the vast incredible nature of music, and it gave me a rock-solid foundation. They taught me how to train my ear, thoroughly read music, and as a singer/entertainer, how to have a presence on stage and to really entertain, rather than just to sing. It was so unbelievably fun to be immersed in a community of other musicians who were equally as hungry to make friends and music together. I’ve made a great many friends, whose connections have endured after graduation, and we now perform together from time to time!

Tell us about your performance at the charity concert supporting the Singapore Student Pocket Money Fund and the Business Times Budding Artist Fund. What did the experience of helping raise $2 million in one night mean to you? 

The first large scale production that I was a part of was Childaid 2016, and it was an incredible, fulfilling and joyous experience. I made so many friends! We still keep in touch to this day. Knowing that our production helped raise $2 million that would help the less fortunate who needed pocket money, as well as local artists who need that extra help on their path to greater realization of their artistry, really means a lot to me, and I’m so proud to have helped in raising that money.

Your recent EP Sunrise – what’s the story behind it? 

Sunrise is my debut EP to the world, and its namesake represents the joy and hope I feel whenever I get to see the sun rise or set, and so with each song I wrote for this EP, it was imbued with that intention to bring hope.

The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, where do you find inspiration for your music? 

Inspiration for my music has often come from my own life experiences, with lyrical content that is loosely auto-biographical, it is to intentionally capture experiences both intimate and common, to help resonate with people who may need to hear about an experience similar to what they’re going through, but illustrated through song, in hopes of helping others process something difficult, or something heartwarming.

What advice would you give to other young artists navigating their own creative journeys?

Trust in yourself, and every experience you have. It is only with time that your direction and what you seek through your art will become clearer. However deep your relationship to your art is, don’t let it fizzle out! Whichever path you take in life, your connection to art will always help you process the other aspects of living!

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