Yaung for Hennessy

I manage an artiste who thrives on creativity and craftsmanship.

When Hennessy approached us, he had never been to a club.

But both brands were passionate about crafting out a story where hip-hop lived in bottles and spilled into song lyrics. This is that story:

Yaung and I met because I pestered him in 2022 to let me be his manager. He didn’t want one. For one month I promoted his music across Europe like a madman, getitng my friends to blast his song as we rode down winter roads in Germany and France. His songs hit the cold air and I heard echoes back.

Until someone flagged us down. “Who’s the artiste?” they yelled. I yelled back. “Yaung. He’s an emerging rapper from Singapore.”

“Is Singapore part of China?”

I bit my lips and just shared his handle across.

One year later, we’d built up a following across several regions. Yaung had dedicated fans who’d wait for his next releases. We were both still working from bedrooms: him in the flat he stayed in with his family, me with mine. Barely went out at night unless it was to events that brands invited us to. We couldn’t afford to keep taking Grab after midnight.

I got an email. Hennessy wanted to meet him.

We met at their office. They were choosing between a few rappers. Seeing Yaung’s face of admiration and the work that their team did with other musicians worldwide: we wanted in.

But Yaung couldn’t change his brand image to a clubbing monster – and Hennessy didn’t want him to change, either. Both needed something that would be perfect for their brand.

So we came back the next week, virtually, with something else:

We’d do music videos.

Yaung loves to direct and create. Hennessy’s bottles were marks of craftsmanship in itself. How could we marry the two?

I posited: two music videos, one Spotify visualiser. And he’s your guy for every lead performance.

We shot MADMAN first. Yaung and I received the bottles for product placement. We intended to work it into the scene at the bar.

He gripped the base of the bottle and looked at me, looked at the surroundings. Immediately we knew.

With a few tweaks and sixteen frames, it became the album art of one of Yaung’s most signature songs. MADMAN is about being so crazily in love with your art it consumes you. You’re intoxicated to create. Hennessy was positioned as the companion crafter to the crazy. Pushing you to an almost toxic level of creating something special.

Not a drink for old men. A drink for men who wanted to change the world.

In July, we storyboarded for FLOATING. We’d shoot in Malaysia. We woke up at 3am to shoot at an abandoned field in the depths of Malaysia before driving to a warehouse to shoot until 2am that night.

it wasn’t the bottle that mattered. It was the cognac inside. Yaung pivoted to less of a punchier rap sound and something more melodic. FLOATING was about how natural creation was to him – how formless and special energy was when shared with the right people. How chemistry with the craft was important.

We threw Hennessy. From one glass to another, to create a key moment in the music video: the cognac is special. It’s pure nostalgia, abandon, creation in a glass.

Vogue called it Yaung’s painting of defiance. Yaung called Hennessy the perfect paint.

We ended off the year by performing at Artistry – sharing our love for music, culture and creation with Hennessy’s biggest Asian crowd.

Yaung’s 2025 was powered by Hennessy. We join hands again in 2026.

A strategic partnership that became a magical friendship.