Blogger Saskia Wilson-Brown put together Cambodia’s top signers, namely Sin Si Samuth, Ros Serey Sothea, and Pen Ron.

The “Emperor of Khmer music”, Sin Si Samuth, was widely believed to have been killed by the Khmer regime in 1975. Born in 1932, he was an integral element of the Cambodian pop scene in Phnom Penh (along with other musicians such as ‘The Golden Voice of the Golden Capital” Ros Serey Sothea, and the ‘second’ lady Pan Ron). Fusing some westernized influences into traditional Cambodian music, Samuth created a sort of synthetic mix of Khmer-garagey-psychadelic rock and roll. They were all widely accepted to have been eliminated by the Khmer Rouge: Samuth and Ron both killed in 1975. Sothea, it is believed, ‘disappeared’ in 1978, presumably another victim of the regime.

related posts:

1. Khmer Passages: music
2. Sovanna Phum: Khmer art association in Cambodia
3. Feel the History of Phnom Penh