Say the name 'JJ' and you'll immediately think of our national treasure JJ Lin, who, along with Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun, has put our little red dot on the map with his musical artistry.

But there’s now another JJ in town: rookie singer-actress JJ Neo, who is well aware of the inevitable comparisons to the far more famous JJ Lin. (P/S: They even went to the same JC.]

And if that’s not already stressful enough, the 24-year-old is also the younger daughter of former Ch 8 host Lucy Chow, who was one of our most famous comperes back in the '80s.

When she was in secondary school, JJ and her whole family moved to Taiwan because of her dad's work and they would stay there for five years. But it was while living in Taipei that JJ started developed her talent for music. Her mum had enrolled her for music lessons after noticing that she had a knack for singing.

Being the kid of a former star naturally means that there are higher-than-usual expectations of her.

“People do treat me a little differently because of who my mum is,” JJ, who is now a full-time Mediacorp artiste, muses to 8days.sg over the phone. “But most of the time, it isn’t to my advantage in that sense because they just end up having really high expectations of me. I’m like, that’s not how it works. I feel that there’s a metaphorical halo that they put on every kid whose parent was part of showbiz, but at the same time, I try to remind people that I’m a rookie and that I’m just starting out. We don't have things any easier, and neither do we want to get special treatment just because of who our parents are.”

At the same time, having a showbiz mum allows her to have a firsthand account of “the protracted issues in showbiz that will never be resolved”. When we ask JJ to explain what she means, she declines to elaborate, only saying that Lucy constantly reminds her to always remain grounded.

Her mum, who JJ says is her best friend, was also the one who insisted that she go into showbiz full-time only after completing her studies, something that the singer-actress agrees wholeheartedly with. “After all,” she chuckles, “I do believe that we all need a plan B. As strange as this might sound, my plan B is to get my masters and PhD. Then I’d want to be a philosophy professor.”

After graduating from NUS with a degree in philosophy last November, she dived headfirst into showbiz, releasing her first Mandarin single ‘Mei Shi Jian’ (or 'No Time' in English) as well as the COVID-19 outbreak inspired song ‘The Light’, which she wrote with SPOP Sing! champ Jarrell Huang. 'The Light', which is a tribute to medical personnel, also features vocals from Desmond Tan, Felicia Chin, Fang Rong, Daryl-Ann Jansen, James Seah, Richie Koh, Sharon Shobana Vasudevan and Liwani Izzati.

8 DAYS: What was your inspiration behind ‘The Light’?
JJ NEO: It’s been a very rough time for everyone after the COVID-19 outbreak. The focus in the media is about the very pragmatic precautions we all have to take. As artistes, we want to make a contribution to care for the public’s well-being. As content creators, we’re not in the right place to talk about a lot of things and using our voices and platforms in the right way would be a good idea. Jarrell and I wanted to put stuff out that would benefit everyone in a positive manner. Not to be cheesy and gross, it does help people feel better and bring the community together too. I also really want to thank the frontline healthcare workers. They work day and night, they probably won’t be allowed to say this but I’m sure they don’t get enough rest either. I just want to remind them to take of themselves too.

How long did it take for you and Jarrell to write the song?
We’ve sung together for the My One In A Million soundtrack, but this is our first time writing together. It took us like three days to put everything together, and he’s wonderful to work with.

You also had fellow Mediacorp artistes record the song with you. How was the entire recording experience like?
This song is like a little baby to me. I felt a bit intimidated because everyone is more senior than I am but they’re just so nice and professional. There were eight other artistes who came in so it was inevitable that it would be a rather laborious task as Jarrell and I had to explain the emotions needed for each part. Even then, there was a good energy in the room and all of us really enjoyed ourselves.

I grew up watching Felicia [Chin] on TV so it was really nice to work with her because she’s such an amazing person. We were in the studio for almost 12 hours as we had to film the video as well, and I think it’s a miracle that we managed to get everything done in a day.

What else have you been working on recently?
I finished filming a new project last month. It’s a Fresh Takes! project directed by Tay Ping Hui and it’s called Shush!. Jared Soh, who was in Star Search’s Top 24, is also involved. It’s based off Ping Hui's past experience in a theatre. There was this lady being very loud and he shushed her, and somehow this entire incident ended up in the news. So I play that very lady but this time, she's supposed to be this famous actress-influencer. The protagonist had no idea who I was and I decided that I wanted to make the life of the guy who shushed me a living hell. Honestly, I think she’s horrible and it was my job to make everyone hate her. This is my first main role, and it’s also the second project I've ever filmed. [Ed: Her first was MeWatch production A World Of Difference, which starred Qi Yuwu, Romeo Tan and Vivian Lai.)

Playing an unlikable character for your first lead role, are you worried that people would remember you for all the wrong reasons?
It’s okay if people remember me as a not-so-nice person. If they hate me, it means that I've done my job! (Laughs) Even if they think I’m a terrible person because of the role, as long as they give me a chance and talk to me in real life after that, they’ll realise that I’m nothing like that.

So what was working with Tay Ping Hui like?
He’s not a super cheery kind of guy. At my audition, I was a bit intimidated by him but it was fine by the second time I met him. He’s so down-to-earth and easy to communicate with. Because of his experience as an actor he’s very clear in his directions, which I believe saved me quite a lot of NG takes. I have basically no experience and I’m super grateful for this opportunity. I don’t know why he agreed to cast me but he did.

Has your mum been supportive of your decision to enter showbiz?
I’m super lucky that both my parents are supportive. No matter how much I love doing this, it would be difficult for me to enter showbiz if my parents didn’t agree. I’ve always been kind of a loser-ish nerd in school, so I had a struggle between my passion for showbiz and academia. I know that acting and singing has a time stamp on it so I have to try it first or I might miss my chance completely.

Was the rest of your family equally supportive of your decision to not take up a conventional job?
Oh my gosh. During Chinese New Year, there were some relatives who asked me what I was going to do after graduation. When I told them I was going into showbiz, they would respond with, “But you have a degree, right?” When I said yes, they would just not say anything and end the conversation there. It’s okay, because I see the value in my degree and a lot of employers do too. There’s no expiry date. I'll see how the next couple of years go before I decide if I need to fall back on my Plan B.

You have an older sister, so does she have any plans to enter showbiz as well?
No way. She’s on track to getting her masters in communications. She has an artistic side to her too, but she is more into drawing than singing and acting. Fun fact: She’s three years older than I am, but nobody ever knows who the older sibling is even when they meet us.

Do you think you’ve been given any special treatment because of who your mum is?
If anything, there are just higher expectations of me. (Laughs) I feel like I need to remind them that I’m just a rookie who’s just starting out, so they need to lower their expectations.

When you first signed with Mediacorp, you went by your real name Neo Jia Jing. We’re curious to know why you’ve decided to go with JJ now.
It actually feels like I’m in trouble when someone calls me ‘Jia Jing’ in English. (Laughs) I don’t have an English name, so JJ has been my nickname since I was a kid. I went to an international school in Taiwan and all the teachers would call me JJ. Even on my exam papers, I could just write JJ and they would know whose paper it was.

But when people hear about a singer named JJ from Singapore, they’d inevitably think of JJ Lin. Has there been any confusion about that?
All the time. Even before I became a musician, people would be like, ‘Oh, JJ from Singapore? Do you mean JJ Lin?’ We even went to the same JC, which is Saint Andrews. But on a more serious note, we have different last names. It would take some time for the search engines to get it right, but one’s a dude and one’s a chick. The both of us didn’t choose to have JJ as our initials. I feel strongly attached to my identity because it’s from as far back as I remember. I’m not going to find a whole new identity because of what others think. If you can’t tell the difference between us, then it’s probably on you.

Listen to 'The Light' here.

Photos: JJ Neo's Instagram, The Celebrity Agency, JJ Lin's Instagram