KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 7 -- After weeks of legal uncertainty, Malaysian rapper Namewee has returned to the public eye with the release of his new Chinese New Year single.

The release comes after his acquittal at the Magistrates Court last month, against the backdrop of police investigations into the death of Taiwanese influencer Hsieh Yu-hsin, also known online as Iris Hsieh or "Nurse Goddess".

Coinciding with this year's Chinese zodiac animal, the horse, Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, said his latest Chinese New Year song, Type C Malaysia, draws inspiration from the ancestral roots and dialects of Malaysian Chinese.

"Many of these languages are gradually disappearing, and I hope to showcase them in my own way through this song...