Indo-Canadian pop singer Raghav Mathur shared his views on the new success of Indian music on a global platform. The singer who gained a lot of praise for his singles like Angel Eyes’ and ‘Desperado’ said there has yet to come more. The singer who is one of the pioneers of introducing Indian-influenced hooks and old Bollywood songs in global pop music has just released ‘Chingari’, his second single this year, featuring Mumbai-based rapper Divine. In a recent PTI in a Zoom interview the singer unveiled a lot of fans.
Raghav Mathur said we’re entering a brand new dawn of what being Indian in the arts means
Mathur said, “I think we’re entering a brand new dawn of what being India in the arts means. The Western record labels are threatened by the impact of the numbers and the way our culture can take a record to the top of the charts around the world. I think the best is yet to come for us.”
‘Chingari’ also features a line from Kishore Kumar’s song, ‘Aadmi Jo Kehta Hai’ from the 1974 film ‘Majboor’, starring Amitabh Bachchan.
“Divine is the most instrumental artist in the subcontinent in terms of legitimising hip-hop as a sound that is the future of pop music. It’s such a privilege to work with him,” added Mathur.
However, his initial tracks had no traces of his Indian roots such as his 2003 debut single “So Confused.” “On the back of that, I was able to put out some of my more Indian-centric work, starting with ‘Can’t Get Enough’, which samples ‘Kabhi Aar, Kabhi Paar’ from ‘Aar Paar’. A few more singles and an album kind of changed my trajectory,” he shares.
Back in 2004 in his single “ Angel Eyes” he found his groove which is later come to be known as Raghav sound’ among his fans. For now instead of sampling old songs he is more into Indian-influenced original hooks and tabla beats.
“I think hip-hop is the most influential genre of our lifetime. I grew up listening to Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre and later,Eminem and Biggie and those were such a big part of the soundscape of who I was. But I could never perform that on my own. So, I started collaborating,” says Mathur who has collaborated with famous artists – reggae singers Jucxi and Frankey Maxx.
Later on he said of how the industry has changed for the NRIs, “The industry changed so much in the mid 2000s. There was a few of us had, particularly NRIs, in the Indian market. It was quite a shake up to the scene.”
Also Read: Shaan Shared His Disappointment Over Singers Copying Arijit Singh
