Indian-American DJ-Producer KSHMR recently announced the arrival of the second track from his much-awaited Indian hip-hop album ‘KARAM’. Subsequent to the release of the immensely popular ‘Haathi Varthi’ featuring MC Stan, the new track titled ‘Bhussi’, the bouncy—yet chillingly menacing—anthem with its clever wordplay, groovy rhyme and infectious hook, features Delhi-based popular rap duo Seedhe Maut who are rapping at a breakneck pace.
In an interaction with Outlook India, KSHMR opened up about his album, the track ‘Bhussi’, and how India serves as a huge source of inspiration for him and his music.
You have announced the arrival of the second track from his album ‘KARAM’. Tell us how you conceptualized it?
The second track from KARAM is called ‘Bhussi’, this is a concept song where I’ve ask the ‘Seedhe Maut’ guys to put themselves in the shoes of our main character in the story of KARAM where he’s starting out as a young kid to get his gang together and to make money they decide to rob a store. The ‘Seedhe Maut’ guys were so open minded about that and they decided to tell a really wonderful detailed story and I’m so glad that we got the song that we did.
The new track is titled ‘Bhussi’. What is the idea behind the name, and what is special in the track for the audience?
The new track is called Bhussi, this is some Delhi slang that basically means “going hard”. The idea behind the name, well you’d have to ask them, I’m not a Delhi boy like them, they were the ones who brought that to the table. It’s special because ‘Seedhe Maut’ is incredible and the co-producer Karan Kanchan is a huge inspiration of mine and I think he is one of the best producers on the hip hop scene in general, definitely in the hip hop Indian scene.
You are also collaborating with Delhi-based popular rap duo Seedhe Maut for it. How was it to work with them?
It was an incredible experience to work with Seedhe Maut, they are rappers that I looked up to that I was very impressed by. Their lyricism is second to none and their humility is second to none. They came in, they were very open minded about doing a track that was a part of the concept album KARAM, where they would do story telling. They absolutely killed it.
Your track ‘Haathi Varthi’ featuring MC Stan became hugely popular. What do you think resonates with today’s audience in terms of music?
You know it’s really not my job to figure out what resonates with people in music and I try to stay away from thinking like that. I think ‘Haath Varthi’ huge success was part of MC Stan being absolutely on fire right now and the track had that incredible energy, assisted by Phenom, who co produced it, and then you have Stan, he’s just an absolutely star, he had the perfect catchy lounge and cheek chorus and he's dripping with charisma. All props to MC Stan.
Although you were raised in America, you have always included India in your music. Not to forget, your stage name KSHMR is rooted in India. Do you plan to do more gigs in India, and any plans of working in Bollywood anytime soon?
I absolutely am going to do more gigs in India. I, of course, grew up coming to India, because that’s where my dad is from, so I’d live with my grandparents, I even lived with them for a whole summer where we traveled around India and so that’s created a big place in my heart as well as being a huge source of inspiration for me and my music. Luckily, I’ve garnered a huge fan base in India, so you can bet I’m going to be touring a lot in India in the future. Nothing yet for Bollywood, I’m actually working on an American film right now but Bollywood could be on the horizon and of course, I am a fan of Bollywood films.
