Mash-up queen Vidya Vox, who is now judging YouTube's singing competition show with AR Rahman, on original music and what inspires her
Vidya Vox
If you haven't heard singer Vidya Vox's mash-up of The Chainsmokers's Closer and Kabira, which clocked over 55 million views, you have to have been living under a rock. But her claim to fame moment is set to change.
Along with featuring on YouTube's singing reality show ARRived, which she is hosting with AR Rahman, she is also busy working on her original album, which releases in 2019. "The new album is like my dream world. It has got a synth-pop, electro, LA vibe, but my Indian roots shine through," says the singer, whose mash-ups also revealed the same aesthetic - modern, yet desi.
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After turning singer in 2012, and taking the mash-up scene seriously in 2015 with fellow musician Shankar Tucker, the Chennai-born, LA-based artiste has come a long way. She now has 53,21,087 subscribers on YouTube, but, as she says, she doesn't believe in the number game anymore. "It is sad because so many people buy followers and [pay for] engagement now. The important thing is to stick to your craft, and keep developing it. It takes years of keeping at it to succeed, but if you are consistent, then you will eventually develop a niche following. People always tend to see the tip of the iceberg."
Right now, along with shooting for ARRived, Vox is focusing on finishing her 10-track album, which relies heavily on her experiences as well. "There is one song that is about all the insults I survived while growing up, and I have sort of reclaimed that. Another is about my love story with Tucker, specifically about this moment when we were in Delhi, and it was hazy and we were just driving around. So it's about specific memories. The original route is tough, but satisfying. I recently played an original show in LA, and I was proud of myself. I was like, oh my God, I haven't sung Kabira or Closer!"
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