Badshah: If you struggle with it, the song's no good

BadshahThe suspicion expressed when we bat for Badshahs wit isnt lost on us Having charted the Punjabi rappers trajectory since his Bollywood debut in 2014 its easy to assume that the man who unfailingly delivers the years party anthems does compose catchy but in fact seamless tracks After all how testing can it be to create a Kar Gayi Chull or rehash a Kala Chashma right Yet a tecircteagravetecircte with Badshah is sufficient to burst this bubble The engineering dropout with a penchant for math balances his keen eye for detail in his craft with a sharp sense of comprehension of his surroundings Ahead of the release of his debut album ONE Badshah talks to midday about its newly released second single Kare Ja an innately groovy track thats been garnering clicks since its debut last weekEdited excerpts from the interviewThat song has already crossed over 10 million views in two days Did you expect this receptionI was surprised because this is a lyrical video audio only But I knew with Kare Ja I was creating something special I knew I wanted a beathook line thats repetitive continuous I prepared the structure of the song roughly 70 per cent of it in one day Im really glad it has been appreciatedHow will this album be distanced from the rest of your workThere will be lyricism in this album Sonically it will be different from my previous songs There will be things that will make you think Youll want to sit and listen to it maybe even learn from it and ask questions This album will be a culmination of my time in the industry and the life that Ive lived With over 12 tracks fans will be treated to a few collaborations too Ive done a song with Pakistani singer QuratUlAin Balouch Shes among my favourites Were contemplating roping in an international voice as well Ahead of the March release we will also release another singleIn a previous interview youd mentioned that rappers must let a tune come to them to create authentic music How does Badshah arrive at his tunesAs soon as you start to struggle you are not going to create a successful song A tune has to be the most natural thing that comes to you Sometimes some silly things may come to your head and thats when your character comes to the fore You should welcome thatI do know that you travel with your equipment so that you can start exploring a tune wherever it strikes youI recall with precision where it was that I arrived at the tune for Kare Ja It was during a midnight drive in Chandigarhs Sector 36 I arrived at the basic structure in 2013 So yes a tune can come to you anywhere You dont have to try and get into the zoneWhile tackling questions on the criticism around rehashing 90s songs for films you spoke about how the trend was fading away What trends should aficionados look forward to in 2018I was having this discussion with a music director recently I think remakes are going to stay for another year if not more As a listener as much as I want to hear new music I think remakes are also welcome But they should sound nice If they are created only with the intention of promoting a film they can sound artificial But otherwise remixes can have a great contemporary flavour Right now the rate of consumption of music is staggering So everyone has an opinion on the sort of sounds that will become trendy But irrespective of the sound the content needs to be honestThere has constantly been this disconnect between veteran singers and young music composers on meaningful lyrics with the former criticising the lack of it in the newer creations I ask you this because you uphold Gurdaas Maan among your favourite do you think this divide will ever fadeToday people are exposed to a variety of genres You can enjoy a ghazal by Jagjit Singh and then hymn a track from the 60s or 70s You can hear jive and then also enjoy a Despacito by Luis Fonsi So listeners can enjoy it all If a song sounds good the presentation doesnt matter If the listener enjoys it thats enough Having said that this debate on lyrics will never end In the future artistes will approve of lyrics that we may question Probably well have an opinion on them as wellComing to your brand Badfit which I assume stems from the love for Kanye Wests Yeezy sneakers and jackets that many Punjabi singers have spoken about how involved are you with the creation of the apparelsI am completely involved I design everything and even pay visits to the factories The response to the brand has been fantastic The second collection just sold out and we launched the third one recently Were in talks with fashion portals to put the attires on sale A shoe collection will launch in March If I talk about my inspiration behind the brand I think it comes from giving people what they want at a reasonable price In India people look at us our attires and aspire to find the clothes we wear But they arent available here Theres this fashion revolution thats happening on the other side of the world and I want to bring that here I want to make India more fashionable so that people dont feel out of place when they travel to Milan or elsewhereTalking about your entrepreneurial endeavours you also spoke about starting a production houseI produced a Punjabi film Ardaas last year that was well received This year I have a couple of things lined up Theres a TV show based on Hip Hop The channel intends to launch it on a big scale so I cannot reveal much about it yet Theres also a web series I will also produce a film hopefully a Hindi oneCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go