Indian musician Zeek on Higher Love getting acquired by Smurfs: 'None of us knew DJ Khaled had recorded it'

If you’ve seen the trailer of the July release, Smurfs, you must have heard Higher love, the track rendered by DJ Khaled and Cardi B that briefly plays in the background. To have his creation in the Hollywood release is a surreal moment for Indian musician Zeek, who has produced the song with Ethan Roberts. Zeek reveals that he joined Roberts, Natania Lalwani, Miranda Glory Inzunza and Francesca Richard—who had written the song—over a year ago. “They had already written about 80 to 90 per cent of the song. Natania wanted to add an Indian element, with drums, dhols and a folk vibe. That’s where Subhi [Khanna, co-writer] and I came in. She had an idea of having a post-chorus [element], and that eventually became the Punjabi hook. So, I edited and produced that section,” recalls Zeek, who is currently in Los Angeles.

It was almost a year later that Ty Ty Smith and Shabz Naqvi of music label Desi Trill returned to the musicians with a big surprise—that Higher love had been acquired for the upcoming Smurfs edition. “When Ty played us a version of our song, at first, I thought it was nice. The second DJ Khaled’s voice came on, I was so excited. None of us knew DJ Khaled had recorded it, with a verse by Cardi B, and that it was officially part of the movie. That moment felt surreal,” laughs Zeek. Higher love was among the many songs the team had made for Smurfs. “What’s beautiful is that the one, none of us expected to be chosen, was selected,” he grins.