VOICE OF TWO WORLDS

Delhi-Chicago singer Natasha Trikha opens up about her debut single, new R&B track, and is 'manifesting' her dream of performing in India

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

SINGER Natasha Trikha is riding high. In August, she released her debut solo, and soon after, found herself opening for rapper Badshah, one of her idols, on his 'Unfinished' tour in Chicago, performing before a crowd of 15,000. "I was asked to perform as the opening act once I started releasing my original music. I felt blessed," says Trikha.

Her set featured both her singles-her debut 'Tere Bina' and the recently released song 'Iraade'-along with a few covers. Her original tracks drew an electrifying response from the audience.

'Iraade', a collaboration with English-Kenyan rapper King Kanja and her frequent collaborator music producer Shaye, dropped on September 19. A high-energy romantic track with Hindi pop influences and fluid rap verses, it explores love as both a rush and a revelation. "The collaboration came about because I was looking for a fun, carefree, energetic song. Shaye played me the demo, and I absolutely fell in love with it. The first word that came to me was iraade (intentions). I wrote my verses, but felt it needed some powerful R&B vocals, and that's when we thought of King Kanja. He flew down, and three weeks later, we shot the video," recalls the Delhi-Chicago singer.