Murtuza Iqbal
Twin brothers Kush and Neill are making a mark with their independent music. They call themselves Twinjabi, and compose music and sing in multiple languages like English, Hindi, and Spanish.
We interacted with the duo and spoke to them about their recently released song Desi Dons, their Bollywood plans, and a lot more…
Here are some snippets from our interaction with them…
Your recent song Desi Dons is getting a good response, how does it feel?
It feels good. Well, you know, Desi Dons is a special song, it’s a song any Indian should be proud to hear, we have many references to our icons like Virat Kohli, Dhoni, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Desi Dons is probably the best Indian rap song ever in our opinion. The video for that will be coming out next year. It feels good, we work hard, we deserve it and so we appreciate it but we are just getting started.
How and when did you guys decide to start your musical journey?
We decided to enter the music industry for one simple reason; we wanted to take the Indian culture global. Growing up in Kentucky, we could see there weren’t many Indians in the entertainment field. We want Twinjabi to be the first Indian act that goes global; we want it to be the first Indian act to be performed at the VMAs, Emmys, Grammys and so on.
Whose idea was it is behind the name Twinjabi?
We came up with it. It literally defines what we are, i.e. twin brothers with Punjabi heritage.
As a duo, do you guys ever have difference of opinions while composing music?
While recording music, we have a very clear vision; both of us are clearly aligned. We know where one person will excel in the song versus another person. At this point there aren’t any differences as such; we know how to make good music.
You both feature in your own videos; would you like to someday cast a Bollywood actor or an actress in your videos?
We are definitely open to collaborating with Indian actresses in our videos.
Your music is more in an urban-pop zone; do you plan to compose a proper desi Indian track?
Well, you know we are a pop group, so our music is for the world. We aren’t here to sound like a typical Bollywood song or a typical song you may have heard already. Twinjabi sound is different, this is something new. We represent the new India, we represent the new age, the young generation. You can see the versatility with Twinjabi with softer records like Rani Recognize, Brown Magic which is more for the girls but then you have harder urban records like Bombay and Desi Dons where we really show that little side of masculinity, that little bad boy image that we also have. We have that versatility.
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Any plans of entering Bollywood?
Yes, but the situation has been in our way. We visited Mumbai in February, we were approached constantly to enter Bollywood so that’s something that will definitely happen; you’ll see us all over the place, I promise you that.
In Bollywood, who are your favourite composer and singer?
We will probably go with Arijit Singh for singer and for composer we will probably go with Pritam. Also, we are big fans of the Malang title track so Ved Sharma, and Sachet Tandon, we like their stuff as well.
What are your views on the current scenario of Indian music?
We are fans of the Indian music scene, we think it’s cool. We are fans of Badshah and Honey Singh but at the end of the day, you can’t have the same people for the last 10 years. It’s 2020 now, it’s time for some new young talent to come in and shake things up in the Indian music scene and the global music scene so that’s what Twinjabi is all about. The game needs change and we are going to change it.
