For Shilpa Rao, music is music, it does not matter if it is for films or not
Shilpa Rao’s Bollywood discography is full of chartbusters such as Manmarziyan (Lootera; 2013) and Ghungroo (War; 2019) among others, and she has sung for the biggest of stars. Yet, the singer doesn’t see either playback singing or independent music better than the other. “Music is music, I don’t look at it as what it is for, I always look at the recording or song as it is. The effort is to always make it your own, relatable for anyone who listens to it,” she reasons.
Her latest project, Roz Roz, in collaboration with the band The Yellow Diary, is an independent one. Revealing how it all came together, she tells us, “I’ve known them for many years now. When lockdown started in 2020, we had a conversation to do this. We kept going back and forth with recordings, and finally, after working on it for 10 months, it is out. It has been a long journey as artistes...”
Having been around for almost 15 years in the Indian music scene, Rao admits she has witnessed a lot of changes in terms of how audiences consume music, and even look at platforms as consumers. From a time when Bollywood music was everything people knew, to now artistes releasing independent music, she is only happy with the change. “I think with developing nations, it takes its own time [for this change to happen]. In the 1990s, nobody would have ever thought that independent artistes will create music. In the 2000s, we saw things grow bit by bit. I still remember, the first few seasons of Coke Studio, it was such a struggle to even make it happen for people creating it, not even artistes. I
Singer am sure it must have gone through so much struggle to make that property happen,” recounts the singer.
Rao, 36, is glad that today, there are independent artistes who are known for their songs and music that has nothing to do with films. “Maybe in the next five to six years, it will get only better; I hope it does. One thing we all learnt in 2020 was that art saves the day, and it can come in any form,” she concludes on a hopeful note.
I always look at the recording or song as it is. The effort is to make the song your own and relatable for anyone who listens to it. SHILPA RAO,