Canadian-Indian musician Tesher, best known for his singles 'Jalebi Baby', 'Old Town Road vs Ramta Jogi', and 'Young Shahrukh' has recently dropped a new song Desperado sung by Raghav and Teshar himself. The song has crossed over 1.7 million views on YouTube and has over 355k reels on Instagram.
The Indo-Canadian's new song features fellow desi-origin artist Raghav where Mohammed Rafi, Latin music, and Raghav's inimitable sense of pop rhymes find common ground. The song samples R D Burman's 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko' from the 1973 film 'Yaadon Ki Baaraat'. For the unversed, both artists grew up in Indian households but way over Western Canada, Teshar in Regina, Saskatchewan and Raghav in Calgary. The similarities of their multicultural backgrounds brought them together to create a hit.
Desperado - Raghav & Tesher |
“We both have a very similar story. We both grew up in parts of Canada that weren't filled with a lot of brown people. So you can tell from the music that we make, there's still a lot of Canadian and American influence in it and then the Indian gets sprinkled in as well. It's a good 50-50 mix. But the other side of that is that we grew up with a similar mentality, a similar temperament, a similar sense of humour,” says the musician who hopes to make music that takes the listeners on a peaceful journey. “The song should give you a euphoric feeling. That's kind of what I look for whenever I vibe to those songs, listen to them, or even when I'm creating them. The end goal when I make music is taking the listener on a journey and making them have that head rush, making them want to dance,” he insists.
With his Indian routes, the rapper has infused Indian music into many of his songs. For instance, his Bhangra remix 'Kar Gayi Chul' became so famous that the leading lady of the song, Alia Bhatt herself took to the Miss Indian 2017 stage to perform.
Earlier this year, the rapper announced a collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan for his song 'Young Shahrukh'. The musician believes India has a thriving hip-hop culture and a lot of scope for musicians. “Rap and hip hop culture in India is in an exciting place. It's going to be very interesting to see how it progresses, especially given that there are so many fun things you can do when you combine Hip Hop with Punjabi music or with double music or with any of the subcultures around India,” says the lyricist.
While contemporary independent music has thrived, it also has brought a side of profanity that has been extensively used in rap and hip-hop songs. Tesher has a point. “Adding cuss words to lyrics doesn’t make anything cooler. It’s just about what you are trying to express. In that process, if it feels natural to add cuss words, then it is natural and if it feels forced then it’s forced. But I don’t think that adding cuss words makes you seem cooler, it’s just a part of what you’re trying to do,” opines the musician.
Tesher whose real name is Hitesh Sharma has come a long way, however, he says his path hasn't been a bed of roses. “I’ve chosen the hard path for myself - it would have been a lot easier if I just made Punjabi music, or Hindi music, or English music. But, I decided to go and try to make something that blends cultures. That often means that people don’t always know what to think when they hear your music. Record labels don’t always know what to do with you. And I get that, and it is frustrating,” shares the singer adding that his idea of being a musician is to make different music. “I didn’t come here to just go and make some money or just have some hit songs. I came into this industry because I love making music, and I want to do what I love. I want to live out my dreams of making weird, wacky, crazy, and experimental music,” insists the singer, who swears by Bubble tea to burst all his work and social media stress.
