Who would’ve known that after meeting in a club in Mumbai, Rishab Sadarangani and Simarjeet Saini would form the electronic DJ outfit Almost Famous, which would go on to collaborate with one of the most famous rappers of our time — Soulja Boy? Now, know that the two incidents did happen five years apart. While you think of the iconic 2008 hit Kiss Me Through The Phone when you think of Soulja Boy, this not-as-famous duo has garnered a lot of attention with their performances at various music festivals across the country lately. The duo and the rapper recently released a track titled Breakout.
Talking about how they teamed up, Rishab says, “The collaboration was very organic. We randomly got in touch with Soulja Boy’s manager and started conversing for over six months. Thereafter we made a couple of options for Soulja and he instantly thought it was dope and we finished the track in 18 minutes. In fact, we produced the track on our laptop sitting out of a bedroom apartment in Mumbai.”
With a career in music spanning over a decade now, Soulja Boy has a fan base which includes millennials that grew up listening to him, just like this DJ duo. “We too grew up listening and dancing really hard to all his tracks. So getting to create something with him was a huge deal for us. The entire experience was super overwhelming and relevant, we instantly connected on the creative front. We really believe in learning about people and understanding each one’s story and this entire experience gave us a lot to count on,” says Simarjeet.
This collaboration is bound to work wonders for the musical careers of the Mumbai artists. Rishab shares, “We’re getting over a million views in a day, which is a huge deal. And we are so thankful to each person who appreciated the track. The response we’re getting is insane and we cannot wait to create and inspire more.”
Talking about the hip-hop scene that has recently taken the nation by storm, Simarjeet says, “We think the hip-hop scene in India is growing and growing really fast, but we need a lot more diversity in our musical tastes as a whole. We definitely have a lot of artists out now who are trying to break into the music game, but a lot of people are coming with that same mainstream sound.”
While this whole phenomenon of accepting and even celebrating this genre of music is quite interesting in itself, the duo want to add their contribution towards bringing the fresh youth content. “We are going to try our best to get new styles, appreciate the culture of hip-hop and create around it with different artists that inspire us,” says Rishab, adding, “Our style emanates from the youth. When we go into a session, we never really know what we’re going to make. The vibes change. We have to live life to make music, so we assess what’s going on in our lives before we make anything. Do we want to make peaceful, serene music? Do we want to make something more lively and chaotic? We really think we have the ability to make any kind of track we want, so I like to use that to my advantage.”
As one can only assume that this collaboration will open more doors and give them a chance to seize more opportunities to make a mark on the international music scene, the future seems exciting for this team. Having been inspired by so many tings lately, the duo is ready to start manifesting all of it. “Music’s given me the chance to travel a bunch and see places we normally wouldn’t have. We’ve met a lot of diverse people. We mostly find inspiration from conversations we have with people. The things they say can be fascinating. We try to use those discoveries combined with our personal inwardness and wisdom, combined with the happenings of the world and circumstance as inspiration. Honestly just getting to experience so many stories to create so much more and inspire so much more,” says Simarjeet.
Who else would you like to collaborate with in the future? Rishab answers, “We can’t say we have a particular artist that inspires us and we could collaborate with. I’m really just inspired by all music in general. I guess you can say we’re influenced by new styles, new artists, and originality in general.”
