An Indo-American artist’s Punjabi song is part of the Hollywood animated film

The image released by Paramount Animation shows Papa Smurf, a voice given by John Goodman in the film “Smurfs”. (Paramount animation through AP) | Photo Credit: Paramount Animation

It is not every day that a Punjabi song is included in a Hollywood animated film, but singer-songwriter Subabhi has set a trend. Indo-American artists recently became the first South Asian to perform Punjabi song in the Hollywood animated film.

Surabhi has collaborated with international musicians DJ Khalid and Cardi B for singing higher Love, Which is depicted in the upcoming Smurfs film. “There is something magical about fusing a different world and making something unpredictable. I feel proud to bring my Punjabi roots on this international track.” Subhi says.

Cooperation came together systematically. Subhi has been signed on a desi trill as an artist and a lyricist. Tie Ty Smith, who co-established the label, is also a producer in the Smurfs film. He believed in the track and really saw the ability for something global. “Natania (Lalwani) had already started working on the song with some co-writers, and came with this idea to infect the track with Punjabi elements. Once in the English parts, he brought me to write and sing Punjabi section,” said while recalling Surabhi.

Subhi immediately fell in love with the concept. “A mixture of cultures, languages ​​and styles felt comfortable in the studio. When DJ Khalid and Cardi came on the board, it raised the whole thing. Cardi’s fun and funny poem brought Swagger, and DJ Khalid brought his signature energy. Suddenly, we had some large scale in our hands,” she shared.

Team during filming of music video. , Photo Credit: Lile Lindel

Being on the set of the music video of the song in Miami with DJ Khalid and Natania – which they called “Smapraland” – was a real experience. Incidentally, Subhi was nine months pregnant at that time. She says, “Being something important, the experience is being made more meaningful, nurturing a new life.

Subhi’s music journey began in New Delhi. She was still trained in Indian music when she was a child. His grandfather used to listen to Fuzhy and Ghalib’s poems. “This is really where my love for words and lyrical story started. His poem taught me that emotions lie between lines, not only them,” he said.

When she was 16, she moved to America, where she made her music horizon broaden as she got a chance to hear bands like The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Abba and Carpenter, which shaped her harmony and a sense of structure. He trained with a broadway vocal coach, and later with an opera coach, both helped him understand the vocal projection and body control. Later, going to Chicago apprised him of Jazz and Blues. “When I fell in love with artists like Ella Fitzgerald. His vocal phrase and improvisation to find me the new field,” she says. All these effects have reflected in this track. “I feel lucky that so many music went through the doors. Everyone left something with me,” he said.

Singer and lyricist Subhi. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The last few years have been a journey of exploration and development for Sabi as a writer and a singer. She is experimenting and trying to sing and write outside her comfort field. While songs such as ‘Zahaniyan’ and ‘Lapata’ come in the indie-pop style, track boulders such as “lyrically rich, more acoustic, and emotionally intimate”, ‘Bilo’, ‘Sports’ and ‘Intetezer’ are track boulders and unethically fickle. For example, ‘sports’ is about a modern woman who really knows how the game is played – and how to play it on its own terms, ”calls it” Subabhi.

His latest single, ‘Tethul-e-Ishaq’, is close to his heart. Subhi wrote it with Aman Moroni, who is also the creator of the track. “This is the first time I wrote a track that is very impressed by Urdu and Punjabi. Quicking her voice for a song in which qawwali and folk texture were pleasant”, she says.

Subbhi will also cooperate with artists from all over genres and geography. “I am in a phase where I am not chasing ‘sound’, but making one – which is global, inherent, poetic and always developing,” she concludes. In the coming months, many solo of Subhi will be released, each will search for a different mood, story or sound landscape.