How many South Asian musicians, that too, from Indian roots, do you witness garnering huge appreciation in the Pop music industry through their independent, unique, and path-breaking music? We are sure there aren’t many names to take. Well, we have one. Read on to know more about Farewell, a powerful single by Nikitaa.
Saakshi Priyadarshini | Beatcurry Team
But here we are with another phenomenal artist who goes by the name Nikitaa, who has not only succeeded in making great music but has altogether created a new genre, called the Goddess Pop. Nikitaa, who is a verified artist on Spotify, has been an internet sensation and garnered critical acclaim on YouTube and other platforms through her music and their videos. She is a trained Hindustani Vocal Classical singer who was born and raised in Mumbai, India.
Her recent release ‘Farewell’, is a beautiful song bubbling with great feelings, but with a beautiful presentation and foot-tapping music. The best part about the song is that it talks about a situation that probably every person who is in a toxic relationship faces, but it conveys these emotions without making you feel melancholy. It’s the kind of song you hear when you want to indulge in the feels based on such pure emotions but it really speaks to you and understands you without making you feel miserable or pitiful about yourself.
Coming to the music, the great song is helmed by music which seems to be just plain guitar or relatively simple as the tip of the iceberg, but then the next second, you will realize that the music is certainly very intricate but equally invigorating. The beat is oh-so-cool and it actually makes your body sway involuntarily a bit even if you’re sitting at a place. The music produced by Mukund Komanduri along with Nikitaa has all the ingredients of a great earworm. It perfectly complements the vocals and all the dips and highs in the verses.
Talking about the vocals, Nikitaa’s voice is plain, powerful, and very addictive. Once you listen to the vocals, it’s hard to resist the urge to hit the loop button. Interestingly, when you listen to the song, you get a feeling that she sounds similar to this artist or that, but then you can’t really point out which one. That’s how resonating her vocals are, and again, very unique. The symphonies and harmonies created make the song a magnificently rich piece to listen to.
The song has a soul because of the powerful and nuanced lyrics. The lyrics bring forth one of the purest but hard-to-comprehend emotions of being confused about your position in the relationship. The lyrics succeed in hitting home and act as a way to voice that confused frustration, where you don’t feel disregarded but aren’t able to move out of the hellhole. The lyrics are one of the most special aspects of the song and feel like a diary entry or an aching soliloquy that a lot of people can resonate with. The farewell that ‘Farewell’ delivers is simply fulfilling.
Lastly, we must take a moment to appreciate the lovely storytelling done through the official video. It renders a great representation of the entire concept and motive behind the song. All in all, the song is going to stay there in your playlist for a long time and it so deserves it! Nikitaa, like her genre, is a pure goddess with her goddess-like voice and we can’t seem to get over her or the stunning single that ‘farewell’ is.
Listen to Farewell by Nikitaa
Following is a little excerpt of the exclusive conversation we had with Nikitaa.
We would want you to take us through the genesis of the song, the musicality and your thoughts, just take it away, the stage is yours.
I started writing actually 3 years ago. I think I was just in a part of my life that was very dark. I was in a relationship, one of them being a romantic relationship. I was giving and giving and not getting anything back. I went into the studio and I was very emotional the day I wrote the song. I actually wrote it like crying, recorded the demo version like crying within 15 minutes, the fastest I’ve ever written a song.
So, I guess emotionally I was just ready to put it all out. But it was definitely about that feeling, you feel like you are giving so much but you are not really getting anything back and you know you shouldn’t be saying goodbye but you are not entirely sure how. And you also know if the other person really tried, you would want to stay, and that you still cared. So it’s like an amalgamation of frustration, like “damn I need to walk away. But I know I wouldn’t, if you make an effort.”
How about the thoughts for the music, the phrasings, the lines, it’s interesting and fresh to the ears, how about that?
I was just honestly very emotional, it was the fastest I’ve ever written a song and I wasn’t thinking at all like it was just pouring out of me. As for production though, this was mostly produced by Mukund Komanduri, he’s a guitarist. I think he just left the room for like 10-12 minutes, and he came back and I was like, let’s record. And he was like “you’re done already” and I was like, “Yeah just hit record, let me do it.” So yeah that’s what happened. But you know looking back at it retrospectively, I can definitely see that the choruses has the qualities of contemplation and softness and just sadness but then the chorus has this quality of anger and like, just being done, which is exactly how I felt so it just like translated beautifully, luckily for me as I was writing this song. And I never went back and changed it. It just came out so fluently out of me. And I think it’s just the byproduct of having been writing songs my whole life. What you hear on the record is exactly how I wrote it, 3 years ago.
Through your music and the whole voice that you carry as an artist, what is something you actually wanna communicate with the audience like “this is what I stand for as an artist”?
So I actually like to call my genre of music ‘Goddess Pop’ and it’s very closely linked to what you asked. I think growing up and even when I joined the industry I didn’t see or hear anybody look or sing like me. I didn’t know of anyone South Asian working through Pop trying to corroborate elements of their indigenous coacher into their music or anything of the sort. And I also just felt like women in general at the time were very booked into this one little thing, that you have to sing about someone whom you love. I felt like I wanted to break that down. Cause for me I feel every song has the complexity of emotions, it’s never just one feeling. I always want to bring that to the surface that you can always be who you want to be which is what ancient goddesses used to stand for.
It’s like complete inclusivity; no matter where you’re from, no matter how you are feeling. But we have sort of forgotten that image of feminine and I want to bring that back. Whether you are a male or female, you do have a feminine aspect inside you. And I want people to celebrate that and accept whoever you are. If you’re feeling petty, feel petty, if you’re feeling angry, feel angry, if you’re feeling happy, feel happy, like you are allowed to feel all of this.
When you look back at yourself, how you feel about that. Take us through that journey.
I love this question. Because I think as an artist, we’re often hard on ourselves and we get so focused in the moment and like what’s happening right now, we kinda lose the constructs of how for we have really come and I think I’ve come really far and I feel like I understand what I want to say, how I want to communicate, not just as an artist but also as a businesswoman cause at the end of the day if you are an artist it’s like running your own business and communicating with everyone from like with videographers to potential agents, managers, press. I think those are the things that no one can teach you. You learn these a long way, and I feel proud of where I am at in those terms. And I also feel very proud of myself as an artist. I had my first release when I came out, I was already getting editorial playlists on Spotify, but now I’ve got to a point where it’s from multiple streaming platforms, it’s like I’m being recognized for what I’m doing. And I’m actually spreading the message I always wanted to spread and I shared with you also. So I really feel very proud of all of that. It feels like I am creating music that has done something to me and that I’ve done something for people expecting the music created by a brown girl to be extremely Bollywood, or extremely not. I get celebrated for that with every release and I think that’s amazing and I am really very proud of that.
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