Music enthusiasts have been abuzz with excitement with the recent Lollapalooza India 2026 lineup announcement confirming that Linkin Park would headline the major music festival, along with popular international acts like Playboi Carti, Yungblud, Kehlani, and Fujii Kaze, among others. The thrill is equally high down south, with Bengaluru Hudugi Rudy Mukta being one of the artists to perform in Mumbai in January. An up-and-coming voice in the city’s music scene, the 22-year-old artiste is known for her ear-tickling blend of R&B, electronic and Carnatic influences.
“I found out about the inclusion about a month ago and was definitely surprised, but also knew I would perform there someday,” says Mukta as she shares her excitement with calm confidence. “I’m excited to see everyone’s live sets, especially Linkin Park,
Playboi Carti and Opium collective. I didn’t expect them, especially Playboi Carti, to come here. It’s been a great year for music in India. Earlier, Asia tours and concerts meant Tokyo or Thailand, so it’s great that people here are also getting to see these amazing international artistes.”
Lollapalooza is the next notch in Mukta’s belt after winning the Toto Award for Music and performing at festivals like NH7 Weekender and Magnetic
Fields Festival. She reveals that fans can look forward to her performance with something new at Lollapalooza, saying, “I will be performing with a band for the first time and it’s going to be a very high-energy set with a lot of new music.”
Since graduating from college last year, Mukta has been low-key with performances, focusing on writing and recording new music. She also joined hands with Hanumankind for Cause, a track on his recent mixtape. This was her second collaboration with him, having worked with Kalmi, who produced the rapper’s standout hit, Big Dawgs. “We’ve done this many times where Kalmi is working on something with Hanumankind, and he will ask if I want to try something out. Of course, not everything makes the cut, but this clicked,” she says, adding, “I’ve worked with these boys since I was 17 and grown up with them. It’s like an exchange of knowledge. And Hanumankind has really set the bar in terms of performance and energy – that’s what I aspire to deliver.”
One of the new songs possibly included in Mukta’s set list is Love & Limerence, set to release on September 9. Touching on romantic relationships, a theme she has not yet explored in her music, Mukta says it still has a focus on internal conflicts evident in her previous releases, but with a more mature sound. “It’s a song about how people are afraid of being mature or committing, basically criticising the superficiality of the current dating scene where everyone’s trying to be super nonchalant and seeing people as being disposable because of dating apps,” she explains, adding, “It’s still very internal like my other songs but I would say the sound is way more mature. I’ve matured in my writing and my singing and Kalmi also had that in his production. Things definitely feel a little bit more refined moving forward, with this and other songs we have coming up as well.”
(Tickets for Lollapalooza India are available on bookmyshow.com from ₹9,999 onwards)