CHENNAI: The pandemic led us all to pick up a skill. Some turned to art, others to books, and some to cooking. For Rishi Kumar, a 15-year-old Chennai resident, an innocent suggestion by a well-wisher built an immovable passion for music. Having learned the piano since the age of six, Rishi was introduced to this world early in life, but it was not something he had desired. “It was only a hobby. I didn’t take it too seriously. But when the lockdown came about, a neighbour suggested — having known my background — that I play music for the society. So, with a speaker, I began to play for 45 minutes every day and slowly gained interest,” he shares. This interest turned to hard work and growth and a few YouTube covers over the year and resulted in his new album Zindagi of which he recently released the second song, Mere Ho Tum.
The song features Thiruvananthapuram-based Devanand SP and Washington, US-based Meena Attringal. “I found Meena akka when she used my YouTube cover for a singing video and tagged me in it. I was scouting for a female singer, so I asked her and she agreed. When it came to Devanand anna, he was recommended to me in a list of five-sixm ale singers by Meena akka. Of all the artistes, I liked him the best,” he shared. The song is a story of two individuals in search of their imaginary lover in the pop and R&B genre. As the name of the album suggests, the songs touch various aspects of life, Rishi says, “I have touched upon love, hate, happiness, grief — all of this contributes to the vibe of the album. It’s (The album’s) something new. It’s the young music of today.” Apart from pop and R&B, the album features EDM, soft rock, and acoustic-adjacent songs. The lyrics for the same are written by his friend and Mumbai resident, Akhil Sharma.
With two songs out, the young singer is all set to release the third song of the album later this month, called Yaad, featuring Gowri of 96 fame. Another EP may be in the works, but we may have to wait for that to see the light of day. You can hear the song on all platforms (Spotify, Gaana, Saavn, YouTube); visit rishi-kumar.com