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The cover of Echo, the single released on Friday by (from left) India’s Armaan Malik, Indian-American Kshmr and Korean-American Eric Nam. The cross-cultural collaboration, and another by Korean-American soloist Alexa and Kuwaiti-Saudi Bader AlShuaibi, shows the music industry’s intention to widen fan bases. Photo: Dharma

K-pop, Indian and Middle Eastern artists collaborate on singles, aiming to build bridges between their different music scenes

  • Korean-American Alexa and Kuwaiti-Saudi Bader AlShuaibi collaborate on single Is It On, while Korean-American Eric Nam, Armaan Malik and Kshmr drop single Echo
  • They got together to draw new fans in each other’s markets, something already happening, with India providing one of the biggest audiences for K-pop on YouTube
Tamar Hermanin United States

Two new songs released on Friday blend the artistry of musicians in South Korea, India and the Middle East with the aim of building bridges between the music scenes in different countries.

The unrelated releases are Is It On by Korean-American soloist Alexa and Kuwaiti-Saudi Bader AlShuaibi and Echo from Korean-American singer Eric Nam, popular Indian singer-actor Armaan Malik, and Indian-American DJ and producer Kshmr.

The cross-Asian collaborations dropping on the same day emphasise the growing integration of the global music industry, as artists expand their reach and introduce their songs to new listeners in diverse regions.

Both Nam and Alexa (stylised AleXa) are based in Seoul, South Korea – although Nam, who is a native of Atlanta, is increasingly making moves in the American market – and regularly work with international artists. The releases aim to introduce their music to fans of Malik, AlShuaibi, and Kshmr in India and the Middle East, and vice versa.

BTS perform at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the US. India is the third-largest regional audience for BTS on YouTube. Photo: TNS

The EDM track Echo is inspired by Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month , which is celebrated annually in the United States in May.

The song, which features Malik and Nam’s vocals, is described by promoters as “a never seen before story of three artists who have roots deep in the Asian heritage and have come together on the global stage to share in the best time possible to shed light on their contribution to the entertainment space from their respective geographies”.

It is considered the first “K-pop meets I-pop collaboration”, referring to Indian pop music. Korean music and K-dramas have a sizeable audience in India, with K-pop acts such as BTS and Blackpink having large fan bases there.

In the past year, India has been the third-largest regional audience for BTS on YouTube, while Indian music lovers are regularly among Blackpink’s 10 largest audiences on the platform.

The trilingual track Is it On from Alexa and Bader AlShuaibi - in English, Arabic and Korean - is produced by Warner Music Korea and Spotify collaborative project Radar, which brings together artists from across the globe. Radar Korea and Radar MENA (Middle East and North Africa) brought together this particular set of artists.

According to Spotify, there has been a 140 per cent year-on-year increase in K-pop consumption from January 2020 to January 2021 in the MENA region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Egypt and Qatar are the top five MENA countries streaming K-pop music.

In related news, Nam recently released Have We Met Before with Sarah Barrios on April 30.

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