Aksh Baghla and 10CM Swap Languages in ‘Spring Snow’ Hindi Version

Singer-songwriter and YouTuber Aksh Baghla clearly has a penchant for introducing Hindi to international artists. After getting American pop artist Lauv to sing in Hindi early this year, Baghla brings South Korean indie-pop artist 10CM’s Kwon Jung-yeol for a Hindi version of the latter’s song “Spring Snow” from K-Drama series Lovely Runner.

While “Spring Snow” has taken on a life of its own after it released in May this year for Lovely Runner, Part 8 (the series recently began streaming via Netflix in India), it was in June that Baghla dropped his version of the 10CM song on Instagram, adding Hindi lyrics in his inimitable pop croon.

Baghla tells Rolling Stone India that while watching Lovely Runner, he came across “Spring Snow” and was drawn to 10CM’s music, particularly taken by the South Korean artist’s vocal texture. Thanks in part to capitalizing on a trending song as well as Baghla’s own fan-following, the Hindi version song’s Reel garnered over a million views in the span of a day, with a comment by 10CM himself. Baghla says, “I was so happy, when I saw that comment and I instantly sent him a DM asking if he wants to collaborate.”

10CM in his email interview with Rolling Stone India says he was “really happy and surprised” and calls it a “pleasant experience” to have come across the Hindi version of “Spring Snow” and then collaborate with Baghla. 10CM says, “At first, I was both very excited and curious about singing together, but I was very satisfied with the result when we finished the collaboration.”

At the core of the idea presented by Baghla for “Spring Snow” was that 10CM would sing in Hindi and the Indian artist would sing in Korean. “I felt very cautious so I practiced a lot, since I wasn’t sure if I could do it well, but fortunately, many people complimented it and thankfully really liked that video,” 10CM says about the reception it’s got so far.

With over 69,000 views on YouTube and 4.7 million views of the Reel, “Spring Snow” is a crossover smash that helps both artists tap into different audiences. Baghla says timeliness was key. “I was planning to do this in person in South Korea but because the song was trending and we wanted to post asap, we decided to then do this remotely,” he adds.

10CM adds that he’d like to collaborate with a lot more Indian pop artists. “There are a lot of artists with great voices, but I think [singer] Jubin Nautiyal’s voice would work really well with mine, so it would be fun to work with him. I hope we have some chance to maybe work together in the future,” the artist says.

The Korean artist – who also scored another hit this year with “Tell Me It’s Not A Dream” from the K-Drama Queen of Tears soundtrack and created “Drawer” for the show Our Beloved Summer – is next heading out on a multi-city Asia tour.

Meanwhile, Baghla is working on his “dream project” – an I-Pop boy group. “The members are training at the moment. We are taking our fair bit of time because this is being done after almost a decade in India and there are a lot of challenges. You can expect a glimpse very soon,” he says.

Watch “Spring Snow” (Hindi Version) below.