Hear New Delhi Artist Udbhav’s Refreshing And Intriguing New EP ‘Milansaar’
Effortlessly moving between pop, hip-hop and traditional Hindi music, the prolific producer and singer from the Teesri Duniya crew is at his mirthful best
New Delhi-based artist Udbhav. Photo: Courtesy of Teesri Duniya
In the world of Indian independent music, producer-singer and rapper Udbhav has built himself up as a prolific and shapeshifting artist in the span of a few years. Between 2020 and now, the 23-year-old New Delhi artist has had three albums and two EPs to his name, along with a slew of singles. Teesri Duniya, the crew he’s part of with Raghav and Karun, claims to have over 150 songs in their catalog.
On a Tuesday morning at 11, Udbhav has just woken up and he speaks candidly about what it’s like to create that much music and feeling confident about it. “We [Teesri Duniya] talked about this a couple of days ago. We don’t think about the impact we’ve created. I don’t think there’s much of a quality check. The music that gets made is what we always want to put out,” he says.
The draw of Udbhav and Teesri Duniya’s sonic realm is largely in its genre fluidity. He started producing music about eight years ago, when he was in the ninth standard in school. “I used to do Bollywood songs because I really liked it. Later, Kanye West inspired me to write my own lyrics,” Udbhav says. On his latest EP Milansaar – kicking off what is likely to be another nonstop year for him and his group – all of this comes to the front with an excitable energy.
While there’s an unmistakable hip-hop influence, he sings like he’s seeing a Bollywood lover-boy on a screen in front of him, bringing forward all kinds of clever intonations and rhymes. The guitar also remains a staple throughout the four-track Milansaar, whether sampled or played by Toorjo Dey. For Udbhav, he terms the EP as a “very good pop sound.” The artist adds, “Pop music is going into the commode right now. I grew up in the early 2000s so I bring that side into my music.”
Anchored in Udbhav’s wily Hindi lyrics, he launches with the cinematic, rollercoaster ride that’s “Vaayu Mein” and follows it up with the swerving title track (which translates to “amiable” or “affable”) that has total earworm potential. He calls on sitarist Sitarsnub and go-to vocalist Rashim Anand to turn in a wholly mystical direction on “Sangam,” which Udbhav points out doesn’t have Sanskrit lyrics, but just really pure Hindi vocabulary at play. He says, “When I heard Rashim singing a part of this, it felt so good and powerful, so I knew what I wanted to do for the track.” The EP closes with “Machla,” another cleverly packaged funk-informed pop song that piles on more smitten vibes from a growing love.
At the center of several of his releases like YATI or Nanku Sharma, is existentialism. “But in an entertaining way,” Udbhav adds. He says in a statement, “This EP is for everyone who feels that they’re not the protagonist of their life. The songs are supposed to be ‘pure fun.’”
Listen to the ‘Milansaar’ EP below. Stream on more platforms here.
