First Listen: Gurdeep Mehndi’s ‘Prince of Pop’ EP Is Out Now

Pop artist Gurdeep Mehndi traverses club-friendly sounds on his new EP Prince of Pop, released via Saregama today, May 27th.

Earlier this week, Mehndi prefaced the four-track EP with a music video for “Inipu,” which has a Tamil title but sees the artist sing in Hindi and Punjabi, making for a diverse approach. With producer Yeah Proof and lyrics by King Ricky, Mehndi – the son of Punjabi music veteran Daler Mehndi – presents a crowd-pleasing set of songs.

The EP opens with “Inipu” and is followed by the stomping, emotive “Waari” which opens with a guitar riff. Pushing the sonic diversity even further, “Nasha” takes advantage of Saregama’s massive catalog of yesteryear film music and samples the Mohammed Rafi-sung 1972 hit “Nasha Sharab Mein Hota.” To close things off on Prince of Pop, Mehndi’s “Jaan” takes the house music route sonically, with bellowing Punjabi vocals to match.

Mehndi says in a statement, ”The unique part of this EP is the versatility and the range of genres that has been covered in the four tracks of Prince Of Pop. I hope people enjoy it as much as I loved making it. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it and to share more of what I have coming in the future.”

In the music video for “Inipu,” Mehndi portrays a lovestruck protagonist as he encounters a dance teacher (played by actor Stefy Patel) in a temple. Directed and slickly edited by Bhautik Nandha, the video also offers up a hook step performed by Mehndi, seen amidst young dance students where elsewhere, he pours a glass of lassi and finds it turning into filter coffee.

The artist spoke about his intent with future releases at the time of signing to Saregama’s Exclusive Artiste Management roster and said, “The main core is to go with the trends, give what the people want, especially the youth […] I’m hoping and wishing that people will see me in a different way altogether, me in my own color.”

The varied styles presented on Prince of Pop are intentional, then. He told Rolling Stone India, “Seeing the rap industry and the R&B artists in the industry grow, it has given me the power to think different if I have to create something out of the box.”

Listen to ‘Prince of Pop’ EP below.