Ikka’s Long-Awaited ‘Only Love Gets Reply’ Album Is Out Now

Hip-hop artist Ikka walks a fine line between his mainstream leanings and hardcore rap bars on his new album Only Love Gets Reply.

Announced in August last year and fueled with flashy songs like “Urvashi” with Pune rap star MC Stan, Ikka’s Only Love Gets Reply has been a long-anticipated album in Indian hip-hop and just before its release came the massive single “Jagga Jatt” with Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh and rapper-singer Badshah.

Ikka tells Rolling Stone India about the collaboration, “‘Jagga Jatt’ is a project that is really close to my heart because this song is with my two brothers- Diljit paaji and Badshah bhai. Working with them is always a great experience as you get to learn something new every time. The idea was to create something that everyone can vibe to, and to a great extent, I believe we have achieved that. Now that the song is out and the listeners are giving it so much love, it feels like all the hard work is gradually paying off. I genuinely look forward to more such collabs in the future.”

The song was also produced by New Delhi’s Sez on the Beat, who provides the music for some of the strongest rap songs on Only Love Gets Reply, like the confessional, reference-packed “Rest In Paradise” where Ikka defends the likes of MC Stan against haters and details an emotional family memory that kept him going. Elsewhere, “Cigarette” digs into his mental state with a powerful swagger in the hook. The album closes with another Sez-produced cut, “Om,” which swerves to show Ikka in a breezier, spiritual state of mind.

The first half of the album features production by Sanjoy, who ably feeds Ikka’s mainstream hip-hop aspirations, from “Urvashi” (which samples the famous A.R. Rahman-composed Nineties song) to “Laadla” and the Karan Aujla collab “House Of Lies.” Dancey hip-hop comes to the front on “Sharbat E Mohabbat” and the star collabs pile on, including Guru Randhawa on radio-friendly “Who’s That Girl” and powerhouse vocalist Sunidhi Chauhan on the straight-outta-Bollywood cut “Bhari Mehfil.”

Only Love Gets Reply is officially Ikka’s third album, after 2020’s I and 2022 album Nishu. He explained the album title in an interview with Mirchi Plus, “You know, one thing I realized is that as a musician, there should be no negativity in you and if you want to be creative, you need to stay positive. If you have a negative mind, you can just create negative things.”