Irfana On New Song ‘Sheila Silk’: ‘It’s A Tribute to Women Who Are Very Sexually Empowered’

After releasing a number of bops through the years such as the rhythmic “2 Pills,” the fast-paced “Program,” the hypnotic “Southside Menace” and 2021’s four-track EP Ko-Lab with fellow artist Taslina, Kodaikanal-bred rapper Irfana is now out with a brand-new track, the scorching “Sheila Silk,” out via Def Jam India.

In this interview with Rolling Stone India, Irfana discusses how she signed for Def Jam India, the inspiration behind “Sheila Silk,” what she has coming up next and more. Read below.

How did the deal with Def Jam India come about?

I was signed to Found Out Official for a while before the Def Jam contract came up. Then the song that we dropped with them, ‘Southside Menace,’ did pretty well and then they offered me the Def Jam contract. So that’s kind of a dream come true.

What has it been like working with the label?

It’s been incredible since the beginning, they’ve been incredibly supportive. I had some hard times in between as well, but they’re more than a label when it comes to things like that, they’ve been there throughout the whole thing, patiently waiting for when I was ready to drop music again. I think their belief system and their support system is what I love most, so it’s been quite great.

What can you tell us about your new song “Sheila Silk”?

‘Sheila Silk’ is a tribute to South Indian film icon Silk Smita, but it’s also a tribute to icons like her in Indian cinema. Women who are entertainers and they’re very sexually empowered, they’re like sex symbols almost. So ‘Sheila Silk’ is about taking control of that power because women like that end up entertaining the masses and giving a lot of themselves to the entertainment world. This is about me being a woman and taking control of that. It was just a really fun song to do also.

What was your experience like putting the music video for the track together?

It was really fun. It took a long time. It was the first time we did like a big, big production. So obviously there was like a lot of learning curves along the way. We shot it in Bangalore, we had a bunch of people that were already experienced in the industry join us, collaborate and co-create and things like that. So it was a really fun eye-opening learning experience. 

What else do you have planned for the rest of the year?

There’s a few releases that we’re working on right now, which I’m really excited about. We’re actually about to shoot the next Def Jam release, so I’m really excited to bring that to you and that will be a little bit more like my older sound. But this year I will be experimenting a lot too.

Watch the music video for “Sheila Silk” below: