From Label Permissions to ‘New Life’: Tracking the Journey of KING’s ‘High Hukku’

Call it a true testament to KING’s unshakeable place at the top of Indian pop music or maybe just a long, patiently played out process, but his song “High Hukku” is finally getting released as part of his upcoming album New Life.

The song – which takes its hook from the Bollywood song “Haye Hukku Haye Hukku Haaye Haaye” composed by Anand-Milind and sung by Kumar Sanu and Poornima for 1994 movie Gopi Kishan – was recently performed at his debut gig in Doha on October 6th and you can watch a snippet of the song live. Originally slated to be part of his 2021 album The Gorilla Bounce and a live staple since then, the stomper of a song has undergone a few changes even as fans have waited (and joked about waiting) for a couple of years now.

With the release of New Life on October 18th, that wait ends and “High Hukku” – featuring pop artist Nikhita Gandhi on the album –  is likely to do numbers on streaming charts and radio due to KING giving a pop, hip-hop and rock treatment to a familiar Nineties Bollywood song. We’ve already seen it happen with artists like DIVINE and “Baazigar,” so it looks like it’s KING’s time now with “High Hukku.”

Earlier in 2021, KING told fans he was in “a legal process/talks with a bigsince a long time” for “High Hukku.” In the time that has passed, KING has undoubtedly created a much more influential place for himself in Indian music and globally, which should bode well when it comes to clearing permissions and rights from major labels for “High Hukku.”

So far, New Life has had two new singles, including the introductory track “Crown” featuring singer-songwriter Natania and “Sarkaare.” Since the album was put on pause during the pandemic, two previous songs “No Loss” and “Tum Saath Rehnaa” already previewed the sound of New Life back in 2019, after KING’s breakout stint as part of hip-hop reality show MTV Hustle. Now, the artist has gone on to collaborate with the likes of Nick Jonas and New Life also features American rapper Gucci Mane (“We Are The Ones”) and singer-songwriter Julia Michaels (“Runaway.”)