Singer-Songwriter Tanzeel Khan On The ‘Leap of Faith’ He Took With Debut Album ‘Dastaan’

Mirroring life’s ups and downs, singer-songwriter Tanzeel Khan’s debut album Dastaan has seven songs (and one interlude) that the artist says can be heard like days of the week. That explains why he wanted to put out each song a music video. Released in full earlier this month, Dastaan brings forward a tender, openhearted songwriter like Khan, who had previously amassed a following on YouTube for affable, quirky vlogger content.

He says over a Zoom call about making a visual album, “I wanted to show people the messages of my songs not just with what they may feel by listening to the audio, but also through videos.” Working with his team and getting their inputs to match the theme of each song, Khan shot in several locales for music videos off Dastaan. A record that follows themes of finding love but also eventually dealing with heartbreak, emotionally heavy songs like “Yeh Dil” and “Socha Nahi Tha” sees Khan in the city, driving as well as at a bar drowning his sorrows. For “Khwahish,” Khan and his beloved get away to the hills and shoreside, whereas the acoustic ditty “Falsafa” sees him in the snowcapped locales of Himachal Pradesh.

The upbeat rap bop “Manzil” – featuring rapper Mr. MNV and producer Aakash – sees Khan try and mend his heart and throw a little party while he’s at it. Sonically, the title track brings in a rock ballad to the predominantly hip-hop and pop album, even as the video is self-referential in the artist’s journey so far. Akasa brings a soulful pop English and Hindi touch to the album’s most recent track, “Kaisi Hai Yeh Dastaan,” as the video finds Khan back to square one with his heartbreak.

Although Khan began writing poetry and shayaris in class 8, his first studio material came in 2020 when he released his debut single “Dilli Ki Ladki,” in full loverboy mode. An album project is understandably a big leap taken by the artist now, but Khan – who counts hip-hoppers like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole as influences – remains modest about it. “When I released ‘Dilli Ki Ladki,’ I guess my musicality was very less. Even now it’s still less and I’m learning. But I do believe I’ve grown. I’d say if it was four percent before, it’s bumped up to eight percent now,” Khan says with a laugh.

Khan counts the fact that he never made “genre-specific” content as a creator as helpful in gaining an open-minded audience who have now converted into his music supporters. The hop from content creator to musician is a trend seen in India and over the world, but Khan says a creator’s established strengths play a big role in conversion. “If someone was only doing comedy content, then I think releasing music for them would be difficult, because his or her audience probably just wants comedy skits at the end of the day,” Khan says. His advice for content creators getting into music remains simple – don’t chase likes and views for your music with the same yardstick. He adds, “If you’re making music that comes from your heart, then carry on and no matter what, there will be an audience that’ll shift slowly in your favor.”

Going forward, Khan says his music is leaning into R&B and pop while retaining his hip-hop roots. While there’s a persona he can build with his studio material, there’s a slight reluctance in taking it live on stage just yet. “I’m very shy and I do want to shake that off. I haven’t even sung in front of my parents… so I’m held back by this but I’m working on it and pushing myself,” Khan says with a laugh. Prodded often by his manager to take his songs to a stage, the singer-songwriter will begin performing live sometime this year. “We are starting with college fests and the likes… I have to do it. I’m building up my confidence until then,” Khan adds.

Listen to ‘Dastaan’ below.