Watch Nanku Transform Into Loverboy for New Song ‘Crazy’

A lesser-known fact about New Delhi artist Nanku that he’s intentionally played down is his connection to pop/hip-hop veteran Yo Yo Honey Singh. “I’ve known him since my childhood,” says the 24-year-old.

As it turns out Nanku’s father is a family friend of Singh’s and became a mentor and financier for the latter’s music career. He used to hang out with Singh even as the hits rolled in and became a household name. When Nanku got into making music in his teens, his father told Singh about his son’s interest in music production, sharing a remix of a Pharrell song. “Then I got into [New Delhi crew] Teesri Duniya and all of that and we lost contact.”

It was with the release of his 2021 EP Milansaar – under his erstwhile moniker Udbhav – that he got a 3 am call from Singh. Nanku says, “All of us were sleeping so I couldn’t pick it up. I woke up around 4:30 or so and saw it. ‘O teri, Honey bhaiya ka missed call aaya.’”

That’s led up to the release of his newest single and music video “Crazy,” an affable love song that has all the markings of a signature Nanku tune – from playful songwriting to Bollywood references in the “O-ji A-ji” from Anil Kapoor-starrer My Name Is Lakhan. This time, however, “Crazy” also has mainstream Indian pop finesse. It’s got a glitzy music video showing a squeaky clean Nanku leading his own dance moves and romancing his beloved (portrayed by actor-model Jayati Narula) in a fancy car and on the dancefloor.

With the music video and song released on Yo Yo Honey Sigh’s channel, “Crazy” is inching close to a million views on YouTube. Nanku says he’s always played down his family connection because he knew they would look at him completely differently. “Otherwise people would be quick to think, ‘Iska toh ho hi jayega [He’s on his way to assured success].’ I think no one would look at the hard work I’d put in so far,” Nanku explains.

Still, he recounts returning Singh’s call at 4:30 am. “He almost got angry in a comic way. He said, ‘Hain? Yeh koi time hota hai artist ke sona ka? [Is this a time for an artist to be asleep?]’ That’s when he told me about a track he wanted me to produce,” Nanku says. He sent a demo back within a day and was eventually invited to Singh’s studio in New Delhi in February, asked to bring his musician friends as well. It led to him – as well as producer-singer and Teesri Duniya mate Karun – becoming part of Singh’s music-making team.

“I wrote ‘Crazy’ within two weeks of joining. I was observing how songs were written at that time, because I was coming from a completely different space,” Nanku says. There’s another song that was also readied in this time, but the artist says it’s “gonna come out once I’m ready with a gym body.” Even for “Crazy,” Nanku says he lost 15 kilograms for the music video.  

Singh’s inputs were taken because Nanku says it’s based on decades of experience in the Indian music world. “He did say it like, ‘Yeh mera input hai. Tera gaana hai, tu dekh isko. [This is my input but it’s your song, so you decide].’ I come from a psychedelic songwriting world with vague lyrics and thoughts and personal feelings. Commercial music is a total science, though,” Nanku says.

For a prolific artist like Nanku, it’s now solely about quality over quantity now that he’s working with Singh. “I haven’t seen anyone like Yo Yo Honey Singh. He has more energy than us, he’s on that level,” Nanku adds.

Watch the video for “Crazy” below.