Jay Singh, the man behind the Indian Trap moniker and sound, has practically spent his whole life getting ready for his grand debut with “Look Like Monayyy”
Jay Singh was 7 when he saw his father perform with his Bhangra dance crew on television in the U.K.
“I remember the bright colors of their outfits and the Indian drum rhythms were captivating,” says Singh. “I felt something connect inside me and has been there ever since.”
Singh, professionally known as Indian Trap, is a DJ who recently dropped his first single “Look Like Monayyy” in anticipation of his self-titled album. Singh’s musical style is fascinating because he melds more traditional Indian musical stylings with modern hip/hop and trap music.
“I grew up listening to R&B, hip-hop, and Indian music as well as watching hundreds of Bollywood movies,” says Singh. “I feel this has definitely helped me in being able to fuse my cultural sound with urban elements together really well and bring my Indian Trap sound. A lot of the hip-hop tempos are the same as Indian Bhangra tempos, so blending them together works really well.”
Because Indian Trap’s music is bits old and bits new, it serves to bridge generations of listeners—as well as being uniquely interesting to listen to.
“I’m excited to share this sound with my generation and other generations to come,” he says. “I guess it’s always been my goal to forge my own musical path ever since I started to DJ.”
Indian Trap has already remixed mainstream artists such as Usher, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and has produced songs for Cassie and Shakira. He has also done warm-up DJ sets for the likes of Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, and David Guetta—royalty in the DJ industry.
“I learned a lot from watching them, how their records and CDs were labeled and how they got the crowd to react by using FX’s from the controller and volume level tricks,” he says. “Everything was always fast-paced, they would come on and DJ, then rush off to their next gig.”
Indian Trap’s decision to release his single now had to do with timing. He was looking for the right female rapper and he found her with KresZenzia, who is featured on “Look Like Monayyy,” which is his first impression to most listeners.
“I decided with my team that ‘Look Like Monayyy’ is the perfect set-up record for the sound and to launch both myself and KresZenzia,” Singh says. “It has the right elements of authentic Indian sounds, flutes, vocal effects blended with dirty 808’s trap drums with KresZenzia’s flawless and powerful rap performance. The beat is sexy and uplifting so you can’t stop moving once hooked in. We also went through a few test websites where it scored 90-95% as a hit potential.”
At least one established entity within the music industry took notice of Indian Trap when NOW That’s What I Call Music! tabbed “Look Like Monayyy” for its 65th volume. That will undoubtedly help the track’s exposure to mainstream audiences.
“We never knew until a week before we actually got a space on the CD,” Singh reveals. “It’s a big step for everyone involved and a great window of opportunity for Indian Trap and KresZenzia to keep building. The guys who do the NOW compilations are really into the sound and project and want it to succeed. They told me that it’s time for a new sound to crossover, so fingers crossed!”
– story by Eugenio Torrens
