Singer Sonu Nigam forays into the world of NFTs and hopes to create exclusive content
I show my 1999 cassette cover during a zoom call on a rainy day in Chennai crazy, one of the hit albums of Sonu Nigam. Sitting inside a London suite a few thousand miles away, the singer flashes a grin that very quickly turns into a big smile.
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“The music business at that time was very one-dimensional,” he says, referring to the early stages of his career, “but a lot of things have changed since then. I am involved in the music industry from cassettes, discs and CDs to digital platforms.” I have witnessed massive changes till date.
He is currently part of another big trend: entering non-fungible tokens (NFTs) thanks to the partnership with Jet Synthesis. “It is something precious, either from the past or from the possibility of the future,” he says, “this is especially true for those who value the artist or the material, and for those who want it as an investment.” regarded as such.”
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Sonu’s debut in this space will be a special track titled ‘Hall of Fame’, on which he worked with composer-songwriter Jim Benz a few years back. “I have sung thousands of songs over the past few decades, but this was the hardest to sing,” he explains, “the reason I like legends like Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar is not because of their evergreen hits, but because Because he has attempted some songs which are very difficult to sing. ‘Hall of Fame’ is my attempt to do something similar.”
looking ahead
After ‘Hall of Fame’, the singer plans to release some of his other creative work as NFT; Including some handwritten papers that he personally wrote before recording some of his hit numbers. “I have this habit since I started out as a singer; I always write down the place, time and date and the team working on it when I record my songs, plus mark my observations regarding scale and pronunciation. For any music lover or collector, it is priceless to have that sheet written by the singer, as it is a memory that only he can share.
In the future, he is also expected to work on an album specifically for the NFT world. “I was thinking of doing something in particular, maybe on the works of Mir Taqi Mir or Faiz Ahmed Faiz. A musical project for an audio label is familiar among audiences, but a project especially one as NFT will be distinctive and in-demand.”
- “There are tremendous opportunities for music in the NFT sector. The creative power of what an artist creates can now be experienced by all. You can create a different kind of reach for buyers – the successful bidder can meet not only the artist , but maybe even work on a song with the musician they love. We hope it will be loved by music lovers around the world.” Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Jet Synthesis
If he does, it will be a flashback for him. Sonu Nigam is known for his non-film concerts in the nineties. Then what gave him confidence? “I realized that a lot of art could be created beyond this through independent projects. I was ready to try new things.”
Perhaps it was the urge to break boundaries that drove Sonu to the south. He is no stranger to Tamil music, having made his debut with AR Rahman’s ‘Varayo Thozhi’. jeans (1998) and later singing for GV Prakash and many other musicians. He says, “I am lucky that I got a chance to work with people like Ilaiyaraaja and AR Rahman.” “The late singer SPB was one of my special music mentors; In fact, I sang ‘Aasman Kehta Hai Rab Se’ (mast) keeping in mind his delivery style. We toured the entire US together, and he would love to imitate different singers. ,
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