New Delhi, March 17 (VOICE) Today’s youth tilts towards exploring exciting new forms of music. Contemporary genres such as hip-hop are becoming increasingly popular among the youth of the country, while Bollywood melodies remain integral to their cultural milieu. For many years, music has been a key consumer engagement pillar for Seagram’s Royal Stag.
Celebrating the spirit of ‘Living it Large’, it presents Royal Stag Boombox, a first-of-its-kind musical experience. It is the sound of a young generation, a tribe that tends to make rather than follow trends; a tribe that is in constant search of soul-touching experiences. The music property intends to stir the imagination of this generation, blending music they have inherited, Bollywood scores, with the genre that speaks to them, Hip Hop. This mix will have the swag and emotional heft of Hindi cinema’s best compositions and the throbbing vibe and vigour of hip-hop.
The festival is set to tour five Indian cities: Pune, Indore, Manipal, Bhubaneswar and Jalandhar, where close to 50,000 people are set to have the time of their lives. This cultural movement manifests itself in two unique, engaging formats as the brand revealed a glimpse of what’s in store:
The in-studio format; a unique Phygital music concept featuring four original Melody x Hip Hop music tracks that will be released as singles and videos across platforms.
On-ground format; this format will travel to five of India’s biggest youth hubs – Pune, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Manipal and Jalandhar, to offer a heady cocktail in each city, of enviable headline acts alongside food, culture and merchandise. Quite simply, a true-blue youth carnival feel that cannot be missed.
Commenting on the unveiling of Royal Stag Boombox, Kartik Mohindra, CMO, Pernod Ricard India, said: “Music and experience bring people together like nothing else and are natural enablers of conviviality. Royal Stag has always strived to pulse with the passion points of the youth of this country and Royal Stag Boombox is the perfect platform for the brand to connect with tomorrow’s India. Royal Stag Boombox is a direct extension of the Royal Stag philosophy of ‘Living it Large’, while offering a unique opportunity of coming together and enjoying new experiences. It has created a new soundscape by blending two exciting genres, hip-hop and melody; this might just become the new rhythm of young India!
Singer-songwriter Armaan Malik said: “Music is no less than therapy in the right moments; it moves people and brings them together unlike anything else. I am glad to be part of Royal Stag Boombox, a music festival specially curated to spread love and joy through the medium of live music.”
Armaan Malik and Badshah while speaking with IANSlife
Tell us about Royal Stag Boombox? How excited are you about the property?
Armaan: Royal Stag Boombox is a very unique IP. I feel like the whole concept is getting Bollywood and hip-hop together. These are two genres that people wouldn’t think would fit together. But the royal stag boombox has made that happen. And there are a lot of eclectic genres that are going to be mixed in this IP. A lot of exciting artists and performers are going to come together to make very interesting and unique music for the audience. And while you know, there’s a studio aspect to the IP, there’s also a live on the ground aspect to the IP, which I’m very excited to be part of. And I can’t wait to bring my mindset to the royal stag boombox and have a fun time with all the audiences in Jalandhar.
What do you think of the hip-hop scene in India from the standpoint of music?
Badshah: Brilliant, never been better. Only going to get better.
What will be different about this experience?
Badshah: The diaspora of the genres is quite audacious, and I think, full points to Royal Stag for bringing such different artists on one stage together. And a huge thanks as well.
What is the team hoping to accomplish in this space?
Badshah: It’s always tricky, but once you land on the sweet spot, I think that’s the moment of your Echo for any musician.
How does the idea of combining the punch of hip-hop with the melody of Bollywood sound to you?
Armaan: I think when you look at these two genres independently, you will always be focused on how to make these two different worlds come together. But when you sit down and actually make the music, it seamlessly fits, because ultimately, all kinds of music have one origin and all kinds of music have seven notes, there’s not that much difference that can be between two different genres of music.
Firstly, with hip hop there’s a free verse, there are people, especially rappers and emcees, who are able to express themselves in a verse, which could be melodic, could not be melodic, while it’s on a beat, which is obviously hip hop based, R&B based, not entirely Bollywood because Bollywood may you have local beats like dholak Tabla.
These are the sounds that usually you associate with Bollywood. But the Bollywood sound is also evolving. If you compare the 2022 Bollywood sound to the early 2000s Bollywood sound, it’s completely different. So I feel like the amalgamation is not something contrastingly shocking. It’s actually synergised in a beautiful way, and I can’t wait to see all the tracks that come out of this amazing IP royal stag boombox.
No other brand owns this space. How does it feel to be the pioneers in this segment?
Armaan: Well, I think being part of something that’s a first is always an honour. As young Indian artists, this is a very exciting time in music, especially because we are getting to collaborate. Before in the industry, not a lot of people used to collaborate with each other. There used to be a lot of hesitation to collaborate with another competitor or another artist, those things, those barriers have broken down in the last 10 years.
And the Indian music industry is in such a place where be it whichever genre, whatever kind of artists you have, whichever city or state you’re from, you can always collaborate with another artist and come up with something unique. And that’s what is happening here. So I’m very excited to be part of this. This thing that’s happening for the very first time is the amalgamation of two extremely polar opposite genres and the outcome is going to be amazing. I can’t wait for the audience to listen to all the amazing songs.
(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
