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Three different time zones, three different locations, three different industries. One song to unite three of the most exciting global performers making music right now.
Armaan Malik, a Bollywood playback singer who recently debuted in English, is from Mumbai, India. Eric Nam is a K-pop star and singer-songwriter who is based between Seoul, South Korea, and Los Angeles KSHMR is a music producer and songwriter from L.A. Together, the trio have created “Echo,” a new song that breaks down walls between three separate music industries in service of something bigger, more beautiful.
Over the course of the past year, the three musicians have taken a journey of creative collaboration — it started from a serendipitous meeting through a mutual friend, with conversations mostly happening online, but it’s led them here. “Tell me what we’re fighting for, and is it really worth the battles?” they ask on the song. And yes, it was worth it.
Teen Vogue gathered Malik, Nam, and KSHMR together on a Zoom call for the first time to go inside the making of “Echo,” their identities as Asian musicians, and what doors they hope to open with this collaboration.
The Collaboration
The story of the song is as remarkable as the careers of these three artists who came together to create it. “Echo” started as a small idea in KSHMR’s vault, but it’s grown into a cross-national, cross-genre collaboration. Nothing has been done on a pan-Asian scale quite like this before, combining the talents of artists of Asian heritage from the genres of K-pop, I-pop, and EDM.
Those who are familiar with the work of all three artists will hear elements of all of their musical identities shining on the track. Armaan Malik uses his skills as a classically trained Indian singer to bring forth unique tonal qualities, like the vocal runs towards the end of the track. Eric Nam’s verse would fit perfectly in a ballad lyrics-wise, but the backing track combined with his refined vocals make you want to both sing along and dance without a care, reminiscent of some of his other tracks, like “Congratulations.” And amidst these vocal powerhouses is the booming EDM landscape that KSHMR created, similar to the sounds on “Like a G6,” the first single by Asian-Americans to reach the no. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010.
Armaan Malik teased the collaboration on Twitter earlier on, using the code “AEKOCHE” (which was later revealed to be a combination of the song’s title, “Echo” and the initials of the three artists) leaving his fans wondering what the multi-hyphenated artist would release next. Within a couple days, fans of KSHMR and Eric Nam began to notice that there was a countdown for an announcement mirroring Malik’s.
It all began with a pre-pandemic trip to Los Angeles, where Malik linked up with KSHMR and heard the track. The two have mutual connections, Malik’s manager has been a longtime friend of KSHMR’s. “I remember being in LA at KSHMR's place and we were listening to a bunch of songs. And he played ‘Echo’ [...] I heard it and I was like, you know, why don't I just lay my vocals down,” Malik tells Teen Vogue. He wrote his verse for the track, and the project began.
“As Armaan alluded to, he's very involved. So we wrote it together, he added his very distinct flavor to it,” KSHMR says. “And then Eric came into the picture. I looked into him and I was like, ‘wow, his voice is amazing.’ And [realized] this thing could really develop into sort of a cross-national Asian collaboration, which I really love the idea of. It just sort of snowballed from this little idea.”
Shortly after, Nam was added to the project. He wrote and recorded his verse, and the finishing production elements were added. The song was sent back and forth to different parts of the world from LA, to Mumbai, to Seoul, back to LA, quite literally like an echo.
The Purpose
The three artists are constantly straddling the lines of identity within their respective careers-- which parts of their identities fit into their musical tastes, which parts they should highlight, and what stories they want to write.
KSHMR finds his Indian heritage to be an incredible resource in creating music. “Many people in the dance sphere [are] now gravitating to more World and Indian sounds,” he explains. “To infuse that music, which I love, with all this culture, which I love equally, these Indian instruments and Indian scales — I never like to drive too hard that I'm like the Indian DJ, because I was born and raised in America. [But] I feel like my job is almost to create a hybrid of dance music and Indian music. So I bring a lot of that to what I do.”
Meanwhile, Armaan Malik has been in the Indian music industry since his teenage years. He sings in 11 regional languages and finds himself typecast in the various industries he's a part of. He’s known for singing romantic ballads in the Bollywood playback world, but that’s not the type of music he wants to be restricted to creating. He debuted in English this year, putting out three singles. “You know, a lot of people ask me if I want to create this whole 'East meets West' kind of sound,” Malik says. “And that's not something that I'm going for. There was a song of mine called 'How Many', which has a little bit of tabla [an Indian classical drum] added to it. It's there, it's giving you a feel of where I come from, there are certain inflections in my voice that I do during the song which make it clear that, yeah, this guy is Indian.” He continues, “But my [identity] is pretty much an amalgamation of all the industries that I've worked in.”
Eric Nam agrees, building off this idea that identity isn’t fixed or one-note, but rather an accumulation of experiences, backgrounds, and inspirations. “I think at the end of the day, at a certain point, I’ve made a decision that whatever feels right to me, whatever I enjoy the most, that should be the sound that I'm going with,” Nam says. “Because that, in its truest form, is the best representation of what I like in music and what I want to pursue in music. And it doesn't have to be an Asian or an American thing. It is just Eric Nam's music at its core. And I think that, for me, allows me to justify whatever I want to put out.”
The Broken Industry Barriers
“Echo” has been in progress for a long time. Initially set to be released in 2020, the stars aligned for the release to happen concurrent to Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
“I really don't think there's a better time [for this song to release]. Yes, it is a celebration, this month is a celebration of Asian culture and Asian artists. But also, across the world, our communities are going through so many different things right now, for different reasons. They're all equally urgent and important,” Nam explains. “For us to kind of come together and put something out in collaboration, in unity, is something that I think is optimistic, and [something] that hopefully, the world will really like.” Malik and KSHMR share the same sentiment. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging through India, and the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes across the world, the Asian community is in need of unity and solidarity.
This unity is something all three artists hope continues in the industry. “Echo” is not only a celebration of three people coming together, but three worlds coming together, breaking down barriers for future musicians.
“I think better music can be made because we'll have these diverse perspectives on it. [...] I think the results are always better when you have people from diverse perspectives making music,” says KSHMR. Malik continues on to explain that this song is his first collaboration in his entire career, which has spanned over a decade. “Not a lot of Indian artists are represented on a global platform. We’re still in a Bollywood bubble and a lot of artists won't create their own identity. I’m really happy that I’m able to be a part of a collaboration like this,” he explains. “I hope to create a path for others to follow.”
“Echo” is out now.
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