All of 17, Chandrika Darbari, better known as Rika, was on the same spot as Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus, no less, on the Top New Pop chart of BBC Radio 1 when she released her single No Need recently. No mean feat for the teen sensation of Indian origin from Northwest London. The young girl was in Mumbai for a work meeting. “And, of course, some pleasure!” she adds, “I love the food and the weather here.” The young singer-songwriter is taken in by the diverse music scene in not just the city but all of India. “I love Bollywood songs and the lyrics they have. They’re so meaningful and heartwarming,” she chips in.
All of 17, Chandrika Darbari, better known as Rika, was on the same spot as Ed Sheeran and Miley Cyrus, no less, on the Top New Pop chart of BBC Radio 1 when she released her single No Need recently. No mean feat for the teen sensation of Indian origin from Northwest London. The young girl was in Mumbai for a work meeting. “And, of course, some pleasure!” she adds, “I love the food and the weather here.” The young singer-songwriter is taken in by the diverse music scene in not just the city but all of India. “I love Bollywood songs and the lyrics they have. They’re so meaningful and heartwarming,” she chips in.
Starting early
Rika started writing songs when she was just nine. The first song she wrote was about asking her dad to come home around the Christmas holidays. She recalls, “I wrote it on top of Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas. I still have the song somewhere.” Since then, she has dabbled in and out of songwriting. “But, I really honed in on it around two years ago,” she says. The young singer still revisits her earlier material. So what does she think of it now that she’s older? “It never fails to make me laugh,” she says, “I am really grateful for the progress I’ve made so quickly in songwriting and my sound. My voice has matured a lot over the years, and continues to.”
Message in her music
The catchy and upbeat pop song No Need talks about bullying and asks people to not be mean to someone for how they look. Before this, Rika became popular for her heartrending track Peace in Syria earlier this year. The song helped raise funds for the children affected by the violence and won her praise from Brit Asian and global audiences. The solo Brit Asian artiste believes in using her music for a good cause. “I feel there’s a lack of depth and human connection within music in the industry at the moment. I want to put messages in my songs so whenever someone hears it, it is instantly relatable and connecting with whatever situation they’re going through. I want to establish a deeper connection with my audience.”
Upcoming works
After her first official single, No Need, Rika plans to release her next single and hopefully an EP by January 2018. The teenager says that she would love to be like Mariah Carey. “In her prime, she was one of the standout artistes of our generation. She wrote the music and had a voice of an angel, and an incompatible stage presence,” she says adding that she would give an arm and a leg to work with Justin Bieber. “He is one of my favourite artistes of all time. His voice is really magical and it has been so nice to see him mature in the industry,” she signs off.
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