Rashmeet Kaur was the winner of the maiden season of The Remix, the first music reality show to pair a singer with a DJ. But the artiste is gung-ho about originality as far as her works are concerned. Also known for having sun Heer in Phillauri (2016), Rashmi recently released an EP, Musafir, in which she has composed tunes to the poetry of Sufi greats Bulle Shah and Shah Hussain. The singer-songwriter tells us why artistes need to steer clear of only making remixes and party songs.
INSPIRED BY SUFI
Rashmeet had been working on the compositions for Musafir for three years — reading great poets such as Bulle Shah and Shah Hussain. It’s difficult to understand some of their words, so she added her own lyrics. “Since I’m a singer-songwriter, I composed all the tracks on my guitar,” Rashmeet tells us. She is influenced by Pakistani artistes such as Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Reshma, etc. and Rabbi Shergill in India, who have all explored the gems by the Sufi poets through their music.
VARIED TRACKLIST
Rashmeet has ensured that the four tracks are varied musically. Musafir is electronic, Kahaan has an organic vibe, Aa Mil Yaar is live rock band like and Main Bulbul is acoustic with just her vocals. “All of them have their own identity. I wanted to keep them different from each other so that I can show my versatility,” she explains.
CHUNK OF WORK
While artistes prefer dropping singles these days, she chose to put out an EP because she believes in giving a chunk of artistry to the listeners. “People should be able to distinguish the artiste with his or her music. They have something to listen to for a longer time and the music gradually grows on them.” Pop songs, dance numbers and remakes are the order of the day but Rashmeet emphasises on the importance of releasing meaningful melodies instead of randomly making remixes. “Poetry is organic, original and culturally rich. It needs to reach more people. There is so much available on the internet,” she points out. According to her, while it’s okay to create party songs once in a while, there’s not much meaning to it. “What message is it giving to the society or the fraternity and what’s the point of it? At the end of the day, what matters is your originality. It’s up to an artiste how they want to be known for by listeners,” she asserts.
NOT FOLLOWING A MOB
For Rashmeet, making cover versions and remixes is mob mentality and she doesn’t see herself as one among the crowd. Hence, though she is making music on already-existing poetry, she has also written the verses in the songs herself. The artiste is also writing her own lyrics for upcoming projects.
Already working on a record, she also has singles and Bollywood songs lined up. Rashmeet concludes, “It takes time for people to explore an artiste and new stuff that’s happening. That’s because they are only exposed to the same rehashes. But I have a lot of patience. So, I’d rather wait than join the mob.”
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 "Rashmeet Kaur")
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