This World Music Day, here's the journey of popular YouTubers and singers from Jaipur

Not too long ago, singers were recognised only if they had a popular Bollywood track behind them. In terms of popularity, that is no longer a benchmark for singers, thanks to social media. From Neha Kakkar to Arjun Kanungo, besides a number of singers from the desert state, the list of those who rose to fame with YouTube is long and counting.

As musicians around the globe celebrate World Music Day on June 21, AFTERhrs traces the social media journey of popular YouTubers and singers from Jaipur, who have established channels and garnered millions of views online.

Filmmakers will alter your songs

Mohit Gaur became a household name with his Cupcake song for India’s Raw Star. “I was always interested in being a music director or lyricist; I never thought about being a playback singer. During the last year of my engineering, I got an opportunity to be part of India’s Raw Star but when the show ended, I wondered what the future had in store for me,” he says. “I wanted to do something in the field of music but wasn’t too sure how to go about it. I didn’t want to give my songs to films because all of them are like my babies. Filmmakers are known to alter songs the way they like it,” adds Gaur. “Last year, I decided to start my own YouTube channel and my first song, Phir Mujhe Dil se Pukar became immensely popular. The song has 35 million likes on YouTube. My latest, Wahin has crossed 4.5 lakh views in less than 10 days. I think YouTube is a wonderful platform to showcase your talent,” he adds.

Subscribers on YouTube: 1,25,565

Collaborative success

Taking Rajasthani music to another level, Ashok Bishnoi, known by his stage name Rapperiya Baalam, started his journey as a Rajasthani rapper and gathered millions of likes on the music video he composed and sung in collaboration with Honey Sharma. “I don’t have a YouTube channel but my journey on YouTube started back in 2013. I am a music composer and singer who works for others. Most of my recent collaborations — all Rajasthani fusions — are with Trouper Records, which is owned by actor Honey Sharma. He started the channel in 2016 and we released 12 songs together on the channel; he acted in the videos while I composed and sung them. Our song, Hariyala Banna has 18 million views, Banna Ji Robinhood has 1.3 million views and Lal Peeli Ankhiyan has 1.6 million views,” shares Bishnoi. “To be honest, people are still not interested in buying Rajasthani songs. So for me, starting my own channel was not an option. But I enjoy composing songs, which I do for YouTube channels that approach me,” he adds.

Trouper record subscribers on YouTube: 1,54,519

Armed with an idea and a cellphone!

Rajnigandha Shekhawat’s online journey began in an unexpected manner. She shared a video on Facebook hoping that it will appeal to some of the music directors in her friend list. “My career got a new lease of life, thanks to social media. Other musicians began to take me more seriously after my Cheap Thrills-Ghoomar mashup went viral on Facebook. It was the most pleasantly surprising thing to happen to me. Of course, it was all possible because people organically made it a hit,” says Shekhawat. “That’s when I realised that a musician doesn’t need anything other than an idea and a cellphone to make it work. Social media, for me, is zero per cent personal life and 100 per cent professional life. This World Music Day, I am thankful to social media, which has opened up a direct link between musicians and audience,” she adds. The mashup singer has more followers and views on Facebook than YouTube.

YouTube subscribers: 20,689

Facebook followers: 1,16,000