With his recently released K-Pop version of Bappi Lahiri’s Jimmy Jimmy, K-pop singer, rapper, and music producer Aoora — known for his successful solo career — is on an astonishing musical journey to combine Indian and Korean music. The K-pop sensation talks exclusively to The Pioneer about creating the first-of-its-kind version of the cult classic, his love for Indian music, and more.
Tejal Sinha
People have become more familiar with K-Dramas, K-Pop, and BTS thanks to the rise in OTT consumption during the pandemic. K-pop is still a huge phenomenon in India. K-pop culture has been expanding in India, which is not surprising. With this, we’ve got the first-ever musical fusion of K-pop, and one of India’s best-known song Jimmy Jimmy from Disco Dancer. You read that correctly! The iconic song just received a K-pop makeover from India’s oldest music label, Saregama.
In order to make a K-pop rendition of Jimmy Jimmy, a song by Bappi Lahiri that has become a cult classic, K-pop sensation Aoora collaborated with Saregama, the oldest music label in India. Having a conversation with Aoora and hearing him talk about his love for Indian music and what attracted him the most to creating Jimmy Jimmy in the K-pop version made us happy.
Disco Dancer, starring Mithun Da, is remembered as one of the best “classics” thus far because of the adoration it earned both immediately after its release and even today for all the apparent reasons. In fact, the combination of Mithun da and Bappi da is still praised for being timeless. Not just for the Indians, but Jimmy Jimmy happens to be one of the Love Back singers’ favourites. Isn’t it something to be truly proud of then?
K-pop has become the magic wand that has swept the Indian youth off their feet. Aoora, who was really thrilled to sing his first-ever Hindi song, has been amazed and humbled by all the love that he’s received from India. “It makes me want to explore more about India and create more projects that unite both Indian and Korean people. The immense love I have been shown is a constant motivation for me to connect our cultures through my work,” he shared.
According to him, his journey has been an interesting one, and with all the ups and downs that he’s had in his journey, he believes in doing the best. He explained, “I take success and failure in the same way. Everything is new for me. I try to do better than yesterday, and I try to do things I believe in and love. That is why today I stand grateful for the abundant love and support I have received.”
While in conversation with the sensation, we noticed that he’s always had a deep admiration for Indian music. His post on Instagram evinces his love for Indian music. His posts have often featured an amalgamation of Indian music. Going further, he expressed his deep love for Indian music. The music sensation added, “I love Indian music, especially the energy and grandeur of Bollywood songs. When I heard the Cham Cham song for the first time, I was so attracted to it and compelled to explore more Indian content. Since then, I have been completely in love with the magic of Indian music.”
Recreating a cult classic is not a cakewalk. There’s a lot that goes into creating and making a particular song a ‘classic’. But if we look at the K-pop version, it has turned out to be a hit. This version has, in fact, set a record by gaining over 1.1 million views in just 3 days and has been a buzz for all the right reasons. But we did wonder if he had felt any sort of challenge or pressure while creating this song. Speaking of it, he said, “It was a fun and amazing experience to sing this iconic song. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. While performing such an iconic song, I did not encounter any significant challenges. Rather, it was a more fun and enjoyable journey where I was able to put my idea of blending the two different musical genres together. I cherished the opportunity to infuse my own ideas into this iconic piece.”
Making history, in fact, by becoming the first time ever that a Korean singer is singing in Hindi, and that too an iconoclastic Bollywood song, he gleefully shared, “I did not feel any sort of pressure. I was only focused on creating good music and giving my absolute best to the project. My dedication and passion were my driving forces throughout the process.”
Aoora was given the opportunity for this remarkable collaboration through music label Saregama after he expressed his desire to create a K-pop version of this song to a friend in India via an online meeting. Saregama was enthusiastic about the idea and wanted to experiment, and that’s how this one-of-a-kind version came about.
Energy-wise, he feels both K-pop music and Indian music possess striking similarities. In terms of difference, he felt, “K-pop songs are an overall visual and musical experience where people work very hard in crafting stylish images and a captivating visual feel. On the other hand, Indian music also has a grand scale with a slightly different visual treatment.”
An interesting revelation: In the forthcoming months, they’ve got plans to release nine more songs in the captivating K-pop style. Furthermore, he also expressed, “I have a deep appreciation for Telugu and Tamil songs, and if given the chance, I would gladly explore opportunities within the South Indian music industry.”
As we come to the end of the conversation, Aoora shares that he holds great admiration for Indian rapper King. “His musical prowess and artistry have left a lasting impact on me, and I find immense inspiration in his work,” signed off the artist on a brighter note.
