‘Desperado’ unites two Canadian artists who have found the sweet spot between the vibrancy of Indian pop music with an appeal that speaks to huge western audiences: Raghav is a cross-cultural pioneer with four UK Top 10 hits to his name as well as a MOBO Award, while Tesher’s ‘Jalebi Baby’ (a collab with Jason Derulo) climbed charts all over the world and exceeded 500 million streams, leading to a 2022 Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Who were your musical influences growing up?

It was a musical house, old school Bollywood, Harry belafonte, Michael jackson .. it was all over the map.. 

Tell us about your new single Desperado and what inspired it?

I mean, it was a nod to a sound that was on my debut album, vintage Bollywood mixed with beat driven r&b / pop.. both fresh and nostalgic mixed with a dangerous vibe is what we were going for . 

How did the collaboration with Tesher come about? 

When MUSHTAQ and I wrote the song, Tesher’s jalebi baby was pretty much running the world .. when we approached Tesh he articulated what my music meant to him and was excited to hear the new stuff .. this song was meant for him.

Describe your music in 3 words 

Honest, soulful, melodic 

If you could collaborate with any other artist – who would that be? 

Stevie Wonder 

If you had to be remembered for one thing apart from your music what would you want it to be? 

Being a great dad. 

You’ve had a hugely successful career and one of the first South Asian artists that broke globally – what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received? 

The art is the heart, not the chart. 

If you could create your dream festival headliner – who would have on it? 

Little Richard.

By Siân Parker

Follow Raghav:

Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

Follow Tesher:

Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram

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