Indian singer Sona Mohapatra makes her Times Square Billboard debut

Indian singer, music producer and performer, Sona Mohapatra, makes her debut appearance on the Times Square Billboard in New York today.

She has been handpicked as part of a campaign by a music-streaming platform, and will lead the Indian leg of the global campaign for the entire month of July. Her single‘Aise Na They’ will feature all this month on the platform’s playlist as she joins other global artists such as are Meryl (France), Bowklylion (Thailand), Nadin Amizah (Indonesia) and Anikv (Russia).

Talking about this ‘milestone’ achievement in her career, Sona Mohapatra said, “To be woken up in the middle of the night to see photographs of my face on a billboard covering a skyscraper in one of my favourite cities New York was a surreal feeling. To be one of the first independent musicians to be given this place is a pop culture milestone because it paves the way for artistic expression of various hues and colours free from cookie-cutter formulas in musical mainstream success. I have been consistently releasing original music for many years, have fought many battles for IP & residuals for artists and it has been exhilarating...”

She also wrote a heartfelt note Instagram about her dream debut. “To be on a Times Square, #NewYork City billboard is a #popculture milestone for any artist. To be the face of a message for a more EQUAL world an honour. Happy to toot my own horn by saying that yes, I’m possibly the rare if not first independent artist to be here on my own hustle with some incredible allies. Thank you @spotifyindia @spotify , Padmanabhan NS , Tulika & others for their love of artists & thank you @believemusic for your belief.@ramsampathofficial you are the wind beneath my wings. @dilipmohapatra you give me my fighting spirit & crazy need for attention to details , Nayantara Mohapatra you are my source code of all things good. This is just the beginning of things to come though #India !! (sic)” read the caption of her post in parts. 

Composed by Ram Sampath (also, her partner) and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, ‘Aise Na They’, revolves around a relationship which has lost its fizz, but a sense of optimism is infused in the track through the lovely sound of the hills with pop rock blended with ethereal flutes & tingling mandolins.