Simanta Shekhar: Mika not King of Indipop

Singer Simanta Shekhar took a dig at fellow singer Mika Singh and called into question his ‘title’ of King of Indipop.

“There is no doubt about Mika’s popularity. Even I like his songs, but I don’t like his voice and his tone. Mika thinks he is the King of Indipop but that is not true. Even folk songs can be considered Indipop. Just singing any random part written by someone doesn’t make anyone the King of Indipop,” Shekhar said.

Shekhar’s recent romantic-rock track Gaanja Liya was well-received. He has now created a folk fusion version of Bappi Lahiri’s ‘80s hit Jilele Jilele.

With his experience with folk songs as well as rock, Shekhar is now open to trying his hand at Bollywood numbers.

Considering the heavy competition in the film industry, he said: “I listen to songs of all the singers of Bollywood. I listen to and appreciate the singing of Arijit Singh, Ankit Tiwari and several other singers from the industry.

“The good thing about them is all of them are unique in their own style and no one blindly copies anyone. Copycat singers are never successful at establishing their status in the industry.”