Dubai: Saahil Karmally, a 21-year-old multi-genre electronic music producer from Bengaluru, India, is poised to embark on a project that has the potential to be a game changer for the entertainment industry during these challenging times and since the dark days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Karmally, who is best known by a stage name consisting of a single word, ‘Melli’, aims to inspire world solidarity through his music and his new single, ‘Habibi’ (Arabic for ‘My Love’).
The talented composer’s songs have been featured at major music festivals in the world including Belgium’s iconic Tomorrowland and BBC Radio UK. He’s also had his songs featured at the Spinnin’ Records Headquarters in Amsterdam.
The idea of ‘Habibi’, an Arabic-tinged ethnic-pop song that features three of Melli’s friends from Dubai, the US and India, was born when he was on a flight to the UAE from Bengaluru, his hometown in South India.
The trilingual track is sung in Arabic, English and Hindi by three of his friends and comes at a time when calls of unity across India have become the need of the hour after incidents have divided communities.
“As an independent artist, my goal has always been to promote unity through music and with this song and I aim to achieve it,” said Melli, who did a short-term course at the SAE Institute at Dubai’s Knowledge Village.
“We live in a world where cultural discrimination is real and I aspire to break these barriers only by doing what I love and loving what I do!”
The collaborators on the four-minute-long ‘Habibi’ are Dubai-based Hatem Mukattash, an engineer by day and a singer-songwriter by night, who raps eloquently in Arabic before paving the way for London’s Trinity College product Ritvika Sunku to deliver her high-pitched Hindi vibe.
The English parts are consummately dealt with by New York-born rapper and hip-hop sensation Jay Kila.
Mukattash has long dreamt of pursuing a career in music and started out by making covers and voice-overs before releasing a debut song.
Sunku, who is from Andhra Pradesh in India, has a successful VEVO YouTube channel with more than 330,000 streams.
Kila has performed all over the world and has been featured in magazines such as Rolling Stone India, Hello and more. His music combines sharp lyricism and catchy hooks to create party anthems.
‘Habibi’ was produced by Melli, Mastered by Pratham Mehra (Music Producer — Kimera) and recorded at the Silicon Oasis-based GTR Recording Studios in Dubai.
Melli and the singers are also in the process of putting together a follow-up music production for ‘Habibi’. The music video, will feature clips of more than 100 people from different countries around the world dancing and grooving to the song while sporting their country’s flag to emphasise solidarity.
‘Habibi’ by Melli is available on all major online streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer and other stores.
