Yunan: Many artistes would kill to have Raftaar as their mentor

Young hip hop artist Yunan has had a roller coaster ride to be finally recognised as a singer.

Aug 18, 2021, 5:15 pm ISTNewsIANS

Yunan Raftaar.

Young hip hop artist Yunan has had a roller coaster ride to be finally recognised as a singer.

He has songs like 'Netflix And Chill' featuring Raftaar, 'Kyu' and 'You' and the latest single 'Slay' to his credit.

Sharing the thought behind 'Slay', Yunan told IANS: "It's a commercial dance track with some slick Spanish vibes. I was just sitting in the studio one day and started randomly scripting lyrics inspired by the saying of 'couples who stay together slay together', and then boom, I just conjured up the title of the track."

Uday Sachdeva, also known as 'Yunan' began his career as a dancer in 'Dance India Dance Lil' Masters' in 2012 followed by a short acting stint in MTV Splitsvilla Season 12. He shared, "The journey as an artist has been quite a learning curve. I'm grateful that I have platforms like Kalamkaar and Sony Music India to market my music when there is new talent cropping up by the minute in the music market."

Having been passionate about dance and music since an early age, Yunan, 23, found his mentor in popular rapper Raftaar who has been guiding him since the age of 16.

Talking about being spotted by Raftaar, he told IANS: "It's been 10 years now that I have known him. I met him in 2010 when he visited my hometown for a competition. He gave me an opportunity of a lifetime where he became my dance guru. Since then, there has been no looking back and he's been kind enough to take me under his wings under Kalamkaar. I started my innings in the music world because of him and he helped me discover the artiste in me."

Raftaar featured the young music artiste on his tracks 'Sick', 'Beshaq' and 'Mundiya Di Mautt'.

Having an opportunity of learning from Raftaar has been a game-changer for Yunan. "Raftaar is not just a mentor but a brother and a friend. I consider myself blessed to have such an amazing guru especially at such a nascent time of my career. A lot of artists would kill to have Raftaar as their mentor," he said.

The singer's biggest music inspiration is Justin Bieber. "I aspire to be called the Justin Bieber of Hindi pop someday. That's my personal benchmark," said Yunan.

Currently, Yunan is working on few collaborations and also on his original tracks. "I'll be putting out my debut EP followed by my album. I'm going to be experimenting a lot with these two showcases."