Amidst the chaos of daily life and the stress that comes with adulting, we all need a safe place. A safe place that doesn¡¯t just soothe you but makes you feel alive. For many, Prateek Kuhad¡¯s music is that safe place.
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I first heard Prateek Kuhad when I was sipping red-velvet hot chocolate at a cafe with a close friend. As soon as I heard the song, I wanted to know who the singer was. I learnt that the song that had managed to transport me to another place was ¡®100 words¡¯ by Prateek Kuhad.
Not only did the song perfectly add to the mood in the cafe covered in fairy lights, it made me curious as a music lover.
Being an independent artist came with a lot of challenges for Kuhad.?Rolling Stone India hailed Kuhad as ¡°one of the country¡¯s leading singer-songwriters.¡± His magic managed to transcend boundaries: he found frequent top-spots in radio lists, soon garnering a slew of accolades and honours around the globe.
Thanks to his mesmerising, cinematic songwriting and the way he manages to say the most apt things through his music, he left Millennials with a lot of feels. In March 2019, he spoke about his first starting out. He spoke about the struggles of an independent song maker.
He said,?¡°The first couple of years...it was not like I was making a lot of money. It was just that my first record which was in 2013...before that in 2011, I was doing stuff. I was still in college. I was doing it for fun, more for myself.?
"It was in 2013 when my first serious release 'Raat Raazi' happened. I got some attention and festival slots, started seeing some fans who would show up at every show. It was like a step up. I continued to do it,¡± he explained.
However, music being heard isn¡¯t equivalent to recognition. For Prateek, his music was being enjoyed by many but people still didn¡¯t know him well.
"I still don't feel famous. I don't think a lot of people know me. My music is pretty well known. But it's not like I am sitting on my album covers, all my music videos or putting up my photos all the time,¡± he said.
A lot of people started touting his music as the antidote to a bad break up or a heartbreak. But with his variety of songs like ¡®Kho Gaye Hum Kahan¡¯ and ¡®Jab Tu paas Aati Ho,¡¯ he tried to break that image. Thanks to his latest hit Cold/Mess fans have?now started liking and appreciating his way of story-telling as well.
Photo by Namroud Gorguis on Unsplash
In the video, a couple revisits their happy relationship after a breakup and his song perfectly fits in the withdrawals that couples go through after breaking up.?
Prateek Kuhad¡¯s music is as real as heartbreak and wait, there¡¯s much more to it. In an age of remixes that make us cringe and question if there is any originality and real talent left, Kuhad¡¯s music is the beam of hope that lights up hope for many.