Pop's new frontier: Pak to India, South Asian sounds find global rhythm
Actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh took the Coachella stage in California, becoming the first artist from India's Punjab to perform at the festival.
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Arooj Aftab became the first Pakistani Grammy winner when she took home the global music performance award for her song 'Mohabbat' in 2022.
A year later, actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh took the Coachella stage in California, becoming the first artist from India's Punjab to perform at the festival.
In August, first-generation Indian American artist Avara opened her debut tour in Brooklyn, seated in a bed of rose petals as fans crowded close. Since November 2024, her monthly Spotify listeners have surged more than 250%.
“I started getting a bunch of her TikToks,” said 22-year-old music assistant Alex Kim. “Everyone has a short attention span these days, but I was like, ‘Wait a minute, I actually really like this.’”
Following the rise of Afrobeat, K-pop and Latin music, South Asian–influenced songs are the latest global trend. Warner Music Group launched 5 Junction Records in April, a label focused on marketing South Asian-inspired artists to North American audiences.
“It’s been forming slowly,” said Billboard CEO Mike Van. “We’ve seen these growth spurts in the last few years because of technology, evolving tastes, and diaspora audiences becoming active.”
5 Junction Records general manager Jürgen Grebner said the label looks for artists with strong home-country followings. “A No. 1 song in India automatically will chart in the Top 20 on Spotify’s global charts,” he said.
Toronto-born actor-turned-singer Nora Fatehi, born to Moroccan parents, became a Bollywood star before performing at the FIFA World Cup closing ceremony in Qatar. Encouraged by a Canadian talent agency, she moved to India 11 years ago, learned Hindi, and began auditioning for modelling and acting roles.
“The Indian audience is the reason I am what I am today,” Fatehi said. “While I’m becoming a global artist, I’m bringing them with me.”
To expand beyond home markets, Grebner said, artists often need local collaborations. “The only way to win in those markets is to collaborate.”
The international girl group Katseye, featuring members of Indian, Japanese, and Filipino descent, recently appeared in a Gap ad. Fatehi’s single “Snake,” featuring US pop and R&B star Jason Derulo, reached the Top 20 on Spotify charts in both the UK and Canada.
Music from South Asia — including traditions from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives — has long blended art and spirituality. North Indian classical music, especially khyal, gained Western popularity in the 1960s as sitar legend Ravi Shankar influenced artists like the Beatles and John Coltrane.
As the US grows more diverse, Van said younger audiences are showing “an overall acceptance of global sounds.” Gen Z and Gen Alpha are driving the crossover trend.
“Artists have a direct connection to fans now,” Van said. “Ten-second clips can go viral, changing how music is promoted, consumed and discovered.”
Avara, 25, built her following through social media, blending meditative R&B and soul with Indian classical and Western vocal elements. Growing up in Marietta, Georgia, she said she felt “never fully part of the brown community but never fully American either.”
Her debut album, a softer place to land, honoured the community that shaped her. Her next project, MARA, reclaims her identity as a “third culture kid” — someone raised between her parents’ heritage and American life.
Blending Indian vocal riffs with Spanish guitar and reggae, she’s forging her own sound. “I’m trying to create something completely different,” she said. “A new genre from all those influences.”
The Associated Press
