Kumar Sanu and his daughter Shannon K, who have collaborated for a song titled 9 to 5, believe that in the ever-evolving music industry one needs to keep learning

Music sure runs in their family. While renowned singer Kumar Sanu has given many timeless hits, his daughter Shannon K has now collaborated with him for a song titled 9 to 5. They talk about the experience and how the world of music has changed over the years.

But first, it’s the collaboration. “The song is about the loop that everybody is stuck in their daily lives. My younger sister Anabelle wrote and composed it. I think dad was a perfect fit to sing this song, since we wanted to include not just people from the West but also from India. He injected a little bit of Hindi into the song and we made him croon some lines in English too. Overall, more of a family creation,” says Shannon.

Kumar Sanu must be a proud dad indeed, but says there were not a lot of similarities between them. He says, “While singing there are expressions that are similar, but her tonal quality and accent is different. I keep giving her tips to bring in variety and variation. She is a very good singer and a brilliant actress as well, but I keep on guiding her whenever possible.”

Collaborating with such a big name like Kumar Sanu would have been a tough task, so was Shannon nervous? “Usually, I am the one who is nervous whenever it comes to collaborating with dad or just in general having him around the room when I am recording, but this time around it was different — dad was the one who was a little nervous, as we told him that he would sing in English too,” says Shannon.

Comparisons are bound to arise and also the pressure of being the daughter of such a famous singer must be immense, but Shannon says, “I lived in London and that’s where I got all my music training from. From there, I went to the US. It was more of a natural decision from me to sing in the West. I did come back to my roots and wanted to sing in Hindi too. The pressure was not so much in the beginning but later it grew on me, largely due to social media. I think all the artistes have pressure and some sort of responsibility upon their shoulders, as we represent the Indian culture.”

Truly inspired by her dad, Shannon says her favourite song by him is Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye from the Bollywood film Jurm. “I grew up listening to my dad’s music. He was my first guru and I remember when I was about three years old, I would beg my dad to take me down to his recording sessions as I would enjoy the whole experience.”

Regarding the current state of music, Kumar Sanu believes, “There have been a lot of changes in singing. The voice preference of the past is not there anymore, instead we have a sound preference. Emphasis is placed on different types of beats. But this generation is struggling to build their identities; to establish an identity one has to be versatile and not stick to a type. The idea is to keep learning and evolving.”

Regarding their upcoming projects, she says, “We have loads coming up. Some of them are also in Hindi, so I am very excited for all my fans out there. Get ready to hear me in Hindi once again. We are planning to create this beautiful father and daughter track. We’ll be collaborating very soon.” Looking forward!