Akash – By My Side – Musician Spotlight

While the twenty-first-century obsession with technology and social media has certainly created its share of problems for modern-day society, there has also been a bevy of benefits that have arisen from the social media explosion. One of the most obvious benefits has been the ease at which we can connect with others from all across the globe, and this is something that hip hop artist Akash Ahuja has taken full advantage of. 

His latest single, “By My Side,” was recorded virtually on three different continents by residents of three different nations: Akash, an NYC native; Trapperx, an audio engineer and music producer from South India; and Rya Rey, a singer residing in Germany.

“By My Side” is a downbeat hip hop track, with Trapperx’s instrumentation sounding like a pleasing mix between lofi hip hop sounds and a trap beat. 

Akash alternates between singing and rapping in this track as he details how deeply he feels for his lover. “We don’t need to sip on nothing just to feel a vibe,” he sings throughout the chorus, describing that the love he feels is more potent than any alcohol could be. 

But Akash doesn’t just offer sweet platitudes on this track; his lyricism remains front and center, rapping lines such as “every other girl wanna steal my heart / and every other cat wanna bite my sound” throughout the verses. 

At the climax of the track, Rya Rey enters as Akash’s apparent lover and croons a beautiful bridge, explaining that Akash is the “fire inside my mind that I need all the time.” Together, all three artists’ own musical styles blend beautifully into one chill track.

While the majority of Akash’s music, such as his singles “Na Na” and “Ishq,” feature obvious influences from Indian Bhangra music, “By My Side” comes across as a more straightforward hip hop track. You’ll hear no alghoza or dhol here, as you might in many of Akash’s other tracks, but the song remains clearly his own: “By My Side” is obviously not just any hip hop single, but an Akash track through and through.

Akash may be new to the music scene, but he has been a quickly-rising star ever since his debut release in 2020. Last year, he became one of only a handful of Indian artists to grace a Times Square billboard, he entered into the iTunes Top 100 chart only a few months after the release of his debut single, and his YouTube account boasts over eight million views across his handful of music videos. If the response to his latest single is any indication – over 80,000 listens on Spotify alone in just under three weeks – Akash’s time in the spotlight is only just beginning.

Austin’s arbitrary rating: 3 whole continents! ✈🚂🚕

Akash Ahuja is a New York City-based musical artist whose work seamlessly blends together the worlds of modern-day hip hop and classic Indian Bhangra. His latest release, the single “By My Side,” features the talents of Jaipur, India-based audio engineer Trapperx and Germany-based singer Rya Rey. Akash can be found on Spotify, Soundcloud, Instagram, and YouTube.

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