“I released a song called ‘Jacquemus’ because I went to a department store and saw some funny looking bags,” says Canadian-Indian artist Tesher, who released his third solo single on Friday. When he realised that Jacquemus was actually a luxury fashion brand, known for its handbags, things started clicking. “I wanted to paint the picture of a woman who was very fashionable — a scene stealer, a show stopper. What would make that happen?” He figured: probably a Jacquemus bag.
Tesher says he wanted to create a song that would sound familiar to people across cultures. The song is infused with influences from Brazilian Baile Funk, Bollywood and hints of other regional Indian music. He noticed that the Baile Funk he was listening to had a lot of similarities to South Indian music, “like the dhinka chicka drumbeat”. Tesher’s own musical influences are multi-fold. He grew up listening to Bollywood, bhangra and bhajans at home. But his hometown, Regina, in Canada’s Saskatchewan province did not have a large South Asian community, he was also heavily influenced by hip hop of the Noughties. Blending these genres was a way for him to reconcile his own identity through music. “I think a big reason I’m able to make such big crossover hits is because I’m a crossover guy,” he says. “I was fortunate to have grown up with an equal sense of South Asian music and Western music. That has just helped me be successful in creating my own fusion music.”
Before Tesher started making music full time, he worked in marketing. It wasn’t until early 2020 that he decided to start putting out his music. His first single, ‘Young Shahrukh’, a rap song inspired by the iconic Bollywood actor, became a viral hit. His second single, ‘Jalebi Baby’, followed suit, earning him a remix featuring popstar Jason Derulo. The remix landed on the US Mainstream Top 40 charts and inspired hundreds of dance-along reels on Instagram. Tesher says he produces songs based on what sounds good to him musically, and later considers whether the output would work on social media. “Although it helps massively to have a song trend on reels and TikTok, the end product needs to be strong. You’re only going to go viral if your actual song is really good.”
Still, the relationship between catchy songs, like ‘Jaquemus’, and trendy, social media-friendly dance routines, is undeniable. ‘Jaquemus’ music video, set at a crowded house party, features a high energy urban street style-Bollywood fusion dance routine. In fact, the focus is on the dancers, who represent the “woman” the song is about, while Tesher, lyrically and performance-wise, takes on more of a narrator’s role. “It’s a dancey song and it does work symbiotically with the landscape of social media,” he said, adding that the response he got to the song was energising, making it perfect for the summer. “I see this song playing at people’s house parties, [where] people are dancing, being intimate, drinking... We wanted to paint the scenes we saw in our lives in the music video.”
The video, which shows a party attended mostly by young South Asians who are dancing, drinking and canoodling, did raise some eyebrows. “So many people got mad at me for showing intimacy. I was like, ‘bro, that’s life’,’” he says, adding that before the scene was shot, the core crew, made up of South Asians, asked the couple, “are your parents going to be okay with this?”
“We care about our culture, we care about being good people and having a level of tradition, but that doesn’t mean we should censor ourselves and not embrace our sexuality,” Tesher adds.
Tesher says after ‘Jacquemus’, his career is going to be music intensive. He said that the success ‘Jalebi Baby’ brought him resulted in him checking off a lot of his life’s goals. “Although it leaves you fulfilled, it also leaves you a little lost,” he says. But his passion for creating fun, experimental music remained constant. “My life is like I’m driving in India, I’m just going, it might be a little chaotic. I might almost crash into something. But as long as I’m going, I’m going to be fine.”
