Fire in Delhi hitmaker BombayMami, who is a Swiss-Indian artiste, discusses how her Indo-American influences helped her create the track that’s going viral on social media
Bombay Mami
While catering to an audience that is in contrast to their own, an artiste is often forced to question whether putting their own cultural history on a pedestal would work in favour of or against them. That, however, is a fact that did not bother BombayMami, who could explore a bit of every world with her music, because “nobody knew where I was from”.
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“The Black community thought I was mixed race, and people from the south American community thought I was one of them,” she says, quick to add in jest, “But, not white people, obviously.” Being “racially ambiguous” implied that the singer was never “put in a box” and could explore “a variety of [genres].”
It worked in her favour, says the emerging Swiss-Indian artiste, who recently hit headlines for arresting TikTok users with a powerful visual of herself snowboarding down a snow-clad Swiss Alps mountain in desi bridal wear, belting out a verse from her upbeat track, Fire in Delhi. It’s a visual she long held in her heart, having been certain that she would employ it in one of her works.
“But I didn’t [anticipate this response]. I thought people would say, ‘This is so fierce’. But, I never thought it would have such an impact. It has changed the way people are seeing me,” she says of the song that was the result of the heartbreak she endured following a breakup. “I now understand what it means when artistes like Amy Winehouse speak of how pain and desperation [make one’s] music more intense. I needed to feel like I was the captain of my ship again,” she says, having stated that the city of Delhi appeared to mimic the intensity of her emotional state.
Becoming BombayMami
The emerging artiste, who grew up in Switzerland, has juggled life in India and the European country. Her father’s admiration for Indian classical music rubbed off on her, and the genre became an integral part of her identity as concerts began to be held at her home. Yet, BombayMami had a late professional head start, beginning her Indian classical music training only during the lockdown. “While growing up, I was influenced by R&B and inspired by [artistes] like Timbaland.” American musician Timbaland’s use of Indian samples in his songs left an indelible mark on her. “Seeing my Indian roots being used in the style of music I loved, [moved me].”
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