At a time when independent music and streaming-friendly singles dominate playlists, Adnan Sami is embracing the changing soundscape with his latest single, Lipstick. The peppy track, packed with EDM, hip-hop influences, and rustic Indian textures, sees the singer experimenting with a younger, more contemporary sound while staying rooted in desi culture.
Inspiration Behind the Song
Asked whether Lipstick was consciously designed to appeal to a younger audience, Sami reveals that the idea began with a word that stayed in his head for years. “First of all, the word ‘lipstick’ itself had been hovering around me for a very long time. I used to keep humming using that word. I’ve always found lipstick to be one of the most interesting cosmetics. Girls, when they want to quickly leave home, will just put on lipstick and run. It’s one product that is always there in the bag. They even use lipstick as blush sometimes,” he shares.
Celebrating Indian Culture
While the track has a youthful vibe and club-friendly sound, Sami insists he never wanted to make a generic urban pop video. Instead, he consciously infused the song with Indian colours and rustic textures. “People are asking me if I’m trying to appeal to a younger audience with this look and sound. But for me, the bigger thing was celebrating our culture, which is so vibrant and colourful. It would have been very easy to make a slick urban video with glamorous girls — that would have been the easiest route to take. But I didn’t want that. I wanted to keep it Indian. You won’t get this flavour in Europe or the US,” he explains.
Musical Experimentation
Musically too, Sami experimented with contrasting sounds. “I’ve done EDM slash hip-hop with a slightly clubby vibe, but on the other hand I mixed it with rustic Rajasthani voices and the sound of the dugdugi. There’s a breakdown and suddenly the song drops into this completely desi zone. Musically, I really wanted to explore that contrast,” he notes.
Accessible Choreography
For the singer, accessibility was key not just in the music but also in the choreography. “Look at someone like Michael Jackson — he’s probably the most incredible dancer we’ve ever seen. It’s amazing to watch, but not easy to emulate. Here, I wanted something anybody could do. The hook step had to be extremely simple and fun. That was the whole idea behind it,” he adds.
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