MUMBAI: Popular Indian-American R&B/pop collective, THEMXXNLIGHT are gearing up for the global premier of their second independent release of 2021 which will release on 30th July across all major streaming platforms in association with THEMXXNLIGHT Entertainment Corporation. On this record, the Bay area natives team up with frequent collaborators from the revered Taylor Gang camp – producer Sledgren and rapper Wiz Khalifa.
Assuming the monikers of Luv (Krish Chandani) and Kush (Akash Chandani), THEMXXNLIGHT have been a key component on Khalifa’s earlier releases, but this track marks the duo’s maiden feature with the American rapper on their independent release, making them the first artists of Indian descent to collaborate with the rap royalty.
The duo shines once again in this luxuriant new drop by intertwining their upscale R&B style together with chill production to form an unapologetic club-ready anthem layered with honeyed hooks, sultry bass-line and slick lyrics. The record’s central theme revolves around a classic teenage love saga, with both the twins taking turns crooning about raging emotions and mixed signals centered around a love interest. The accompanying cinematic video projects an ominously sexy vibe, blurring the lines between illusion and reality.
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Elaborating on how Wiz Khalifa was roped in on the project Akash Chandani (aka Kush) states, “We had actually completed the song without Wiz Khalifa’s verse a few years ago when we started working with Sledgren. At that time, we had no idea that we would collaborate with a legend like Wiz Khalifa. We were just making the best possible music that we could out of our college dorm room. After our feature on Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers 2, we met multiple major labels to discuss our career and to show them our unreleased music. ‘Naughty Or Nice’ was a standout track amongst all the label reviews! Since it was just THEMXXNLIGHT vocals at the time, they recommended that we hold off the release till we had a good enough global feature since they believed it was already a smash hit. After tons of studio sessions with Wiz Khalifa and after our performance at Sunburn India with him, we felt we had built up our relationship to the next level. One day, we randomly decided to play the song for him in the studio to get his initial feedback. He immediately stood up and started dancing and asked, “Ya’ll want a feature on this? Man, your vocals sound insane. I’ll hop on it right now.” About 30 minutes later, he completed his verse, and the engineer arranged the song. We must have played it back around 20 times! The vibes were amazing, and we just felt super proud of ourselves in that moment. Sledgren was also in the room as well, which made the moment even greater!”
Speaking about how the song came about Krish Chandani (aka Luv) states, “In our early college years, one of us had met a girl from “The Westside”, meaning the West Coast (since our college was on the East Coast of the US). Sometimes she would be really sweet and fun to be around, but most of the time, she would play games and never commit to the relationship. One night around 2am, after a college party, we both went back to our dorm room and talked about how confused we were about this girl’s intentions. This situation inspired the creation of “Naughty or Nice” and we recorded the song on the spot. No studio. No big set up. Just us two, the mic, and a computer. This is the most anticipated song of our entire career thus far! We’re just proud of how far we have come and to be representing the Indian community around the world. This is a big moment! Words can’t describe the way I feel! Just very grateful for all the support thus far and for the love that Wiz Khalifa has shown towards us over the years. From our features on his Rolling Papers 2 and Fly Times albums, to our performance with him in front of 50,000 Indian fans during the Sunburn festival, to the release of “Naughty or Nice”, it truly is a dream come true.”
Wiz Khalifa expands further, “THEMXXNLIGHT are young legends and the future of R&B. This is a hit, and I can’t wait for ya’ll to hear it, my brothers THEMXXNLIGHT killed it, their vocals sound insane and I’m just happy to be a part of their journey. Just doing my bit to support these future stars.”
The identical twins have had an outstanding run in the global music arena thus far. With interesting collaborations featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, French Montana, Swae Lee,TM88, DJ Snake, Kirko Bangz, Roy Woods, Raja Kumari, Sukh-E, Mickey Singh in the pipeline, the young duo are quickly setting themselves up for a major global South Asian takeover and are a pair of artists you definitely need to keep on your radar.
