AIR MILES

Business Traveller India speaks to Armaan Malik, a 29-year-old Indian multilingual singer-songwriter with over 10 billion streams of over 250 songs in a dozen languages. He is the youngest Indian-origin singer to perform at The SSE Arena, Wembley, and win the SSE Awards Live Act. Armaan entered the global scene with his MTV EMA-winning debut English single 'Control,' followed by 'Next 2 Me,' which earned him a spot on Billboard's Top Triller Chart. He became the first Indian artist to perform for the Grammy's Global Spin with tracks like 'How Many' and 'You.'

- 

How has your travel experience influenced your music, creatively and emotionally? Can you point to specific places or cultures that have profoundly impacted your sound?

Travel has played a huge role in shaping my music, both creatively and emotionally. Performing in different parts of the country and the world has shown me how music transcends language and culture. In a concert in Kochi (Kerala), the audience sang along to my Hindi hits with as much love as they did for the South Indian tracks. That concert reinforced my belief in music’s universal power. Another region that has influenced me is Turkey and the Middle East. Dubai and Istanbul are multicultural cities, and every visit to these places exposes me to new languages, sounds, and styles.

You’ve likely encountered many different musical traditions in your travels. How do you balance staying true to your artistic vision while integrating new influences from around the world?