Shael: I don’t hate rap culture, I just don’t understand it

Singer

Shael

is back with yet another song, titled

Makhmalii Pyaar

. He was in Delhi recently to promote it. Talking about the song, a romantic number, he says, “It is a romantic ballad. I have been a fan of ballads and I connect with such songs.”
Shael adds that while he has incorporated new-age melodies in the latest song, he has stayed away from the rap culture. He explains, “I am not really into rapping, I can’t understand raps. A lot of young musicians come up to me and say that they want to do a rap for my songs but I think my melodies won’t go with rap. I don’t hate the rap culture, I just don’t understand it. I don’t think I am meant for raps.”
The singer will be seen with actress Sameksha in his new song. On collaborating with her, he says, “Working with Sameksha was really fun. I have known her for quite some time. I narrated her the concept and she readily agreed.”
Shael has been in the industry for over a decade. Since then, he feels, the music industry has undergone a lot of changes. “When I started my journey in 2006, I had released an album, which had about eight to nine songs. That was the time of music CDs, cassettes, calling the distributors, working on so many songs simultaneously. It was a lot of to and fro back then. At that time, TV was the main platform for us. Today, with so many digital mediums, things have changed. I think we also connect with the audience better on digital platforms. Earlier, we used to work hard on all the songs, now the focus is on just one song at a time. It’s easier, of course. You release one song, the audience reaction is instant and after that, you begin working on the next,” says Shael.
While Shael has cemented his place in the music industry, it is surprising that music wasn’t always on his mind. He tells us, “I used to study at a boarding school in

Ajmer

and used to participate in a lot of co-curricular activities such as theatre and dancing. I used to sing as well but that wasn’t my first priority. However, when I came back from boarding school, I started taking music seriously. I thought that achcha khaasa gaa leta hoon, so I decided to train in music and the rest is history.”