5 Artistes Whose Music Will Have You Eating Out Of Their Hand At VH1 Supersonic 2018

Sean Paul

Why you should not miss him: The Grammy-award winning Jamaican rapper’s foot-tapping Temperature and Get Busy were probably the top songs ’90s kids shimmied to when they found themselves on a dance floor for the first time. It was 2012 when Sean Paul last performed in India — the year the apocalypse was supposed to swallow mankind whole — and for a moment there we thought it almost got him because he went completely off the grid before making a stellar comeback with Sia’s Cheap Thrills. The cherry on the cake is that he’s all set to rock India in October again as his tour brings him back to the country that loves to sway to his beats.

Last album released: Full Frequency (2014).

Songs we’re looking forward to hearing: Baby Boy (2003), Temperature (2005), Get Busy (2012),  She Doesn’t Mind (2012), Cheap Thrills (2015) and Rockabye (2016).

Major Lazer

Why you should not miss them: This electronic music trio comprising record producer Diplo and DJs Jillionaire and Walshy Fire first created waves in India when the video for Lean On heavily featured what looked like an ostentatious palace in Jaipur but was actually a studio in Karjat. The country couldn’t get enough of it; every club worth its salt played continues to play it on loop and the trademark dance move has now become iconic, so to speak. We absolutely love how they play up the flavours of every country that they shoot in — Watch Out For This was another video that had us marvelling at the hypnotic tenacity with which the Jamaicans gyrated. We’re expecting the energy levels to go up by very many notches during this segment so you might want to make sure you’ve got the stamina to keep up.

Last album released: Sweet Choral Motion (2016).

Songs we’re looking forward to hearing: Watch Out For This (2013), All My Love (2014), Lean On (2015) and Cold Water (2016).

Marshmello

Why you shouldn’t miss him: You could refer to him as the Banksy or the Batman of the music realm since nobody has managed to unmask the true identity of this producer, except he is unmissable when he puts on his classic giant marshmallow mask while performing. One of the first artists to transform complicated trap arrangements into lighthearted pop, he has collaborated with many high profile musicians like Skrillex, Diplo and Zedd among others. His new posthumous single with Lil Peep was released earlier this month and we’re hoping to get a good dose of what may just be one of the emerging rapper’s last works. If not that, are we being rather over-optimistic in expecting Masrhmello to reveal his true form to a fan-base that loves him so much or does the true allure of the music producer lie in his obscurity?

Last album released: Moving On (2017).

Songs we’re looking forward to hearing: Find Me (2016), Know Me (2016), Magic (2016), Summer (2016), Wolves (2017) and Silence (2017).

Incubus

Why you shouldn’t miss them: When asked why they christened their band Incubus after the mythical, libidinous male demon, lead guitarist Mike Einziger simply said that they were playing around with a few names when he chanced upon a thesaurus. He fished out the first word his eyes settled on which was Latin for nightmare and being 17 and considering themselves painfully cool, the name stuck. Much like alternative rock group Linkin Park, the nü-metal band was a favourite with ’90s kids reeking of pre-pubescent angst who embraced Incubus’ fury-laced lyrics with exuberant vehemence. The Californian boys, however, have adapted to changing times and altered their sound, having recently worked with EDM maven Skrillex on their latest studio album, making fans both apprehensive and curious about this drastic change of identity.

Last album released: 8 (2017)

Songs we’re looking forward to hearing: New Skin (1997), A Certain Shade Of Green (1997), Stellar (1999), Echo (2001), Wish You Were Here (2001) and Anna-Molly (2008).

Parekh & Singh

Why you shouldn’t miss them: This dream-pop duo from the charming city of Kolkata is instantly recognisable from their immaculately tailored, candy-coloured suits and matching deadpan expressions. The real treat, however,  is the whimsical journey that Parekh and Singh’s music takes you on — a vocal representation of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland where Nischay’s vocals and Jivraj’s drums have you meeting The Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Cheshire Cat all at once. Their Wes Anderson-esque video for I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll garnered 13,55,964 views on YouTube (as of today), a rarity for an Indie label that only catapulted to fame very recently.

Last album released: Ocean (2016).

Songs we’re looking forward to hearing: I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll (2016), Ghost (2016), Me & You (2016), Ocean (2016) and Secrets (2016).

VH1 Supersonic 2018 will take place over 9th, 10th and 11th February, 2018 at Laxmi Lawns, Pune.