Samriddhi Rai's new single ‘Thaha Chha’ and all you need to know

The lady who wears many hats, from being a vlogger to a writer to a singer and also a traveller, Samriddhi Rai has done it all and says there is more to explore.

But how did it all begin?

Before coming out as an aspiring singer/songwriter, Rai worked as a journalist for 10 years. While she enjoyed the profession Rai explains how music was always in her heart. “All journalists know that the 9 to 5 job tends to extend to late hours at times, and while things were just fine, the earthquake that hit the nation on April 25, 2015, changed my perspective about life. It made me realise that life is very fragile and I should do what I really want to,” she shares.

Always a musical person, Rai has given many amazing songs to her fans since the time she pursued to become a singer. However, she humbly says, “I am not an amazing artiste who gets millions of views on all of her songs. I just love what I do and I am fortunate enough to earn by doing what I love.”

But since the nation had to go under a lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, what was it like for a traveller and an artiste to be compelled to stay confined for so long?

“I tried to stay productive during the first lockdown. As an influencer, I wanted to become a sign of hope for others. I was very active on social media and also wrote a lot of songs. I even got to work on new skills such as recording my own songs and also video editing,” she shares.

And when things actually came alive again in Kathmandu, Rai managed to bring together female artistes for a concert ‘Women Rock’ at the Lord of Drinks for Women’s Day.

“It was such an amazing feeling to have brought so many female artistes together at a single venue after the lockdown was eased. And to add cherry to the top, the event was even more amazing as I had never seen so many females in the audience all together at one place,” she adds with a bit of pride.

But not all good things last for long and another prohibitory order was imposed in Kathmandu to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Rai explains how the recent prohibitory order took a big toll on her.

“It was very difficult for me. It was almost like a deja vu. And I was travelling around for the third season of ‘Sammy Adventures’ before the lockdown took place. But sadly we had to hold off the production right before the lockdown. While I could not stay as productive as before, thankfully by the end I got my new puppy which kept me really busy.”

And now that things are almost back to normal, Rai released a new song a few days ago in collaboration with Vek which is now trending on YouTube.

The song which was written back in 2018 finally reached the listeners in 2021.

When asked why she kept this masterpiece all to herself, Rai explains, “I actually wrote this song for a friend who was an aspiring artiste back in 2018. While we were planning to collaborate, he moved to Australia, and due to the communication gap nothing really happened. And when I met Vek in 2019, I told him about the song we could do together, but for some reason we never followed up on the idea.”

But after staying cooped up for so long, they both decided to work on the song. Rai shares how she played the acoustic demo for Vek and Jyoti Shrestha, the founder and CEO of Class X Presentation, and within days the now trending song was created.

“When I listened to the song, ‘Thaha Chha’, for the first time, I was just amazed how Joyti converted my acoustic song to something so vivid,” Rai adds.

For a girl who derives inspiration from what happens in her life or even the happenings around the world, Rai says there is no hidden meaning in the song. “It is just fun, lighthearted and has a catchy beat,” she adds.

As for the music video, Rai just had plans to make a lyrical video and be done with it.

“It was Vek’s idea to do a proper video. He is such an amazing artiste and a go-getter who is fun to work with. I am thankful that he made me do a video otherwise the song may not have received so many views the way it has now,” Rai smiles.

She explains how visuals play a big effect on how popular the songs are nowadays. “I have learned that music videos are very important for the song to do well. Viewers not only look for good songs but also a good video to watch,” she adds.

Rai is thankful for where she is now today but says the grind never stops. There is more to go, and we have yet to see more of her work.

“I think I speak for all artistes when I say we are always working on something all the time. As for the future, I am working on more lighthearted songs which people can relate to and have fun at the same time,” says Rai with hope reflecting in her eyes.