Xperience Sessions With Indie Artist Rika

RJ Rohit caught up with London-based singer-songwriter Chandrika Darbari, who goes by the stage name Rika. Born to a Serbian mother and an Indian father, Rika was raised in North-West London. Her upbringing was influenced by pop, rock, and Indian classical music. Rika began her musical journey when she was nine years old. She joined the school choir as a child and always found happiness in music. Her single ‘No Need’, which she released at the age of 17, topped the charts in Britain and was named BBC Radio’s number one song of the week. She cites Mariah Carey as one of her biggest inspirations.

In 2017, the young artist also wrote a heartfelt song called ‘For Peace in Syria’ to raise awareness about the brutality against children in Syria, which helped UNICEF gather funds. In just a few weeks, the music video received over 9,00,000 views on YouTube, thanks to widespread support from the global Indian and British-Asian communities. She is also the first teen Asian-British musician to be signed by Virgin EMI Record Labels.

Rika is the first artist to be signed to Warner Music India, which launched last year. The artist recently released a tune called ‘Love to You’, which she collaborated on with renowned vocalist Ankit Tiwari.

RJ Rohit struck up a conversation with Indie Artist Rika about her new track ‘Love to You’. Check it out below.

—Silviya.Y