KK and the music that made him immortal

KK delivered chart-topping hits for 25 years. (Image via Twitter/@VishalBhardwaj)

In 1999, against a backdrop of war, Wimbledon glory and Winamp ubiquity, KK got his big breakout moment. First came his debut album, Pal, produced by the legendary composer Lesle Lewis, and released on Sony Music in April. To our young Channel V and MTV-bred ears, it was melodic and modern, with unusually light production involving guitars and drums, yet instantly an earworm. For an entire generation, Pal became the soundtrack of the summer: Of casual hangs and road trips, parties and new friends, farewell notes and fleeting crushes.

We consumed “Yaaron” and “Aap Ki Dua” also as music videos – which were key to cementing KK’s place in the galaxy of pop stars of his time. Paradoxically, there’s a YouTube clip of KK performing “Aap Ki Dua” at I-Rock in Rang Bhavan, Mumbai, later that year – the mecca of all Indian rock. Judging by the number of plastic bottles that were hurled at him on stage, this was not his room, ostensibly because Hindi pop-rock balladry was not to this audience’s taste. But he wouldn’t have to wait too long to find his fan base.

Mera chhota Bhaiyaa.
Hum saath aaye thay dilli se. Humara pehla break pehli film pehli kaamyaabi ek saath- MAACHIS
(Chhodh aaye hum wo galiyan. He also sang the 2nd music in Lata ji’s pani pani re)
Anginat lamhe.. anginat yaadein..
Bepanah dard..
Bichhdey sabhee baari baari.. pic.twitter.com/gHrJHqpA9g

— Vishal Bhardwaj (@VishalBhardwaj) June 1, 2022

That June, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam scorched through theatres. And almost instantly, KK’s “Tadap Tadap” became the heartbreak anthem of the year. It wasn’t his first go at playback singing – he’d also notably been part of “Chhod Aaye Hum” from Maachis – but it was the one that made him a star overnight.  

Listen to “Tadap Tadap” now, and you’ll still be transported to your specific memory of it – because that’s what all good art does. Listen to how his voice undulates, oscillating between pure passion and uncontainable sorrow. How he stretches every syllable to the highest of notes, making Mehboob’s lyrics elastic with emotion. How he at once anchors and liberates this haunting composition by Ismail Darbar.

In 2000, unsurprisingly, KK won a Filmfare award for this track, confirming what the world already knew: Here was a musical star for the new millennium, a new generation. His velvet voice, with its ability to reach extraordinary depths, was unique. He was like nothing we’d heard before. He was ours.  

Music was in KK’s blood. Krishnakumar Kunnath hailed from a musical family in Delhi. Early on, he realised he couldn’t be in music school even though he could mimic whatever he was listening to, almost perfectly. It might as well be a stroke of fate that this man’s once-in-a-generation talent was steeped in light classical music as well as Billy Joel, Kishore Kumar, Sting and 1980s Western music. A multitude of influences that no doubt contributed to his singing style: breaking fresh from the classical forms that underlined everything before, predicting the globalism of the artists that came after.

While at KMC in Delhi University, KK toured the college music circuit as drummer and lead singer for the band Horizon. A short and unpleasant stint selling typewriters followed, because real life hit. And then he moved to Mumbai upon the urging of his wife Jyothy. As for countless musicians before and since KK, the advertising industry was bread-and-butter as he tried his luck in big bad Bollywood. 

He was only 53.
He sang his last song.
And quietly passed away.
In music he lived life, in music he met death.
Sorrow is for the rest of us, for KK it’s possibly a Stairway to Heaven.

— Gautam Chikermane (@gchikermane) May 31, 2022

At that time, Indipop was in a moment of flux after years of ruling the roost at Channel V and MTV. The music video was still king; but it wasn’t translating into album sales for the artists. Punjabi pop, till then the biggest seller, was losing some of its lustre. Mixtapes were where the action was at. Already suffering from a debilitating blow from music piracy, this whole scene was about to be eclipsed by the remix era, heralded by DJ Aqeel, come 2001.

As it does, Bollywood absorbed the best of the talent that Indipop had shined its light on. In doing that, it also caused a seismic shift in Bollywood music itself: in tone, composition, influence and lyrics. KK was part of the brigade that can take credit. And yet, he was no workhound, always prioritising quality over quantity, creative freedom over top billing. He called recording a “spiritual experience” and refused to tamper with that which was sacrosanct to him.

KK delivered chart-topping hits for 25 years. His voice flexed as much for dancefloor numbers as for romantic ballads. If you need a reminder of his range, sample him being morose and wistful in every song he sang for Emraan Hashmi on screen; and then hear him scream like the screamiest of punk rockers on “Main Khuda” from Paanch. He wasn’t easily pigeonholed as the voice of a certain star or typecast into a genre. He won many awards, commanded large audiences at countless concerts, worked with the best in the industry and made it count.

Social media is awash with tributes to KK. Those who knew him within the industry remember him for his kindness, humility and sense of humour as much as his talent. His fans are recalling memories made special by his music. And a significant amount of this reminiscence goes back to KK’s work in 1999, to “Yaaron” and “Pyaar Ke Pal”.

Could this be because, as critics the world over have realised, all pop music now sounds the same, and is thus less memorable? Perhaps. But it probably has more to do with the fact that, with Pal, KK articulated certain timeless truths and universal impulses, things as simple as they are profound: The spirit of platonic bonding, the joy of infatuation and the pain of first love, the fleeting nature of youth, the desire for human camaraderie, the hard knock of mortality. And in doing so - in channelling the idealism, naivete and bittersweet texture of youth - his music has become immortal.

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KK passed away on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.