Q&A: Naini Invites You Into Her Inner World on “Temple”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY MOLLY PECK ☆
GO ON A JOURNEY OF SELF REFLECTION—with Naini on her new single, “Temple.” The R&B singer-songwriter turns her gaze inward on her second single and hopes you will come along with her.
Naini’s music is, like all the best art, a blend of the personal and the universal. Her unique background gives her a wide range of inspiration that melds into a new take on modern R&B on her tracks. Naini was born in India, where she cultivated a deep love of Bollywood, but lives in Atlanta, where she is surrounded by the city’s vibrant hip-hop scene. Creating a sound that blends the two inspirations seems daunting, but it comes naturally to Naini. Her sound has been compared to Bollywood icon Rekha, as well as Western artists like Connie Bailey Rae, Sade and Aaliyah. Naini herself represents both cultures, and so does her music.
She credits her lyrical exploration of love to growing up listening to Bollywood music; her sonic style to Western pop and her Atlanta roots. Naini’s version of R&B is all about self-confidence; as she puts it, “a woman, knowing herself, is the sexiest thing anybody can do.” Her tracks are made to guide listeners to sing their empowerment into being.
Naini’s first release, “PDA,” asks her lover to be as confident as she is and love her where all the world can see. “Temple,” her second single, is about looking inward for that love. Released on September 30 this year, the single has already been featured on R&B Lounge. “Temple’s” ethereal melody complements the lyrics, which affirm that Naini feels most in tune with the universe when she trusts herself. This theme persists throughout her tracks, and Naini wants her listeners to sing along, and manifest the same feeling for themselves.
We recently sat down with Naini to talk about “Temple,” her musical sensibilities, and her plans for the future.
LUNA: Your music has been described as being influenced by both Bollywood and the Atlanta hip-hop scene. What is it like combining those inspirations in your music?
NAINI: It feels very true to myself, because it is my background. I was born in India, and I would say that my writing is inspired by Bollywood. If you listen to any Indian songs, like the love songs, they're so deep and written in a profound way, but they’re simple enough for anyone who understands the language to understand. That's what I try to do in my writing. Sonically, I would say my music is more inspired by where I'm from and where I live: in Atlanta. I started making music in this environment, so that's where Atlanta comes in. I would love to eventually incorporate Indian music sonically into my songs. I haven't figured out a way to do that yet, but I see the trajectory going that way.
LUNA: You mentioned you started playing and writing music at a very young age. What inspired your love of music?
NAINI: My family. They're also why I was introduced to Western music. Growing up in India, I was listening to Bollywood music. My parents would play the old Bollywood music, but then my cousins would play all the new stuff. I also got introduced to pop through my parents. They would listen to the Backstreet Boys, they would listen to Michael Jackson, and those music videos would play all the time; in the car, at our house on Sunday afternoons. I was always around music. As a kid, I started participating in music at church. I would sing with my church, and I think that was the first time I actually figured out—and the people around me figured out—“Oh, you can do this.”
LUNA: “Temple” is the second single you've released. How does it complement and contrast your other single, “PDA?”
NAINI: If you listen to the singles, there are two different vibes. “PDA” is very upbeat and flashy, almost. The whole concept of “PDA” is loud and public, and showing off. Those are the themes I touch on in “PDA,” and then “Temple” is the complete opposite. “Temple” is all about me and my inner world. That's how they contrast. But regardless of the topics of each song, they're both very intimate, and about intimacy in a non-relationship way. “PDA,” of course, [is about a relationship], but it's still about wanting to be seen and flashy. “Temple” is about my relationship with myself and my inner world, what happens when no one else is around me. I think both of them are very intimate.
LUNA: Can you talk a little bit about the inspiration behind “Temple,” and why you wanted to talk about your inner world?
NAINI: I wrote “Temple” years ago, I think in 2020, after I had just gone through a transitional period. I mean, everyone was going through a tough time then, and everyone was isolated too. I was only seeing my roommates every day, and we weren't really leaving the house. I went through a really tough transitional time, and I was catapulted into turning inwards. I was like, “Okay, all of this is happening around me. I can't control it. I need to do what I can do and turn my focus back in.”
After a month or two of being consistent, it felt like my mind had shifted, and I wrote this in a session. My roommates at the time were also my music collaborators, so it was just a music house. It was one random evening where we were all in the room trying to make something, and I kept thinking, “This is my temple. I'm in my temple right now.” Although I never say the word—I say the word once in the song—I wanted that to be the title of the song, because that's how that period of time felt. I wanted to drop it now because I went through another tough, transitional time, and I rediscovered the song. [I was] listening to my archives, and I heard it, and I was like, “Wow.” I wrote it so long ago, but it seems to have circled back around. It was a reminder to me more than anything, and I wanted to put it out so it could be that for other people too.
LUNA: Female empowerment is a frequent theme in your music. What does that mean to you, and how do you hope that people feel while listening to your music?
NAINI: I'm a woman. There are so many artists who are women who talk about women empowerment, and I think too much is never enough. What I would want to do through my music is to never talk about something like love or achievement or success or family in a permanently sad place. That is an emotion I would touch on and talk about, but a lot of love songs are sad or hopeless, and I never want to talk about [love] from a permanently hopeless place. Even if it is a song that is touching on sad emotions or heartbreak. I would want to, at some part in the song, talk about how it does get better, and it probably was for the best. When I listen to music, I'm repeating the lyrics, and I'm playing a song a lot. I never want my lyrics to be a bad affirmation. I don't want people listening to my music to be repeating things that I wouldn't want them to manifest into their lives or become. That's what I want to do with my music and my lyrics, and that's mostly for the girls. The girls and the gays, honestly.
LUNA: R&B is such a unique genre that often bridges the gap between sensuality and spirituality. How do those themes connect in your songwriting?
NAINI: I'm going to use the word “sexy” here, and I mean it in the most wholesome way possible. I think a person, especially a woman, knowing herself, is the sexiest thing anybody can do. You are only as good as you know yourself; that's how you present yourself, that's how you are able to function in the world. You're a better friend if you know yourself, you're a better family member if you know yourself, a better partner, a better worker, whatever it is, that starts with you. R&B is a very sexy genre to me, not even in the content that is talked about in R&B, but just the sound of it. Even the artists that do R&B, they all have this persona. It's very sexy, like not even in a sexual way.
I think that being spiritual and sensual is interchangeable. It's the same thing, it's just two sides of the same coin. That's my take on R&B and how I would want my music to come across. Sonically, sure, it’s sexy, you can dance to it, you can move to it. But if someone is listening to my music constantly, I want them to feel empowered, and sexy, and like they know themselves a little more.
LUNA: What's coming up next for you? Are there any more releases coming up?
NAINI: I’m going to let this year close out and drop a new single at the top of the new year. The next year will be all about building the world of Naini through releases, through visuals, through world building. I'm really excited. I can't wait to reach more people and explore this world of Naini a little more.
