Exclusive: KSHMR 'not into K-pop' despite his samples being used by idols

India Today

23-05-2025

American songwriter, DJ, music producer, and musician KSHMR has made his way into the K-pop scene, but not in the traditional way. His music samples have been widely used in several K-pop songs, like Seventeen's 'Super', MAMAMOO Hwasa's 'Maria', BLACKPINK Lisa's 'Money', and Chung Ha's 'Stay Tonight'. However, KSHMR shared that he is 'not into K-pop' in an exclusive interview with India Today Digital.advertisementThose who follow K-pop and KSHMR closely would know how popular his samples are in the K-pop scene. In fact, many felt that he should become K-pop producer. So, has he considered collaboration? "So, I'm not personally into K-pop. I only know the really big groups like Blackpink," he told India Today Digital."And it just so happened to be that a lot of these K-pop producers are interested in Indian and Middle Eastern instruments and incorporating those into their songs, and I provide a lot of those kinds of instruments in my sound packs. "So without even trying, I've become a part of a lot of big K-pop songs because they're using melodies that I wrote, instruments that I recorded, which is really awesome," he added.
He also added, "I would love to be involved in all different kinds of music, but there's just not enough time in the day. And that's where making some samples is, is really fun. Because now, in some small way, I've collaborated with thousands, even millions, of people. So I'm really proud that they've taken my sounds and used them for their songs. But I can't say it was intentional or even that I'm very involved in the K-pop scene."advertisementWhen we asked him what element of his music he thinks appeals to K-pop groups, he shared, "Not only have the K-pop producers and other producers from Eastern Asia used my samples in their songs, but a lot of times at my shows, I'll see a lot of Chinese people, Korean people, Japanese people and I play a lot of shows in those countries as well. I think there's something about Indian culture and the world instruments that I use in my music that resonated with them."He also added, "Maybe it's the adjacency of these countries also being in Asia. I'm not quite sure, but I'm really happy about it, and it's really heartwarming to see the sounds, the culture, the emotion that means so much to me resonate with people from those countries also."Niles Hollowell-Dhar aka KSHMR is an acclaimed musician who has performed live at many music festivals like Coachella, Tomorrowland, EDC, Ultra and Sunburn. He was a part of Sunburn Goa in 2024.