'THEMXXNLIGHT': Indian-born US duo to collaborate with rapper Wiz Khalifa

New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) Popular Indian-American pop collective, ‘THEMXXNLIGHT, is gearing up for the global premiere of their second independent release, "Naughty Or Nice".

This track marks the maiden feature of the identical twin brother duo Luv (Krish Chandani) and Kush (Akash Chandani) of ‘THEMXXNLIGHT' (pronounced as moonlight) with American rapper Wiz Khalifa, making them the first Indian-born US artistes to collaborate with the rap royalty.

The 25-year-old twin brothers have been a key component of Khalifa's earlier releases, but this track marks the duo's maiden feature with the American rapper on their independent release.

The track's central theme revolves around a classic teenage love saga, with both the twins taking turns crooning about raging emotions and mixed signals centred around a love interest.

The accompanying cinematic video projects an ominously edgy vibe, blurring the lines between illusion and reality. For the number, the duo has also collaborated with revered Taylor Gang camp producer Sledgren.

Elaborating on how Wiz Khalifa was roped in for the project, Akash Chandani told IANS, "We had actually completed the song without Wiz Khalifa's verse a few years ago when we started working with Sledgren. At that time, we had no idea that we would collaborate with a legend like Wiz Khalifa. After our feature on Wiz Khalifa's 'Rolling Papers 2', we met multiple major labels to discuss our career and to show them our unreleased music."

The duo shared that earlier, 'Naughty Or Nice' only had vocals and they were recommended by the labels to hold off the release till they had a good enough global feature.

After tons of studio sessions with Wiz Khalifa and after their performance at Sunburn India with him, they felt they had taken their relationship to the next level.

He added: "One day, we randomly decided to play the song for him in the studio to get his initial feedback. He immediately stood up and started dancing and asked, 'You'll want a feature on this? Man, your vocals sound insane. I'll hop on it right now'. About 30 minutes later, he completed his verse, and the engineer arranged the song. We must have played it back around 20 times. The vibes were amazing, and we just felt super proud of ourselves at that moment."

Krish shared that there wasn't any studio or big setup, it was just the two brothers, the mic, and a computer when the track was recorded initially.

He said: "This is the most anticipated song of our entire career thus far. We're just proud of how far we have come and to be representing the Indian community around the world. This is a big moment. Words can't describe the way I feel. Just very grateful for all the support thus far and for the love that Wiz Khalifa has shown towards us over the years."

The identical twins have interesting global collaborations featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, French Montana, Swae Lee, TM88, DJ Snake, Kirko Bangz, Roy Woods, Raja Kumari, Sukh-E, and Mickey Singh in the pipeline.

The track 'Naughty Or Nice' will release worldwide on July 30 on digital audio streaming platforms.