Brit-Indian Popstar Rika wins the artist of the year award Asia at Urban Music Awards 2022

By Noor Anand Chawla The Indian diaspora making waves abroad, is a matter of great pride for our country. This is certainly the case with Brit-Indian pop sensation RIKA aka Chandrika Darbari’s momentous win for the Artist of the Year ASIA at the 18 th annual Urban Music Awards 2022. She was nominated along with heavyweights of the music industry including Arjun B. Praak, Gurj Sidhu, Sidhu Moosewala, Neha Kakkar, Jasmine Sandlas, Pak – Man, Ezu, Prophec and Karan Aujla. Being chosen as the winner by the 2.7 million music fans who voted for this prestigious award, has further cemented her status as a singing superstar. Prior to her recent win, RIKA was a featured artist on the Brits’ ‘Sunday Spotlight’, won ‘Best UK Female Act’ at the BritAsia TV Music Awards in 2019 and received the ‘Rising Star’ award at the Asian Awards the same year. She has also been awarded the Pride of India award and was championed by BBC Radio 1 with plays on ‘Best New Pop’ and ‘Track of the Week’. Born to an Eastern European mother and an Indian father, RIKA grew up in North-West London and is one of few to break into the vibrant Western music scene as a British-Asian artist. Her music draws upon her multicultural upbringing. In 2016, she penned and performed the song ‘For Peace in Syria’ with her brother. The video was shot in Delhi and received over 900,000 views on YouTube. This led to Warner Music India signing her on as their first artist, in an ongoing bid to bring Indian sounds to the global stage. Her first single with them released in 2021 in collaboration with Ankit Tiwari, and she has many more lined up for release in 2022, with other artists and collaborators. The Urban Music Awards are described as the biggest celebration of Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Reggae, EDM, Gospel, Afrobeat, and EDM music in the world. Launched 18 years ago, the award show has annual versions in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Europe. At this year’s award ceremony, Beyonce took home the award for Best Collaboration for the track ‘Already’ featuring Shatta Wale and Major Lazer, and Ed Sheeran was voted Artist of the Year UK. Other winners included Urban Music Award alum Ghetts and viral sensation Soulja Boy. On being named the winner for the Artist of the Year ASIA, RIKA says, “I am very honoured to win this award. It is not just for me but for my family, my team, my fans, and everyone who has supported me in my career. Watch out for more because this is only the beginning!”