Jairaj Kabir Singh Manchanda a.k.a. Acoustic Singh is a 17 year old from Guwahati studying in the 12th Standard at Don Bosco School, Panbazar. Better known as Acoustic Singh, he is a YouTube based singing sensation with over 113,700 subscribers, which he has acquired over in just about 11 months. With this huge and fast growing subscriber base, Kabir has got himself an audience that loves him already. He is one of the youngest people in the city to have such a fan base.
“I hardly go to school, attend a lot of shows and perform. I don’t know if I’ll make it to my graduation, but Mummy says, ‘anpadh singer nahi banega tu, graduate to karna hi hai’ (You will have to graduate, you can’t be an uneducated singer).” – Acoustic Singh.
The idea of a YouTube Channel :
I was in Delhi for a long time and my cousins used to tell me, that since I had the talent why don’t I try showcasing the same to the people? People should know about me. Based on that, I started off on Instagram, doing cover, making short clips. I brainstormed with my cousins for a long time and after coming up with terrible names like Punjab B-Singer Boy, The Khalsa Boy, we finally fixed on ‘Acoustic Singh, The Singh that Sings.’
It was after that, people started following my channel, loving my content and made requests, one of which was for me to come on YouTube and get a YouTube Channel started. Just one and a half months into it, and I started getting requests about covers.
How hard is it for him :
With the camera, it is a little difficult, but once I’m set, there’s nothing holding me back,” says Kabir. A semi-finalist at the Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa Little Champs at the age of 10, Kabir was famished, hungry and tired when performing, which he says, could be why he forgot a couple of lines.
“Naam lamba hoga, toh kaam bada karega” (If you have a long name, you’ll do good work in life) is what my Mom tells me.
His start to singing :
Jeet Kashyap, the music teacher of Sanskriti – The Gurukul, in Guwahati is one of the first people who recognized and brought out Kabir’s talent. He was his guide and mentor. Kabir has learnt and picked up a lot of learning from a lot people in his journey so far. Kabir soon plans to shift to Mumbai to further his dreams because “Bollywood is Life.”
In talks with Kabeer Singh :
Ques: How and when did you discover a singer in you?
Ans : I discovered the talent in me when I was 4 (according to my parents). I never used to have food without listening to songs. My personal favourite were Gurdas mann and Adnan Sami at that time. I first sang in my school when my music teacher discovered the talent in me too .
Ques: Where Do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
Ans : I see myself as a playback singer in Bollywood if everything goes right and if my fans keep supporting me. At the end of the day it is about luck and destiny and 100% of hard work.
Ques: Who has been your true inspiration leading you up to here?
Ans : My first inspiration has been the immense amount of love and respect singers get. They earn by doing what they love the most . What else does a person need?
Second inspiration are my parents and my sister who have supported me in every step I took towards music. A big example is that they have stood in an 8 hour long queue with me for hours whenever I went to a reality show. By the way, I have been rejected 5 times from a reality show and even today they stand beside me helping me with everything.
Ques: Singing is no doubt an unconventional profession to make your career in. What all hurdles did you face?
Ans : There is always a negative and positive side. As said, stood in long queues for hours and hours. 5 times in reality show till the mega round.Lots of problems in school for attendance and marks. No doubt I scored 86% in 10 boards. But was warned many times from teachers. But again it’s all about experience.
Ques: Kabir, how overwhelming it was when you started with your 1st Youtube upload?
My third cover, Teri Khair Mangdi from the movie Baar Baar Dekho was a great hit for me. People started liking it a lot and it went viral. Since then the graph has been upward. My covers from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil were massive – with over 2,000,000 views on these songs.
Ques: Apart from singing what other things fascinate you?
Ans: When I was young, I loved making movie reviews and I still do. I have started making few vines but have never uploaded it. But sometimes I do show my funny and witty side to people who follow me on Instagram and Snapchat. I love dancing and am a techie too. Nobody can stop me going to the electronic section of a shopping mall. Love gyming. Coming up with six packs, want to inspire youth to stay healthy.
Also read “When Most Kids Don’t Even Know What A Stage Is, This Girl ‘Performed’ On Stage At The Young Age Of Just 4”
Ques: What according to you has been your greatest accomplishment?
Ans : Three of my biggest achievements were when Karan Johar mentioned my name in a press conference for promoting a reality show he was a judge and I was a contestant in .
Second, when my Youtube channel gained popularity I crossed 1 lakh plus subscribers in a short time and my cover of ”channa mereya” crossed million views even though there was nothing special in it . Today it has 2.8 Million views !
Third , when a big fan of my mine came to my place on my birthday with cakes and gifts and started crying when I sung for her. That made me feel like a star.
Kabir’s Youtube channel
Kabir’s Instagram