{"id":503511,"date":"2026-10-22T00:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503511\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T00:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:04:11","slug":"san-diegos-kiran-and-nivi-are-making-pop-music-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/503511\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego’s Kiran and Nivi Are Making Pop Music Their Own"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before Kiran and Nivi Saishankar<\/a> could speak, they could sing. When they were 2, neither had uttered any words. Their parents enrolled them in speech therapy, but it wasn\u2019t much help. After the twins watched other children sing in church, the host asked their mom, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you teach your kids an Indian devotional song?\u201d Nivi says her \u201cmom was perplexed because how can we sing if we can\u2019t really speak?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their mom had faith that music would get her daughters talking. They learned \u201cGopala Radha Lola,\u201d a bhajan (Indian devotional song) praising Lord Krishna that\u2019s often used as a lullaby. Within a week, they were singing it unprompted. Within months, they were talking, too.<\/p>\n

Seven months into the pandemic, Kiran and Nivi stood in their living room, covering \u201cOverwhelmed\u201d by Royal & The Serpent for TikTok. Kiran in glasses and a butter-yellow hoodie, Nivi in a blush sweater. The lo-fi setup was the same as their earlier videos. But this one started the domino effect toward their first-ever headline show at the House of Blues\u2019 Voodoo Room on November 20<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

@kiranandnivi<\/a> Throwback to this been 1 yr!! \ud83e\udd7a\u2764\ufe0f #overwhelmed<\/a> #royalandtheserpent<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #foryou<\/a> #foryoupage<\/a> #overwhelmedchallenge<\/a> #viral<\/a> #xyzbca<\/a> #indian<\/a> \u266c original sound \u2013 Kiran + Nivi<\/a> <\/p>\n

Kiran starts the video with the chorus before Nivi speedruns a tongue twister of \u201csa re ga ma pa dha ni sa.\u201d Those sargam notes are the Indian classical equivalent of solf\u00e8ge, Western music\u2019s \u201cdo re mi fa so la ti do.\u201d Each syllable represents a different note, so singing them as fast as Nivi can (in a way I can only describe as a rainstorm over a xylophone) requires a great deal of vocal agility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The video eventually collected 8.6 million views (with tens of millions more on other similar videos), using something familiar to introduce broader audiences to a musical vocabulary personal to the Rancho Pe\u00f1asquitos\u2013based twins. It was a spaghetti-on-the-wall, throwaway concept that Nivi says they initially thought was \u201cdumb.\u201d Nivi suspects the novelty helped it click with viewers outside India, where TikTok was banned in June 2020, alongside dozens of other Chinese apps amid border tensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who are watching these are not Indian, they don\u2019t know what this is, and they think it\u2019s so cool,\u201d Nivi says. \u201cMusic can reach anyone<\/a>; there are no boundaries of language, where you\u2019re from, or who you are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their training began with Carnatic music lessons at age 5. In middle school, they learned Western classical music styles, like opera, under Annet Nakamoto. \u201c[She] really believed in us and took our music seriously,\u201d Kiran says. They say they were pretty much the only kids their age doing opera<\/a> (how many middle schoolers do you hear singing Verdi?), and starting early helped them learn to open up their voices. They performed with the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego, and later with choirs at Westview High School and in senior living facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Courtesy of Kiran and Nivi Saishankar <\/p>\n

Nivi double majored in business economics and music and Kiran double majored in psychology and music at UCI. While there, the pandemic started and the pair downloaded TikTok which had quickly become the world\u2019s most downloadable non-game app in March 2020, according to Sensor Tower.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was slowly becoming a thing that all my friends were talking about, and I just went on it for fun,\u201d Nivi says. \u201cThen we just started posting in our dorm room.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, they posted mostly Western pop covers. After \u201cOverwhelmed,\u201d they brought their Carnatic training to \u201cHoliday\u201d by Lil Nas X, \u201cSnowman\u201d by Sia, and \u201cDriver\u2019s License\u201d by Olivia Rodrigo. These videos caught the attention of Jason Derulo and Alicia Keys\u2014both of whom sent DMs of praise and later collaborated with the sisters in person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The timing offered fertile soil: broader American audiences were becoming more interested in music outside of their own language with musicians like Bad Bunny and BTS\u2014whose songs feature very little English, if any at all\u2014 topping American charts. Luminate\u2019s 2023 research found that 40 percent of US music listeners listened to non-English music; 63 percent of Gen Z and 65 percent of Millennial listeners said they listened to new music to experience new cultures and perspectives. And by 2020, YPulse reported over half of Gen Z teens used TikTok.<\/p>\n

Those TikTok covers have evolved into original music, including the lonely ballad \u201c8 Billion People\u201d and the spicy \u201cmidnight snack\u201d (which also includes a verse of sargam notes), with more singles to come soon. Typically Nivi records vocals and handles production, Kiran works on composition and melody, and they collaborate on lyrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people hear our music, I want people to feel seen, feel like they relate with our lyrics,\u201d Kiran says.<\/p>\n

San Diego has a grounding effect on the sisters. Weekly LA trips help them meet songwriters and producers, but San Diego helps the creative process flow more naturally. \u201cI can just let all the noise out [in San Diego],\u201d Nivi says. \u201cIn LA, there\u2019s a lot of noise and a lot of people trying to get something out of something. Being here helps us stay grounded, go back to our roots, and not let the noise affect creative ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

For two sisters whose biggest musical breakthrough came from an integration of their culture into popular music, that sense of rootedness just might be their biggest asset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kiran and Nivi will perform their first-ever headlining show at the House of Blues on November 20.<\/p>\n