Artist
and producer Sona Mohapatra made her debut appearance on the Times Square
Billboard in New York on July 23 soon after the release of her latest single ‘Aise
Na They’.

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Artist
and producer Sona Mohapatra said, “To be woken up in the middle of the night to
see photographs of my face on a billboard covering a skyscraper in one of my
favourite cities New York was a surreal feeling. To be one of the first independent
musicians to be given this place is a pop culture milestone because it paves
the way for artistic expression of various hues and colours free from
cookie-cutter formulas in musical mainstream success.

“I
have been consistently releasing original music for many years, have fought
many battles for IP & residuals for artists and it has been exhilarating,
exhausting too but now, with my indie label Omgrown Music partnering with a
global name like Believe, I truly feel optimistic about the future of the music
scene in India and more so for other independent voices like mine,” she said in
a statement.

She
also said that  to celebrate this
achievement, I am dropping a single EK DIN- Manhattan Memories, a Diltod,
heartbreak love song which would be a perfect companion for a long highway
drive or a dance party.

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“We
are slowly coming out of a very tough time together as a society but this phase
in India has been the very best for independent music releases without the big
banyan tree of Bollywood taking away all the media and audience attention with
its’ big promotional budgets!  This
billboard is a validation of that constant hustle of never giving up on the
power of music and self-belief. My allies have stood by me through thick and
thin and I am grateful for their belief,” said the singer.

She has
also been handpicked for the Spotify EQUAL campaign and will lead the Indian
leg of the global campaign for the entire month of July. Her single will
feature all this month on the EQUAL playlist as she joins other global artists
such as are Meryl (France), Bowklylion (Thailand), Nadin Amizah (Indonesia) and
Anikv (Russia) from the roster of Paris-based leading independent digital music
distribution and artist services company, Believe.

 The track ‘Aise Na They’ has been composed by
Ram Sampath with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya and distributed by Paris-based
music distribution and marketing service Believe.

Vivek
Raina , the Managing Director of Believe India said that this is a great
initiative by Spotify that creates a space on the platform to strengthen the
work of female talent in music from across the globe.