We reached out to Lush Lata about doing this mix for FEMWAV a few weeks ago, when she was already self-isolating, long before the gravity of the current pandemic had settled upon the world. This was perhaps for the best, because it means that the mix is bereft of that ubiquitous doomsday quality in all available content right now. This is not us rallying for escapism, but respite, and BOY does her mix bring some.
Here it is, FEMWAV make space please mix 008 by way of Lush Lata, whom I met at a sustainability festival in 2017 in Goa, if I am not misremembering, and then ran into several times more. Sometimes we meet artists and their sound is completely incongruous with who they appear to be. This was definitely not the case when it came to Nandini Bansal, aka Lush Lata. When I discovered her foray into DJing, I immediately knew exactly what her sound will be, and I was proven delightfully correct. Lush Lata's sound is exactly like the person: achingly cool, unbothered, and fluid, with a detached mystique.
Her hour long mix for us swims effortlessly in the straits of contemporary hip-hop and RnB bangers, cult faves from the oughts with incomprehensible culture endurance, at least one moment of pure desi nostalgia, and sputters of bass for moments of all-out reckless abandon.
Listen here:
You can also tune in to her on Boxout.fm, where she has a radio show titled “Lushthetics” which airs monthly.
Written by Uvika Wahi
