MUMBAI: Dutch DJ R3HAB has made his debut in Indian music scene with "Ki kehna". He says he grew up listening to the rhythms of Indian music and loving them.

Language was not a barrier for DJ R3HAB, who has collaborated with international artists like Steve Aoki, Zayn Malik, Amr Diab, and Afrojack.

"I believe music is universal. It's all about the feeling that the music gives the listener. My first language is Dutch, but a lot of my songs are in English. I have also worked with Korean, Arabic and Japanese artistes. A great melody exists regardless of the language it's sung in," DJ R3HAB, whose given name is Fadil El Ghoul, told IANS.

"I grew up in Morocco, and during my childhood Bollywood films were very popular in theatres. I grew up with these rhythms of Indian music and loving them," added the record producer.

Naturally, it was an "amazing experience" for him to work on an Indian song.

"As soon as I heard the song I knew I was a fan because of the amazing melodies that QARAN wrote. I have been working with a lot of Latin American artistes in the last year, so I tried to give the record a reggaeton twist," he said about "Ki kehna", which is composed and sung by QARAN of "Tareefan" fame.

Talking about the collaboration, DJ R3HAB said: "QARAN and I spoke on Instagram after I heard his music. I had been watching his videos on Sony Music India YouTube and I was a big fan of his melodies and writing. When QARAN showed me this song, I knew it was the one and I was very excited to work on it."

It didn't take long to put together the song, which got 1,081,380 views on YouTube just in one day.

"As soon as I heard the song I knew what to do. I spent a day making it perfect but it came together very quickly! I find all my best songs happen this way," said the artist, known for songs such as "Lullaby", "Rumors" and "Flashlight".