After making history with the highest-ever-charting Punjabi album debut in Canada with his 2023 collaborative LP Making Memories, with producer Ikky, Karan Aujla spoke to Apple Music about his desire to bring Punjabi music into the global mainstream while still preserving the folk elements that have made him into the artist he is today. “I wanted to take that language barrier away, so people that don’t know [Punjabi] can just vibe with the melodies,” he said. Born Jaskaran Singh Aujla in Ghurala, Punjab, in 1997, the singer-songwriter moved to Vancouver in 2014 and started his career as a lyricist in 2016; he wrote for Punjabi music titans Jazzy B and Diljit Dosanjh, and, since striking out on his own in 2018, has collaborated with rappers YG and Badshah. Even though his solo career is in flight, it might be hard not to think of Aujla as a lyricist first: His work from 2020 onwards features clever metaphors and imagery reminiscent of life in Punjab. But his vocal prowess—which combines R&B style with hard-hitting, bars-heavy hip-hop—is just as key to his formula for success, his delivery as punchy and grandiose as it is vulnerable and sensitive.