KIRAN and NIVI SAISHANKAR

musical artists

Kiran and Nivi are teen internet stars from the US, known for their American-pop-meets-Indian-classical-music mashups. Their most popular cover, Overwhelmed by Royal & The Serpent, has broken eight million views on TikTok. They also count Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor and Shawn Mendes among their two million followers.

What makes Kiran and Nivi more surprising is that they learned to sing before they could talk, due to a childhood speech impediment. They’ve been learning Carnatic music since they were 5 years old, after first stunning their parents with a pitch-perfect performance aged only 3. As well as covers by Destiny’s Child, Sia and Olivia Rodrigo, the twins have also been getting recognition for writing their own songs. They wrote the popular 1 Last Bye after the loss of their cousin, and Is There Peace? in response to George Floyd’s murder. Since graduating, Kiran and Nivi have been making plans to work on their music full-time, to set an example for other rising musical stars.