Natania x Aadil Abedi x Papa Don’t Preach: 'Senti' Is An Ode To South Asian Excellence
There’s nothing quite like a good first date. You leave it giddy with the possibility of what could be, knowing enough about someone to feel infatuated while maintaining just the right amount of distance for your imagination to run wild. Lovers drunk on this feeling can move mountains, or, as Natania shows us, transform their butterflies into catchy pop earworms.
Raised in Mumbai and now based in LA, Natania is a homegrown artist interested in blending Eastern and Western influences. Her latest single, 'Senti' weaves her cultural influences together to express the jubilation of falling in love. She actually wrote the song right after a first date, stating, “Senti is a song I wrote about sweet delusion,” and that “it’s all about the madness of falling in love and truly putting the mental in sentimental!”
Senti starts off relatively simple, with a kick drum pounding through its verses while Natania waxes poetic about her lover. But the song builds through its pre-chorus, bringing us to a full-bodied, energetic chorus that embodies her excitement. With playful lyrics like “love drunk on your sangria” and “tu dil da golgappa,” “Senti” captures the lighthearted, fresh feel of a new relationship.
This energy gets kicked up a notch in the Senti music video. Natania collaborated with famed calligraphy artist Aadil Abedi and fashion label Papa Don’t Preach to create a visual as joyful as her music. Abedi rose to prominence for his reinterpretations of traditional Arabic and Islamic calligraphy, using his background to propel his craft. In Senti, we see Abedi painting and grooving along to the beat. His art, a bold pink heart coated in bright gold calligraphy, is a centrepiece in the video. To Natania, this heart was a visual depiction of “how we feel so shiny and new when our hearts are bubbling with senti emotions".
When reflecting on this collaboration, Abedi said, “What I loved most about this collaboration was blending two creative languages, art and music, into one bold visual story.” This artistic component was also important to Natania in expressing the feeling of falling in love. She told us, “I think when we’re falling in love, our minds are kind of like a blank canvas that gets covered in colour, so it was so cool to collaborate with Aadil to bring that metaphor to life in such a beautiful way.”
Homegrown fashion brand Papa Don’t Preach rounded out the collaboration with their spunky, vibrant garments. Founded by Shubhika, Papa Don’t Preach is a sustainable and ethical luxury fashion brand melding Eastern and Western aesthetics, just as Natania does in her music. Both Natania and Abedi were dressed in Papa Don’t Preach prints in the Senti music video. Each styling decision was made with purpose; for instance, in one scene Natania wears a cream printed shirt with a pink abstract lehenga, a combination Shubhika described as “playful yet powerful.” Natania and Abedi also wore matching PAPA trench coats, chosen to match the song because they were “layered, expressive, and unexpected.”
"It’s always such a joy when South Asian artists come together to create something that’s loud, proud, and unapologetically fun. This wasn’t just about styling a music video, it was about building a visual world where heritage meets pop, and where every detail tells a story."
Shubhika, Founder of Papa Don’t Preach, for Homegrown
Senti brought three South Asian artists together in an exciting mesh of creative talents. The story the song weaves was strengthened through this team effort, showing us the power of out-of-the-box creative collaborations.
If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:
Aadil Abedi's Calligraphy Draws On The Textures & Tensions Of His South Asian Heritage
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