'Rootz': Between Basslines & Bollywood, TroyBoi Finds His Way Home On His Latest EP

Growing up, TroyBoi remembers 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' playing on repeat at home — a small, persistent soundtrack that threaded itself into the background of his childhood. That familiar melody, sung by a voice he calls “memory itself,” becomes the seed from which his latest EP 'Rootz' grows. An unfolding of personal geography, it is a culmination of the sounds of his upbringing, the music his mother loved, and a desire to weave those echoes into the electronic language TroyBoi has made his own.

The five-track EP released via Ultra Records last month arrives as an explicit tribute to Indian culture, shaped by collaborations that read like a map of diasporic and regional textures. It begins with 'Masala' (ft. Amrit Maan), where TroyBoi’s meticulous trap production meets Punjabi folk cadence. 'OKAY', a pairing with Jazzy B — billed as the 'Crown Prince of Bhangra' pushes that meeting of worlds further, trading in visceral energy that bridges club floor and cultural lineage. 'Kamli' delivers bone-rattling bass and subsonic drops that remind the listener why TroyBoi’s trap remains physically commanding.

The EP’s centerpieces are where its emotional logic becomes clear. 'Beggin' juxtaposes BombayMami’s sultry lyricism with the classical sounds of the bansuri; its atmosphere is haunted, intimate, and hypnotic. Whereas the closer, 'Kabhi,' is the project’s symbolic fulcrum: it incorporates the iconic voice of Lata Mangeshkar — marking the first time her vocals were cleared for a non-Bollywood production and reads as both personal and cultural homage.

Sonically, Rootz is trap-heavy but rarely one-note. Reminiscent of 2000s-era R&B, the EP is a study in contrasts: soft, remembered melodies layered over intricate sub-bass passages, folk instrumentation, and voices threaded through modern bass architecture.

The record also reframes TroyBoi as an artist who moves between an intimate origin story and global stage. From a London kitchen making beats on a MacBook to stadium chants of his name, his work has infused many remixes and collaborations across pop culture, and with Rootz, he turns that reach inward, translating memory into a sound he has come to be loved for, resulting in a considered, sincere offering that honours the past while making room for the dancefloor.

Follow Troyboi here and listen to 'Rootz' below:

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