Shayan Roy Opens Up On His Music, BuzzFeed And Viral Bengali Parodies On The Social Nation Show

The hub of all things digital, Social Nation is back with real stories with its video podcast series- The Social Nation Show. Streaming on Spotify and YouTube the show is produced by the best in the biz, Pod.One. This series highlights India’s top content creators, exploring their personal and professional lives to showcase the best of the Indian creator economy.

For its twelfth episode, we had Bengali butterscotch, Shayan Roy joining us, giving us a sneak peek into his love for music, BuzzFeed days, and Bengali parodies & more.

Episode 12

Following the initial engaging episode with Aadil Khan, this week features the singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, writer, content creator, and so much more, Shayan Roy! Moreover, the upcoming lineup on The Social Nation Show is about to get real… and we’re not just talking about the smoke effects! We’ve got an incredible roster of rockstar creators sharing their unfiltered stories. Here’s a sneak peek at the next three episodes – trust us, you won’t want to miss this!

Also Read: Step Into The Spotlight Of Aadil Khan’s Dance Career, Collabs & USA Tour On The SN Show

Remembering The G(old) Days

Being his first “Mumbai ki Baarish,” we asked Shayan how was it like growing up with the most amazing Mama Roy & Papa Roy (his mother & father). Shayan stated, “Growing up was interesting. Born in Shillong, I experienced a small-town life until I was 12 as an only child. My dad was easygoing, while my mom was more disciplined, creating a tug-of-war between their two styles. Being sheltered, I relied heavily on my imagination. Reflecting on my past, I realize that my current mindset for content creation likely stems from those early experiences.”

Creativity In Blood

From being a ‘shy guy’ initially, he has always been keen on creating something unique while enjoying his own company. Shayan said, “I had to be creative as a kid since I didn’t go out much. I had imaginary friends and created characters. Now, I make reels with multiple characters interacting. It feels normal to me, but others might see it as odd.

Growing up as a Bengali in Shillong, I won the Ramakrishna Mission recitation competition every year due to my memorization skills. Performing on stage has never made me shy since I started early.”

Relationship With Music: Yay Or Nay?

Love for music has always been a love-hate relationship for him. “It’s been a complicated journey for me. I’ve always found it difficult to categorize myself as a musician or artist because I tend to enjoy one style for a while before moving on to something entirely different. This is likely why I’ve experimented with many genres, including blues rock, electronic music, and hip-hop, and now I’m exploring something new again.

As a listener, I love diving into various types of music. When I was younger, I didn’t appreciate the music my parents played, but now I’m open to everything, even if I don’t initially like it. I often revisit songs later and find that I appreciate them. For instance, I only started to enjoy Taylor Swift’s music as an adult, and now I find it deeply resonates with me,” he said.

Inside His BuzzFeed Journey

Back in 2014, he joined BuzzFeed, a digital media firm as a staff writer and video producer. Having worked for 5 years, Shayan shares his experience stating, “I’m incredibly thankful for my time at BuzzFeed. It helped me discover my career path when I was unsure of what I wanted to do. I started as a writer, and at that time, YouTube was just beginning to gain popularity in India, which allowed me to be in the right place at the right moment.

The mid-2010s at BuzzFeed were wild – the very best talent was present. I’m still friends with a lot of those people, and they continue to influence my life and work. It was the most fun I’ve ever had while working.“

Lockdown Diaries With Mama & Papa Roy

The lockdown period among people & online artists was difficult. Physical activities, creative blocks, online platform limitations, networking, and connecting among others. But Shayan had the opposite experience that was wholesome!

He expressed, “During the lockdown, we were all stuck in the house together and going a bit crazy, so we started making more content to pass the time. Reels were just becoming popular, so we jumped on that. My mom even started her own page, originally for recipes, but now she’s just making reels. My dad has his own IG page too, and it feels like they’re taking over the family business of content creation.

The first video I made with my parents featured my mom’s friends as her hype squad. It was a hit and brought us a lot of joy. Creating content with my mom strengthened our bond; we weren’t very close before, but now she’s like my best friend, and even my dad jokes about not vibing with me as much.“

How A Brand & Creator Collab Should Work!

A successful creator-brand relationship is built on trust, where creative freedom meets brand vision seamlessly. However, Shayan expressed his views, “For me, it’s pretty clear that when I create branded content, the level of involvement from the brand can greatly affect its success. If the brand insists on a rigid approach, wanting the content to look exactly how they envision it to highlight their brand, it often doesn’t resonate as well.

When it comes to comfort levels with certain brands, there have been a few instances early in my career where I wasn’t entirely comfortable with certain brands that approached us. This was back when I first started working in videos for BuzzFeed. But ever since I started working with One Digital Entertainment, they’ve done a great job filtering out the bad stuff. Since then I leave that to my team.“

Story Behind The “Culture Traitor”

Speaking of his Instagram, we asked him why he has self-proclaimed “Culture Traitor” in his bio and what it meant. “My bio stems from a comment I received on a reel where I was eating pav bhaji in Mumbai. A guy from Kolkata got really upset that I was promoting Mumbai food instead of Kolkata food and called me a “culture traitor.” Oddly enough, instead of getting angry, I found it hilarious. I liked the term so much that I decided to own it as my EP,” he narrated with immense happiness.

Shayan Roy: Master Of Creating Regional Content

Shayan is the go-to creator for regional language content, effortlessly mixing humour and cultural vibes. To understand how he develops these concepts, we asked him for his secret sauce, to which he responded, “One format I’ve enjoyed creating is the “If _ were from Mumbai” series, where I parody trending songs of popular artists as if they’re from Mumbai. This concept originated from similar Bengali parodies, like “If Harry Styles Were Bengali,” which resonated well with Bengali audiences.“

“However, I wanted to include my non-Bengali followers, so I started making these parodies in English and Hindi. It’s all about finding that sweet spot where I can continue creating content that I love while also reaching a broader audience,” he added.

Where Can You Watch The Social Nation Show?

The Social Nation Show will be available on all leading audio and video platforms on Social Nation’s official channels. The video podcasts will be distributed on Social Nation’s Spotify and YouTube handles, whereas the audio podcasts will also be available on Apple Podcast, JioSaavn, Amazon Music, and Gaana platforms. Catch the best moments of each episode on our Instagram and YouTube Shorts too!

Did you watch our video podcast yet? Let us know who would you love to see next!