Music composer Salim Merchant, who is mentoring new talent for an international music competition, says self expression and originality are the most important elements for an artiste. "One of the very important factors in an artist is self expression. That creates self identity," Salim of the popular Salim-Suleiman duo, told IANS in an interview.

"These days, a lot of singers are sounding like Arijit Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan or someone else, but not something original. Now, as a music composer, if I can work with some of the icons, why should I work with these kids who do not have their own identity and, not bringing anything new on the table?" So, he says the first and foremost thing that all the singers should understand is to build their identity.