“Simplicity is the Key to Brilliance,” said the famous martial artist and actor, Bruce Lee.

Listening to songs of Suman Thapa, popularly known as Swoopna Suman, one cannot help but be reminded of that quote. Easy on the ears, Thapa’s songs are of simple emotions, enveloped in simple lyrics that evoke unanimous fluttery feelings of first love and relationships.

“Before I released my own original songs, I researched a lot about songwriting and having the style. I wanted to go with something sincere, honest and simple and thankfully, it worked,” says the singer and songwriter, Thapa.

The famous singer came on the social media platform, Youtube, for the first time in 2011, after completing his SLC examinations.

Thapa was a naturally gifted singer who always got words of encouragement from his surroundings since his childhood years. With free access to knowledge on YouTube, Thapa learnt his guitar and musical lessons from the social media platform itself.

“I actually never had any formal education in music, but the appreciation and the attention given to me by my teachers and friends when I sang, helped me build confidence in my vocal capabilities. Whatever I learned about music was via YouTube,” says the 27-year-old Thapa.

While learning, Thapa simultaneously started posting his own music videos recorded on a camcorder.

By 2013, he was singing cover songs in collaboration with Karma Studies, a recording label. And just a year after, he was already posting his original songs like ‘K Saro Ramro Vako’, and ‘Ae Hello’, which helped him form his own fanbase.

After completing his higher secondary studies, Thapa chose to pursue music as a full-time career, doing live gigs and shows, an option he chose as the eldest son of a middle-class family while his two younger siblings continued with their studies.

But he had to start afresh in 2016. His earlier YouTube channel along with his music videos and some eight thousand followers were gone.

Beginning his journey all over again, he decided to go with a different name this time. With the idea that all artists have a grand name, Thapa decided to go with ‘Swoopna’ which literally means dream in Sanskrit. And his official journey of Swoopna Suman began from there.

With a new name and not many expectations, he released ‘Kasari Bhanu’, but to Thapa’s surprise, the song became an instant hit that immediately established him as a singer.

Thapa was only 21 years old then.

Thapa’s musical journey from there on went uphill. Whatever Thapa released after the song ‘Kasari Bhanu’ became well-received, each song easily surpassing a million views.

Thapa’s life story from being a struggling singer on YouTube to becoming a renowned singer and songwriter on Nepal’s contemporary musical scene and that too in his early twenties, is a success story. But the stakes after success only got higher for Thapa.

“After one point in time, people started saying that my songs had become repetitive,” remembers Thapa.

This was a turning point in Thapa’s career.

He could no longer let those comments be. He started thinking about it hard and started discussing the issues with senior artists that he looked up to. And during that time, he got the advice he just needed at that point in life. “Your natural talent can only take you to a certain point. The ideas that you naturally have runs out, after a while. That is when you need to study music to keep the flow of ideas going,” said Manoj Kumar KC, a senior musician and a member of 1974 AD, to Thapa.

This is when Thapa decided to study music formally at a university but because of time constraints, he couldn’t take the decision further. But he started following singers like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Adele, and Michael Jackson, especially their songwriting process.

Post-2020, the songs Thapa has released show him trying a different style, collaborating with other singers in the Nepali music industry who have a different style than his.

Thapa, a solo performer before, also formed a band ‘Swoopna Suman and the Asters’ in 2021 to give quality music in his songs. His recent song ‘Aasha’ is one of the songs played by the band. The new songs from the band will soon become available in January.

“From the very first day, simplicity has been the ultimate thing. But as an artist, I believe in experimenting and I am trying my hands on it with my new band.”