Straight outta Los Angeles, born and raised, 25 year old unsigned artist Ameish Govindarajan is hitting the hip hop scene by storm. Taking a unique ‘web 2.0’ tactic of dropping his first single Save Ourselves with a viral music video even before an EP is pressed and on itunes, Ameish is part of the new generation using the internet to spread the lyrics. I stumbled across this video in my inbox last week and was blown away. The visuals were clean and crisp, enhancing the smooth hip hop hook and lyrics. I couldn’t get the song out of my head all week.

I sat down (virtually) with Ameish to ask him a few questions about life. Here’s what he said.

I saw on your facebook profile that you graduated from UCLA with a pyschobio degree. That’s quite the change from hip-hop… How’d you first get involved with hip-hop? How do your parents feel about your musical foray?

Yes, that is kind of an unexpected background for an artist, I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to be educated. Music has always been around me since I was young, but the first time I heard hip-hop was around ten years old. I picked up a tape off the ground, which I still have, Brand Nubian. And from there I fell in love with the beats and rhymes. I was an avid listener for five years, listening to everything from Ice Cube to Wu-tang. Me and my boys started rhyming at the age of 15. We used to record on a karaoke machine and rhyme on top of the radio, then on instrumentals. My parents are fully supportive of whatever my passions are.

I saw this video last week and thought it was really polished looking and you have a great sound. I’m surprised that you are still unsigned and that I haven’t heard of your music yet. Is this your first single?

Yes, this is my debut single off the “Save Ourselves” EP. There’s plenty more music to come.

Who did your music video?

The video was a collaborative effort from four parties. The directors were from the crew Secret History. They’ve done videos for other rap artists like The Grouch and Paris. The producers are Bucks Boys Productions who worked on Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” video. The director of photography is from the ReelRoots crew, and Digital Gypsy provided the rest of the production.

I came up with the concept for the video as I wrote the song, and these productions companies were able to bring my vision to life.

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Good morning, Monday…Play this loud in your office and have your cubicle be this morning’s water cooler.

Sunil aka ishQ Bector from Winnipeg’s legendary hip hop group Frek Sho moved to India a few years ago, signed to a major label, and became a star…Born & raised in Winnipeg, Canada, Sunil aka IshQ has made Mumbai his second home. Certified in Chinese Medicine with his forte in Acupuncture, this multi-talented Gemini followed his first passion in life, music. He has studied acting at the famous Roshan Taneja film studio in Mumbai then went on to VJ & host shows on MTV, B4U & Channel V… Since then he has shared the stage with artists like Sean Paul, Mobb Deep, Chamillionaire, John Cena (WWE), & Rishi Rich raising the temperature a couple of notches with his skillz on the mic and as a performer.[IshQisDead]

Desi Canadian Chinese Medicine schooled Reggatone singing hip hip performer in India. Now that is international fusion right there…

And another fusion video, just for giggles, this one Chutney flavored…

I’m hopping on the next flight to Trinidad to find me some sparkle vest wearing man…Tell me these videos weren’t the wake-up call you needed this morning. 😉 Continue reading →

The saxophone in the opening credits to this Tamil Film (“Duet”) is by Kadri Gopalnath; it’s unlike any other commercial film opening credits music you’ve ever heard. Gopalnath has been in the news quite a bit over the past few weeks, following his collaboration with Indian American jazz-maestro Rudresh Mahanthappa, who has a new album out called Apti. I haven’t “Itunesed” Mahanthappa’s album yet (any reviews? the excerpts played on Rudresh’s NPR interview sound great), though I will be, but it prompted me to check out the Indian musician he’s talking about. (Incidentally, Kadri Gopalnath has several albums for sale on Itunes as well, at the bargain price of $3.99 each.)

Here is a quote from the New Yorker piece on Mahanthappa that describes what Gopalnath is doing on Sax:

While Mahanthappa was at Berklee, his older brother teasingly gave him an album called “Saxophone Indian Style,” by Kadri Gopalnath. As far as Mahanthappa knew, “Indian saxophonist” was an oxymoron, but the album amazed him. Gopalnath, who was born in 1950, in Karnataka, plays a Western instrument in a non-Western context—the Carnatic music of Southern India (distinct from the Hindustani musical tradition of Northern India). Gopalnath, who generally plays in a yogalike seated position, has perfected something that jazz saxophonists have been attempting for decades: moving beyond the Western chromatic scale into the realm of microtones, a feat harder for wind instruments, whose keys are in fixed positions, than for strings or voice. Jazz players, such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler, had gone about it by varying intonation, blowing multiphonics (two or more notes at the same time), or squawking in the upper register, where pitches are imprecisely defined. Gopalnath does none of that. Using alternate fingerings and innovative embouchure techniques, he maintains faultless intonation while sliding in and out of the chromatic scale. (link)

I don’t play any wind instruments, and I have no idea technically what “innovative embouchure techniques” might be describing, but it sure sounds hard.

Also check out: Mahanthappa interviewed on NPR. Continue reading →

Here’s some Sunday afternoon feel good for you – two Bob Marley songs performed by musicians from around the world, including several from South Asia. I liked the first, One Love, better than the second, Don’t Worry, but thought both were worth sharing. (Actually, the best video in this sequence is the first, Stand By Me, but unfortunately it has no desi musicians in it)

The organization that produced these videos (and others) is called Playing for Change. It’s worth clicking through to read their (short) manifesto. They’ve used portable digital recording technology to do a series of such recordings around the world, and are releasing them sequentially. There is a documentary about the project, and a CD/DVD that will be released at the end of April. There is an associated foundation that seems to be doing good works – there is a video of a music school they built in South Africa.

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One of the most famous Konkani pop songs from the 1960s is Lorna’s “Bebdo”. Here it is, with lyrics and translation:

Pretty swinging, huh? The sassy tone and subject matter reminds me a little of Trinidadian Calypso from around the same period. It’s true that there is a dark side to these types of songs (alcoholism, and the hint of domestic violence), but there is also a buoyancy and power in her voice that I really appreciate; it sounds like she won’t let anything get her down. (Are there other 60s Goan/Konkani tracks available on sites like YouTube that readers would recommend?)

When this was first recorded in 1966, the effect on the local music scene was electrifying:

From a kiosk on the beach, a pretty lady named Bertinha played records on the speaker system provided by the Panjim Municipality. She had a weakness for Cliff Richard tunes, Remo says. But that evening, she spun out a song called Bebdo (Drunkard). Miramar Beach was hypnotised. “The Panjim citizenry stopped in its tracks, the sunken sun popped up for another peep, the waves froze in mid-air,” Remo has written. “What manner of music was this, as hep as hep can be, hitting you with the kick of a mule on steroids? What manner of voice was this, pouncing at you with the feline power of a jungle lioness? And hold it no, it couldn’t be yes, it was no was it really? Was this amazing song in Konkani?”

Bebdo had been recorded a few months earlier by Chris Perry and Lorna in a Bombay studio and released by HMV. The jacket bore the flirty image that would later hang outside the Venice nightclub. The 45 rpm record had four tracks, opening with the rock-and-rolling Bebdo and ending on the flip side with the dreamy ballad, Sopon. “Sophisticated, westernised urban Goa underwent a slow-motion surge of inexplicable emotions: the disbelief, the wonder, the appreciation, and then finally a rising, soaring and bubbling feeling of pride,” Remo says. “The pride of being Goan. The pride of having a son of the soil produce such music. Of having a daughter of the soil sing it thus. And, most of all, of hearing the language of the soil take its rightful place in popular music after a period of drought. Chris and Lorna had come to stay.” (link)

The article from which that story is taken is by Naresh Fernandes, and he goes on to give a really interesting (if digressive) account of the links between Goa and the mainstream Hindi film music world.

First, even from what little I’ve heard, it’s pretty evident that Goan pop music (which is deeply influenced by big band, bebop, and 1960s R&B) overlaps strongly with the “modern,” R.D. Burman sound that emerged in Bollywood in the late 1960s and 70s (think “Ina Mina Dika”). The reason for that is simple: the majority of the musicians employed by the film studios were Goans: Continue reading →