In other news, the second edition of YAALL Fest, maajja’s online global festival, premières on YouTube today. The global platform for South Asian artistes, maajja has brought together over 34 artistes that include names from the Tamil film industry alongside up-and-coming Indian and global talents — curated and chosen by co-founder AR Rahman himself.
The two-day online festival that began yesterday, features music directors AR Rahman and Santhosh Narayanan; singers Shashaa Tirupati, Pravin Saivi, Sakthi Amaran, Maalavika Sundar, TeeJay and Sathyaprakash; music producers Sean Roldan, Leon James and Tenma; artistes Keba Jeremiah, Mugen Rao, Siennor, Aalap Raju, The Casteless Collective; and bands like Oorka and Staccato from Chennai.
There’s also artistes from around the world like Shan Vincent de Paul; Navz-47; Two’s A Company; Cartel Madras; Magisha; Sarika Navanathn; n X t Duo and AllMixedUp (AMU) from Toronto; SATTHIA and Yung Raja from Singapore; among many others.
“We are very excited about being able to showcase independent music and artistes in a scale and manner not seen before. The idea behind YAALL is to usher in new ideas, a renaissance if you will. This showcase featuring the who’s who and up-and-coming names will introduce super talented musicians and fresh music to the audience, with this upcoming digital edition being a key first step,” says Noel Kirthiraj, CEO and co-founder, maajja.
We caught up with three artistes to find out more about what you can look forward to at the fest:
Shan Vincent de Paul
To be a part of the YAALL campaign, for me it feels like I am reconnecting with my audience and that’s huge for me. Most of my support comes from India so to be a part of this festival means everything to me. And to be representing Toronto! We have a sound here that’s untouchable, and what we are doing is innovative and revolutionary to a degree.
The songs that I chose to perform were Mercury, from my SVDP 2 mix tape, Star Crossed from my album Made in Jaffna and the last song I did was Oh God, a freestyle from the Kothu Boys album. I wanted to perform songs that weren’t necessarily my biggest songs or the most streamed songs but songs that were reflective of who I was and what I brought to the table. I felt like when you listen to Mercury, you can hear the calibre of my opinion on that song, and that’s important to me. My lyricism is very important to me, and I wanted to make sure that I put that on display.
Maajja’s initiative to create a platform for South Asian independent artistes is inspiring and in perfect timing. And to be a part of it, I am honoured but it’s also very needed right now because there’s a wave of artistes coming out of India, out of the South that need to be heard. We don’t need to rely on these major labels. Creating your own platform is the future.
Yung Raja
Being a part of YAALL Festival is super dreamlike for me. It feels like everything is coming full circle for me. My family is from South India. This YAALL Festival and maajja as a platform is super cool. There are so many people out there looking for a platform like this. Now is the time we get to see these unsung heroes. Now is their time to shine.
Maajja is definitely one of the game changers coming out of India. The dream of an independent artist is to be heard, to be a part of something legendary, something iconic. Something that will be remembered for decades to come… all their dreams are being fulfilled with maajja and my heart goes out to all of them because I know that feeling. I am super grateful to play a small part in this initiative. Shout out to everyone putting together YAALL Fest!
Navz-47
I am very happy to be part of YAALL FEST and feel proud to be included amongst all these great artistes. I’m extremely grateful to maajja, who created this opportunity, this platform for independent artistes like me.
For the very first edition of YAALL Fest, I have chosen to perform three songs. First up is MA MA, which is essentially a look at the different elements of an arranged marriage, from when the guy’s family comes to look at the girl for the first time, and how it leads them to ask her to sing or dance or answer questions about what she can do and of course, dowry. All this ridiculousness is a part of the arranged marriage experience. And MA MA pokes fun at the process. The second song is Naveeni, which is also my name, and this track is like an introduction to me for the listeners. Kroos Control is the last song, and it’s a fun track. I don’t usually like mixing English and Tamil but in this track I have done that, and it’s special for that reason.
Streaming on YouTube. Today and tomorrow.
romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal