Music has the innate ability to break boundaries and bring together cultures and traditions. Much like the aroma of wet clay that wafts out of a rain-soaked Earth, the tunes of strings, percussion or perhaps other Baroque instruments, woven across soft tones and tunes, paired with vocals often create an ephemeral atmosphere that is above and beyond petty tangential boundaries. But if such is the power of music, is recognition necessary? Is not music and its proponent above such frivolities?
Two Indians brought glory to the country during the 64th Grammy Awards when Falu Shah brought the hallowed gramaphone home for her Children’s album A Colourful World and composer Ricky Kej and legendary Stewart Copeland won the Grammy for their album, Divine Tides. This is the same ceremony which created a ruffle across social media for The Recording Academy failing to mention legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar in their memoriam section. While netizens and celebs may have took cognizance to the omission, two-time Grammy winner Ricky feels Lata Mangeshkar is beyond such trivialities.
In an exclusive interaction with Times Digital, Ricky revealed that while it is sad that ‘Lata didi’ was not mentioned by The Recording Academy, recognition from the West should not be a parameter of success. The composer stated, “It was very hurtful that she was not recognised by the Academy for her contributions, but, we should not look at recognition from the West as a measure of success or legacy of a person in India.”
He went on to add, “We have a 1.3 billion audience in India alone and 200 million diasporas. We do not need recognition from anyone else. And Lata Mangeshkar has received the greatest recognition from India. She is admired by all ages, across political lines, across cultural barriers, and across traditional lines. Even the youngest in India appreciate her.”
“Lata Mangeshkar is in the folds of history for eternity. She does not need recognition from The Recording Academy. She is much, much higher than that,” he opined.
As for the album which got Ricky his second Grammy, Divine Tides, according to him is a ‘pandemic album’ which saw him doing his thing in Bangalore, Stewart recording his bit in Los Angeles and everything coming together in Bangalore again. The setting, he opined, is something that musicians have been doing for 6 to 7 years prior to the pandemic, but the only difference is that during the COVID-19 wave, they did not have a choice.
The musician also revealed who among contemporary music creators he would like to collaborate with. While Ricky stated that the pandemic has allowed him to work with quite a few artists, he would love to join hands for a project with AR Rahman.
“I have been a longstanding friend of AR Rahman and in fact he was the first person to email me and congratulate me when I won the Grammy. He is a gentle soul and one of my favourite persons in the planet. I would love to collaborate with him at some point in time,” Ricky signed off.
