British-Indian singer-songwriter Shahin Badar’s new single Jaag celebrates womanhood and liberation. By Chahak Mittal
Music is an indirect medium of communicating ideas that need attention. As feminism increasingly crawls into lyrics of songs, one such is UK-based British-Indian singer-songwriter Shahin Badar’s newest single, Jaag.
For her, the song signifies the strength of womanhood. She says, “With disrespect on the rise, every woman needs a brother in society who acknowledges her strength and beauty.” It astutely studies power equations and admonishes a misogynistic society. The term, that means to ‘wake up’ or ‘rise,’ in Hindi, celebrates women empowerment and encompasses the themes of “liberation and self-love.” Shahin explains that it brings to the fore the idea of waking up and recognising self-beauty, love and freedom from the negative remarks of the society against women.
Through her experiences and conversations, she realised, that because of all the socio-economic changes there has been a lot of manipulation. “Lines were crossed and many things shouldn't have been tolerated. There is also a need for spirituality and humility among both men and women so that each of us can rise above the afflictions caused by negative forces,” she says.
The singer says that she has mostly worked on songs which were sent to her by music production companies. However, she penned Jaag keeping in mind the idea of womanhood and respect.
The versatile award-winning singer has collaborated with a number of Indian and internationally-acclaimed music composers, exploring global music genres like EDM, Pop, Trance, House, Sufi, as well as the Indian music scene.
She says that she was enriched by Arabic music as she grew up in Kuwait. “However,” she says, “In UK, I got connected to an environment where there was different kinds of dance and music. I met people who opened the doors of music and production for me. Since then, I started exploring various genres and collaborating with many UK-based artists.” And combining them led to the creation of sounds that could be termed “eclectic.”
The singer says that she didn’t wish to be “generalised” or even “confined” to one thing. Hence, “I decided to put all my ideas to paper and then record it.”
For someone, who has never had direct encounters with the culture of India, developing an interest in the country’s music is intriguing. Shahin attributes it to her teacher and ghazal writer mother, who she is a huge source of inspiration. She was officially known to be the ‘second Lata Mangeshkar’ in her town in Gujarat. “And she used to sing the Indian National Anthem in the state on All India Radio (AIR). However, her conservative family never let her pursue her dream of becoming a musician.” With such a background it is not surprising that she was drawn towards Hindustani classical music which expanded her vision further.
In fact Shahin’s teenage years prominently featured Indian music that was “usually played all day long in the house and I would always sing along with my mother. She helped me to sing better. There were social gatherings especially to celebrate music where I would meet producers and composers.”
It was in 2004 when Dol Dol from Aayutha Ezhuthu had released and everyone noticed the singer’s collaboration with composer AR Rahman. Shahin says that it was “a dream come true. I was very honoured to have worked with him.”
The multiple awards-winning artist says that the most important thing is the person behind that award who shows respect and humility towards one’s work and voice. She says, “I find it very intriguing. Winning awards has been the most uplifting part of my career. It makes a person reach out to the soul so that ideas and enthusiasm just come naturally.”
Among all the other music genres, she has loved the Indian music scene the most. She says, “I feel it gives you the freedom of expression.”
However, she opposes certain trends that the Indian music industry and even the audience are adopting these days. “Many music composers in India say that people today wanted to hear tracks that are similar to the other hit songs. And that is why you see the rise of the remakes. It was very disheartening. Hence, I would say that the industry is yet to evolve. This is just ignorance. Old songs are anyway a hit, they don’t need remakes to be retold,” she says, as she signs off.