Balraj Singh Samrai & Farah Ahmad Khan connect once more exploring Climate Justice enlisting British-Tamil artist GoldTooth & Mancunian-Malawian Rootz for a hard-hitting number fit for the club or classroom backed by a futurist visual from Sophie Ying-Wang Billington. This releases follows acclaimed works by Balraj & Farah for Opera North & MIF Sounds with performances at Bluedot & Manchester International Festival as well as support from BBC 6 Music (Mary Anne Hobbs/Jamz Supernova), Mr Scruff, Mixmag, DJ Mag, FACT Mag & Bandcamp Weekly.
Originally a collaborative work commissioned by Manchester Museum & Season for Change, Planet-People-Power explored Pan-Africian, Caribbean, Indigenous & South Asian diaspora experiences in relation to climate change. The work featured a plethora of international collaborators from artists, activists & musicians to poets, producers & curators.
Fresh from his BBC Asian Network residency South-London’s GoldTooth flips Planet-People-Power’s original track eleven minutes into a digestible three & half minutes expertly incorporating Rakhi Singh’s warm strings, Vikaash Sankadecha’s irresistible tabla rhythms as well as glowing pads, skittering drums & 808 bass glides even adding his own vocal lines to the haunting hook. Rising star of the Manchester underground Rootz raps a poignant verse putting forward the realities of the current situation whilst yearning for a brighter tomorrow.
The Remix is interspersed with profound interview excerpts from Climate Activist/Researcher Pooja Kishinani, Curator of Indigenous Perspectives Alexandra P. Alberda & Manchester-based Writer, Performance Artist & Producer Keisha Thompson. Jamaican Artist Gavsborg of Kingston’s prestigious Equiknoxx collective delivers a stark poem as well as Asian Dub Foundation’s Pandit G offering a moving example of the role green spaces provide for the most marginalised as well as the industrial threats that loom.
The track is complemented by a stunning visual treatment from director Sophie Yin Wang Billington incorporating VFX, 3D animation & striking performance footage from artists Rootz, Farah Ahmad Khan & Balraj Singh Samrai.
credits
released April 20, 2023
Balraj Singh Samrai - Creator, Music Composition, Production
Farah Ahmad Khan - Creator, Writer, Urdu Poetry, Vocals
GoldTooth - Additional Production, Vocals
Rootz - Vocals
Vikaash Sankadecha - Tabla
Rakhi Singh - Violin
Gavsborg - Poetry
Pandit G - Spoken Interview Excerpt
Keisha Thompson - Spoken Interview Excerpt
Pooja Kishinani - Spoken Interview Excerpt
Alexandra Alberda - Spoken Interview Excerpt
Sophie Yin-Wang Billington - Music Video
Nikhil Sinha - Mastering
DJ and producer Samrai (Swing Ting) offers their first full-length LP, a vibrant electronic portrait of South Asian migrant experiences. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 4, 2023