After radio silence for the last couple of years, Sasi The Don is back with his latest album Timeless , featuring a song titled ‘ABCD’, sung alongside playback singer Anuradha Sriram. The video, that was release on November 20, has been dubbed a Deepavali anthem. Currently in London on a radio tour, Sasi states that he wanted a song that would engage people of all ages, especially in Chennai.
“I really admire AR Rahman and am hoping to work with him. Anirudha too, as he is a young musician inspiring young people all over. Sasi hopes to return to Chennai soon for a couple of radio shows with Anuradha Sriram, and maybe even work on a Hindi version of ‘ABCD’, with her.”
The 40-year-old Malaysian reggae artist, known in India for his album Hello India , got hooked to reggae music in his college days, when he first heard the Swedish musician Dr Alban.
“Reggae has always fascinated me, even since I heard Dr Alban. Believe it or not, in one of his interviews, AR Rahman said that his song ‘Mukkala Mukabula’ was inspired by Dr Alban. I saw all these famous artists like Apache Indian, Diana King and Alban and all of them were from different parts of the world. I thought, wow, this music is not just from one place, it’s from all over the world. The genre is a family. “
Sasi started discovering this family, one album and cassette inlay at a time, reading every piece he could get his hands on. “When I was in college, I used to DJ on the side and that’s how I got the name Sasi the Don. I didn’t consciously decide to get involved in reggae, I picked it up and it has taken me to many places. I wanted to show people that I was serious about reggae and wanted to take it across the globe. Now, I have worked with every artist I admired: Apache Indian and even Dr Alban.”
With his signature Asian twist, Sasi tries to incorporate culture in everything. India, and Chennai in particular, holds a special place in his heart. His album Hello India , started out as a basic experiment, he says, and was dedicated to India to show his love for the place and the culture.
It was his career in advertising that kept taking him in and out of this country, and exposed him to the culture and the language. Tamil, Sasi states, is a universal language and he would like nothing more than take it to all corners of the world, through his songs.
