Sanjeev T is an accomplished producer/songwriter/musician. His love affair with music began at an early age. That love transformed into making music his life’s work after he went to University in Chennai. His biggest claim to fame is his decade long stint as the lead guitarist for A.R. Rahman until 2015. He swung his six string axe for movies like Rockstar, Delhi-6, Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Blue. Sanjeev T has also worked with notable Bollywood music directors such as Pritam and Anu Malik. He also composed music for a couple of Malayalam movies Vilakkumaram (2017) and Manoharam (2019). While Sanjeev T has released his own music before, “Livin’ Like Me” is his first ever music video made with the help of Cinematographer Siddhartha Nuni, Director Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, and Executive Producer Kavita Baliga. Let’s delve into the track now.
The song and video for “Livin’ Like Me” have been released on the Desi Music Entertainment record label. What’s more, the track features the vocal chops of famous Carnatic singer Vasudha Ravi and Desi reggae artist King Jassim. The theme of the track is living your life while being true to yourself. It’s a celebration of authenticity and the discovery of one’s self identity. The song aims to channel the power of music to empower and elevate its listeners. Does it succeed? Of course it does. But the most interesting part is “how” it does it. That’s where things get really interesting.
Have you ever had a tasty dish which was put together with the unlikeliest of ingredients? How does it taste so good when you added that with that? Well, “Livin’ Like Me” is a smorgasbord of the unlikeliest of elements. It has elements of reggae, dubstep and Carnatic classical music. Yes, there was no typo there. It has a mix of all those elements and it sounds awesome. It features the Saraswati Namasthubhyam shloka mixed with Komala kara from the song Mamavathu Sri Saraswati by Mysore Vasudevachar. All of that is mixed with dubstep and reggae. What?? Exactly our thoughts when we heard about the song. However, when we heard the song, the “what” quickly turned to “wow”. Pretty sure it will have the same impact on all of its listeners.
The performances of everyone on the track is awesome. It is recorded, produced and mixed very well. No semi-pro, amateur stuff here, everyone’s a thoroughbred. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable song which features a very cool video with some awesome choreography and cinematography. It definitely enhances the flavour of the song. “Livin’ Like Me” is definitely great when you hear it, it’s even better when you watch it. So what are you waiting for? Press play.
Verdict: Musical version of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
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