The renowned Indian music composer A.R. Rahman, whose extensive body of work for film and stage earned him the nickname “the Mozart of Madras”, has collaborated with Oscar and Grammy-nominated British-Sri Lankan artist M.I.A. and an array of Tamil artists around the world to launch “Maaja”, a project initiated in order to support and amplify the voices of independent artists.
There are an overwhelming number of artists and musicians around us that go unnoticed and under-appreciated, and not everyone is heard or gets a platform.
With Maaja, A.R. Rahman hopes to “elevate world-class talent” to a global stage.
British-Tamil artist and provocateur M.I.A. is the creative vision behind this global music festival, and will play a very involved role as the project evolves.
Rahman drew inspiration from the influence of his city of birth — Chennai — that he cherishes so dearly, and his personal experience growing up with the four South Indian languages — Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada — as a calling for him to start a project to revive the unity, and expand the industry and the immense joy it fosters in both himself and other artists.
The main highlight of Maaja will be the premier global music festival in Chennai – YAAL. The music festival will showcase numerous talented Tamil independent artists from Chennai to Toronto.
This event will feature over 30 artists – many of whom are established names in indie music and films – and the two-day festival will serve as a showcase of their independent music journey.
