Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz
SUNNY JAIN RELEASES NEW SINGLE, “RED, BROWN, BLACK (FEAT. HASEEB)”
NEW ALBUM WILD WILD EAST, OUT 21 FEBRUARY ON SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS
Red Baraat’s Sunny Jain releases a new single, “Red, Brown, Black” (Feat. Haseeb)” from his forthcoming album, Wild Wild East, out 21st February on Smithsonian Folkways. It follows the title track and lead single, “Immigrant Warrior.” “Red, Brown, Black” features the LA-based rapper Haseeb who, over staccato percussion and low-pitched brass, responds to the question, “Whose side are you on?”.
“A good friend and NYC Basement Bhangra pioneer, DJ Rekha, mentioned Haseeb to me over 2 years ago,” says Jain. “I started checking his tracks out and I think what drew me to him was – here’s a South Asian Muslim-American in LA talking about things that I can immediately relate to. I hit him up and he was immediately down to collab on a track. We went back and forth on the subject matter I wanted to address in the song and he did that and more. Red, Brown, Black addresses the concept of this album head on, playing with the words Indian, Cowboy, Native, Sheriff.”
LISTEN TO SUNNY JAIN’S “RED, BROWN, BLACK (FEAT. HASEEB)”
Wild Wild East explores the American myth of westward expansion, which has always been an irony-caked parable about what happens when you try to escape the known to pursue new beginnings, but also the traits that still ring true. Sources musical inspiration come from an array of influences, from the scores of Bollywood classics to Spaghetti Westerns, Indian folk to jazz improvisation, and South Asian languages to English prose to express the immigrant experience as one navigates the terrain of what it means to be “American.” Jain, the son of immigrants from India, draws upon his family history of migration for vision, employing rhythmic shifts, dissolving soundscapes, and the interplay of structure and experimentation to represent the heartbreak and triumph within the South Asian diaspora.
In support of Wild Wild East, Sunny Jain has announced a few live performances in the US: he’ll play two nights in Washington, DC at Carney’s Main Room on the Nauti Spirits Stage as part of the Exit Zero Jazz Festival on Sat. April 18 and Sun. April 19, as well as a show at Joe’s Pub in NYC on Wed. April 22. Tickets are on-sale now.
Sunny Jain Tour Dates:
February 15th – Washington, DC – Freer Art Gallery (Screening of Sholay w/ Q&A with Sunny)
April 18-19 – Cape May, NJ – Carney’s Main Room on the Nauti Spirits Stage (Exit Zero Jazz Festival)
April 22 – New York, NY – Joe’s Pub
REMINDER TO LISTEN TO SUNNY JAIN’S “IMMIGRANT WARRIOR” AND WATCH THE VIDEO FOR TITLE TRACK, “WILD WILD EAST”
TRACK LIST:
Immigrant Warrior
Wild Wild East (feat. Ganavya)
Osian
Red, Brown, Black (feat. Haseeb)
Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal (Remembrance)
Aye Mere Dil Kahin Aur Chal
Bhaagi (feat. Aditya Prakash)
Blackwell (feat. Alam Khan)
Hai Apna Dil to Awara (feat. Ganavya)
Tumse Lagi Lagan
Maitri Bhavanu (feat. Ganavya) Brooklyn Dhama
Wild Wild East is the first release in the Smithsonian Folkways’ Asian Pacific America series, which features exceptional contemporary voices and sonic expressions across diverse musical genres. Whether reinterpreting traditional repertoire and styles or speaking directly to collective experiences through song, the artists in the series expand the American soundscape through their creative explorations of identity, community, and diaspora. This series is supported in part through Federal funds from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives pool administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
Artist Site | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Smithsonian Folkways