Cause Play

When they're not playing to the gallery, musicians and singers espouse causes dear to their heart, either through the lyrics of their songs or through the music videos. Others become part of a larger ensemble to voice their thoughts. Here's looking at the most recent of the lot...

Naughty Boy
Platform: Music Video for 'Pardon Me' (Lynx Edition)
Cause: Raising awareness for the Peace One Day Organization
Ahead of World Peace Day on September 21, music producer Shahid 'Naughty Boy' Khan created this track for Lynx's Make Beats, Not War campaign to raise awareness for the organisation. It has, featuring on the track, rapper Professor Green, singer-songwriter Laura Mvula, drum & bass producer Wilkinson and Naughty Boy's latest discovery, 21-year-old singer songwriter Ava Lily. Contactmusic.com noted that "it's a cause close to Naughty Boy's heart", observing that he's "an impassioned and politically minded young man... keen to help spread the message of peace through his music."

Colbie Caillat
Platform: Music Video for 'Try'
Cause: Self-love, Embracing who you are
Well, this one may have started out as a "venting experience" for Caillat as Billboard noted. The singer was disappointed after her album was scrapped and she was "forced to be something she wasn't, musically and image-wise". The concept, she told Elle magazine, came about while working in the studio with Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds after telling him about her own personal experiences. She put out a lyric video back in June, showing makeup-free selfies of herself and famous friends Miranda Lambert, Sheryl Crow, and Sara Bareilles. The official video then had women from all different ages and backgrounds, including Caillat herself, wearing makeup, wigs, and fake eyelashes. As the video progresses, the women remove their makeup, take off their wigs or shake out their hair, and let their natural beauty show.

Raftaar
Platform: Music video for 'Mother Nature'
Cause: A spoken-word track on global warming
When Raftaar's not rapping about the party scene, featuring in videos for friends and other collaborators, he's also spitting out rhymes with messages that are heartfelt, like this one he did late last month to highlight global warming. A film by Yashasvi, it has music by Nilesh and Raftaar with the latter singing, rapping and giving lyrics to this spoken-word track. "This is for my mother nature", he goes, observing, that now "rone ka kya faayda galti humaari hai". Admonishing the educated lot, he says, "Sunlo gavaaron, degree ko chhod aao ghar pe/If you educated toh dikhao kuch karke". A scathing comment on armchair activism comes with "Karo sab khud / kuch na hoga hashtag se/ chalo hashtag bhi lagaa lo, jab khud karo kuch/ apne tree ki daalo DP WhatsApp pe". Raftaar then explains the video saying it's a "choti koshish" asking questions about climate change and how we can all contribute to help stall climate change in our own little way. He urges those watching to make a video and ask questions and send it to a website mentioned. Those selected, will make it to the UN Summit for Climate Change in New York on September 23. At least he's practising what he preaches (check out the video), which is more than what we can say for most rappers these days."

Meiyang Chang
Platform: The 'I'm Not A Woman' sketch for East India Comedy
Cause: To show women that not all men are a**holes
In the wake of the rise of crimes against women, the boys at EIC got together with actors Rajit Kapur, Neil Bhoopalam and actor-singer Meiyang Chang. Says Chang, "It's an apology on behalf of all those who treat women indifferently or abusively. But this is not a generic apology. There are men who will say, 'If I am upright, why should I apologise?' The purpose here was not to create a divivde but to create awareness that we need to feel sorry as a society." He feels the video has a very hard-hitting message, and that "It's a promise that we will do something. And henceforth, not be a bystander and actively take sides." He feels that despite the mixed response to the video, "Maybe, it isn't getting to them. This was just one attempt. We'll make ten more such attempts." Perseverance does pay!

Shruti Pathak
Platform: Music video for Roobaroo Micromax Unite Anthem
Cause: To highlight unity in diversity
Ahead of Independence Day this year, Sony Music and Micromax got 10 singers together for a musical dedication. These singers sung in nine languages as a sort of representation of the different cultures of India. One among them was Shruti Pathak who sang in Gujarati. Calling it an amazing experience, Shruti supposes the video went viral "because of the variety of the styles of singing in one song. Everybody had small parts to play but everybody gave it their best. And everyone stood out. Despite the reiteration of feelings in different language, the song in no way felt repetitive. We all gelled as one." Well, mission accomplished, we say!

Shannon K
Platform: A music video for her song 'Say No To Drugs'
Cause: The title of the song is self-explanatory
She's all of 12, but Kumar Sanu's London-based daughter is raring to go. Making music along with her nine-year-old daughter Ana, she is singing for all the right reasons. Her first track was Roll Back The Years, which was created after Ana wrote the lyrics, deeply affected by her friend's distress on her parents' impending divorce. Her latest track Say No To Drugs is an anti-drug song and it's heartening to see these youngsters trying to encourage grown-ups to get rid of drugs. The song is in English and she says singing "wasn't planned, it just happened". Right now, it's just matters close to her heart and what affects them enough to write about, it seems. She says her dad wants her to complete university, which is nine years away, which is when she will consider Bollywood.