New Delhi: The fourth Indian to receive the Grammy Award, Ricky Kej is the youngest recipient of the global honour. For his album "Winds of Samsara," which was recognised as the year's best New Age recording, Ricky won his first Grammy Award in 2015. The Bengaluru-based music producer and composer, who began his musical career by creating commercial jingles, has received several honours. Along with his musical endeavours, Ricky is a renowned environmentalist who was named one of in GQ Heroes for using his talent to save our planet through his songs and campaigning in 2020.


During ABP Network's 'The Southern Rising' Summit, Kej sat down to talk about his musical career on the global stage, his love for nature, and the rise of Bollywood music. 


On Winning Three Prestigious Grammy Awards


Ricky won the Grammy for the first time in 2015 for 'Winds of Samsara', and then in 2022 for 'Divine Tides', he earned two Grammys. The Indian musician recalled getting the global honour as a "surreal feeling".


“Growing up in Bangalore, making independent music making non mainstream music, it always felt like an unattainable dream or a dream that you could not even think about. You'd watch the Grammys on television and that was the end of it. But then actually winning my first Grammy award when I was 33 years old. And then after that, winning another two more, it's just an amazing feeling to represent India on such a large stage, especially creating Indian music,” Kej said.


While Kej's accomplishments and his music's global appeal are well known to everybody, the Grammy Award winner talked about the long path he travelled to get there. Ricky recounted everything that he encountered when he first began his musical career.


“While my classmates and my siblings, my friends were fascinated by television, by cartoons by video games, for me, my ears were always more important than my eyes. So the center of my universe was always my music system. My father had this huge music collection. I would listen to music all day long. And my father did not just have the hits of that particular era, but he also had a lot of obscure music, and a lot of cultural forms of music from different parts of the world. So a lot of my education happened through listening to all of that music that my father had,” he said.


On Getting Closer To Nature Through Music


Music plays an integral role in Ricky's love of nature. When he realised that music and nature are one and the same, he started to fall in love with it.


“Music started off as sounds from nature. In the sounds of the birds sounds of the animal sounds of the wind sounds of the water drops. And then we humans started imitating those sounds. Then he started pulling objects from nature to make musical instruments like bamboo flutes and boxes of seeds and animals came as percussion instruments. And it's only for the last few, one or 2000 years that music has actually become a cannabic with notes and scales and rocks, and things like that, but music and nature has always been one in the same. Then of course, I started off a professional musical career,” Ricky explained.


While speaking about starting his musical career by creating jingles, he said, “I did more than 3500 commercials for pretty much every brand that you can imagine and their competitor and in different parts of the world. And after doing this for so many years, it sort of struck me that these big brands have understood the power of music, so much so that they're ready to spend a few $1,000 on me to actually create a piece of music for them to sell something because they're always trying to sell something. And not only that, they're ready to spend a few million dollars to actually air this music on television radio. So they understood that music is a very powerful language for communication and for them to sell something.”


“I realized that I need to harness the power of music because I feel so strongly about so many things, whether it's social impact, or whether it's the environment or climate change. To make this world a better place and that's what started off a new journey of mine,” Ricky further added.


On His Roots In Southern India


Ricky Kej was born in the USA and spent around six years living there. Later, his family made the decision to relocate to India because his parents wanted to raise their children in the country. 


"My father and mother traveled the length and breadth of India and then they chose South India. The reason why they chose Bangalore was that was the only city in the whole of India, where we do not have any relatives. Everything that I am is is due to Bangalore and South India. So that is why I always say that my father is from Rajasthan my mom is from Punjab, but I am a proud Kannadiga," the musician said.


On Bollywood Music And Cultural Impact


Ricky notes that despite the fact that Bollywood music is widely recognised worldwide, Indian or film artists are able to fill an entire stadium, but everyone in the audience—with a few notable exceptions—is a member of the Indian diaspora.


“Bollywood in my opinion, have not actually broken cultural barriers. There are few songs that have but more but by and large, they haven't broken cultural barriers. They're just catering to the Indian audiences everywhere, which is not a bad thing,” Ricky stated.


“They've sort of like created a false identity of our music. When I tell people I'm a composer. The first question they asked me is which film because that is how deeply integrated our film industry is with our music and we need to change that and slowly that is happening," he added.


Throughout the day, 'The Southern Rising' Summit is set to witness personalities from various fields including politics and entertainment. The speakers are expected to share their views on the idea of a 'New India' and the upcoming Lok Sabha election 2024. 
 
Prominent politicians including IT Minister P Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin, Telangana MLC Kavitha and Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai are lined up to set the stage on fire. Prominent actors from the cine industry, including Rana Daggubati, Kushboo Sundar, Revathy, and Suhasini Maniratnam, will grace the stage.