Championing causes through music
Ashanthi De Alwis is a name familiar in any Sri Lankan household, as one of our first female rapper and hip hop artistes. She rose to fame in the early 2000’s with BnS, and has since been successful in her solo career.
Pic courtesy Flexus Labs
More recently Ashanthi has found a deeper calling in her music which she reflects in her two latest music videos, Hitha Danne Mithuranne and Rajiniye, addressing important social issues in the country. We had a chance to speak with the singer herself about what went down behind the scenes when making these two videos.
While curating the music for the WOW (Women Of the World) festival, that encourages women’s achievements with the British Council, Ashanthi made connections with many amazing women who were working to make a difference.
“We used to meet once a week for about six months, and it was like a power women committee,” she recalls. “I started getting passionate about things that affected women after meeting them.”
Once WOW concluded, there was a bid for the Voices and Choices Grant, to do something for women and girls. Looking to her own passions, Ashanthi decided to champion depression and suicide prevention, and thus, Hitha Danne Mithuranne was born.
“It generated a very different audience for me,” Ashanthi shares. “Music with a cause hadn’t been done in Sri Lanka before, not to this level,” she added, recalling that her fanbase had felt not that she was deviating from her music, but rather adding to it. Championing the causes of girls and teenagers allowed her to reach people she never had before. “It’s very difficult to gain the respect of that kind of audience, so I’m happy that we connected.”
Ashanthi also noted that it was no easy feat to handle subjects like this, mentioning that she did a lot of research before making the hitha danne mithuranne video, making sure the subject matter was portrayed in a sensitive manner. Speaking to psychologists and mental health professionals Ashanthi made sure to deliver an impactful video.
Rajiniye, which deals with harassment, had a similar process. People who worked with women and those specializing in gender based violence were consulted, who helped in narrowing it down to harassment in public transport and the workplace as two of the most common incidents.
“Rajiniye, I feel, is one of the best songs I’ve produced personally,” she tells us, adding that the experience seeing it come to life was so great, and it gave her personal pleasure to produce something like that. And since its release, more than the views, Ashanthi finds solidarity and support in the YouTube comments, where there are women and men sharing thoughts, experiences and support.
Oddly enough, the greatest challenge she faced when the videos came out was the mainstream media. With Hitha Danne Mithurane, Ashanthi described people as being confused as to how to promote a song of this nature.
“We don’t address our issues. We would rather come home and watch a comedy and laugh than watch something like this and face the thought that this might be us. You’d rather live in obliviousness, and I think that’s something I’d like to change.”
Speaking of her future plans, Ashanthi counts music with a cause as something that she has grown to be very passionate about. “I will always do it regardless of the commercial music I may make,” she says. “It gives you, as an artiste, more substance.”
While it may not generate the millions of views that commercial music will, she believes, the rewards from this kind of music are another thing entirely. The impact that it creates is so much greater.
She regards music with a cause as something new and fresh, much like her hiphop music was when she first started it. She added that she has a wonderful support system of family and friends who help and support her newest direction in music.
“I feel blessed to be able to have the voice to do that, the path to do that for someone else,” adding “And if anyone is going through these issues, which most of us have, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Reaching out, or knowing that you need to, is the first step.”