8 takeaways from AR Rahman’s livestream with Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am

Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman, who is known for his exceptional music composition, recently conducted a Livestream with American rapper Will.i.am. Rahman has been conducting virtual live streams with artists from around the world. He started the series on his YouTube channel where he first interviewed popular Indian singer Arijit Singh. Rahman aired his second video with American rapper-composer, Will.i.am.

Will.i.am had earlier recreated A.R. Rahman's song titled It’s My Birthday in 2014. The song was a recreated version of Rahman’s 1994 song from Kadhalan titled Urvashi. The musical artists talked about various things on their 48 minutes Youtube Livestream. The Livestream was conducted on Youtube today on September 9th at 12 pm IST. Here are some of the highlights of the conversation between two musical maestros.

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Things to know about AR Rahman’s candid conversation with Will.i.am

• Both artists revealed how they are facing life during the current pandemic situation. While Will.i.am mentioned that he has been challenging himself to keep his focus on his music and write at least 3 songs per day, he has actually managed to write quite a few songs during the few months in lockdown.
• Whereas A.R.Rahman stated that pandemic times has been quite relaxing for him as far as the music is concerned. Rahman mentioned that he is taking a break currently & stated that this was the first time that he got some time to spend for himself ever since he started working in the early 90s.
• AR Rahman talked about his music process when Will.i.am asked him about when he is composing new music, what comes first to him the song or the sonic. Rahman replied that since music in India is severely dependent on the movies and vice-versa, he usually goes with the vibe of the movie director by asking him how they want to convey the music of the film and that is how his music-making process starts.
• Will.I. Am talked about his future projects and collaborations with Indian artists. Will.I.Am mentioned of his desire to work with the Indian veteran singer Asha Bhosle. Rahman even spoke highly of the Indian veteran singer reminiscing about the time he worked with her for the movie Rangeela. Will.i.am also mentioned that he is looking forward to his new project titled Translation 2, which is a tribute to Indian influences in music. 
• AR Rahman also stated his future plans - “I want to unite the world with thoughts like these. We already have yoga, music and food. But in terms of developing things which are organic and beautiful, what can we do?” asked the composer.
• Will.i.am asked Rahman about the secret to his career longevity. Rahman mentioned that it is discipline that has kept him going after so long. He said that the constant need for refining himself is what keeps him going after so many years.
• Will.i.am talked about his interest in educating children into new technology and business.
• Rahman gave a glimpse of his KM Music Conservatory, a music college that he founded for children interested to learn western and Hindustani classical music.

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On the work front, AR Rahman recently produced the film Atkan Chatkan. The plot of the film revolves around a group of children who use unconventional musical instruments to create a destiny for themselves. The film has been directed by Shiv Hare with actors like Lydian Nadhaswaram and Amitriyaan in pivotal roles.

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Promo image courtesy: A.R.Rahman YouTube