Musically yours

Nevertheless,even after more than a decade,he is still remembered for his trademark husky voice and ballad-style singing. Now the light-eyed singer has returned after two years with a new album,Raasta-Man,and decided to do things his way. The album,which is dedicated to the common man and features 11 songs,has been launched under the artistes own label,Lucky Ali Entertainment. Lucky will also be embarking on a 25 city road trip to promote it and has tied up with UTV as the official music partner.

Quiz him on what prompted this course of action and he says,Rather than working with a company where you have limitations in terms of the kind of music that you can create,I decided to release Raasta-Man under my own label. Not only can I create the music that I want to but also promote,market and popularise it my way.

The album,Lucky reveals,expresses every mans thoughts right from a traffic constable to a taxi driver or a professional,and is a personal expression of a collective emotion. Recorded in China,Mauritius and New York,it gave the artiste an opportunity to perform romantic ballads without any inhibitions and experiment. He chuckles and says,Raasta-Man is a much-travelled album since it has been recorded in so many places. But while working on it I have done what I have felt like doing. It has the soul-searching quality that is obvious in all my earlier works.

Keeping in terms with the present-day scenario where Internet is ruling the roost,Lucky has also ensured that rather than buying CDs,music aficionados can download the album online. Apart from this there will be centres set up across the country where CDs will be distributed. Explaining how the whole system will work,he says,When a user will be downloading a song online,in a way he will actually be buying it for free. There will be no difference in the music quality. What prompted me to come up with this idea was the response to my earlier albums. Sunoh has had two million downloads and all my albums collectively have enjoyed six to seven million downloads. So Internet was the obvious medium.

However,the singer stresses that there is no monetary transaction involved when a user downloads Raasta-Mans songs online. On the contrary,he says,the viewer will be contributing to a specific cause. He explains,We will be setting up trucks in various cities wherein if you want to donate your old clothes or utensils or other items,you can just go and give it away. My friends on the social networking site Facebook will then distribute these goods to the needy.

The actual cost involved in the making of the album will be recovered from the albums promotions by UTV on radio,television,Voice and other digital platforms. Lucky says,UTV will be promoting Raasta-Man on radio,TV and through caller-back tunes and giving feeds to software companies. This will help us cover the cost of the album.

Starting from September,the artiste will also be embarking on a tour of two-tier cities including places like Hyderabad,Pune,Bhopal,Lucknow,Goa and Kulu. The idea,he says,is to have an urban concert without vulgarity where he can interact with his fans. I like to tour with my music. The most satisfying part is that when I perform,people hum the songs along with me.

The road trip will also keep Lucky so busy that he will not be lending his voice for Hindi films this year. But rather than being flustered about it,the singer who has given hits like Ek pal ka jeena Kaho Naa … Pyaar Hain,Aa bhi jaa Sur Khuda hafiz Yuva,Ahista ahista Bachna Ae Haseeno and more recently Hairat Anjaana Anjaani,is glad. Im not dependent on hits or films to sustain my career. Its good to know that people like my work but too much of anything is bad. After all,isnt it boring to always be in the news? I have no complaints with the way things have happened. My work has given me a lot of peace,love and satisfaction, he signs off on a positive note.

rinky.kumarexpressindia.com