Jharkhand-based electronic music producer The Mellow Turtle and his frequent collaborator, rapper-producer Tre Ess, have released a new single, Dil Aziz, on the streaming platform JioSaavn. The four-and-a-half minute track combines Hindustani classical singing with electronica, folk and rock.
Fifteen-year-old Dheeraj Kumar Gupta has sung the song, written by 14-year-old Subhash Kumar. Both are visually impaired students of St Michael’s School for the Blind in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The non-profit organisation Ekastha Foundation, started by Rishabh Lohia, who performs as The Mellow Turtle, is promoting music at the school through an initiative called Taal.
“To us, music is more than entertainment. It can and should be the driver of significant social change, and has the potential to transform the lives of people for the better,” The Mellow Turtle said in a press release.
Tre Ess, whose real name is Sumit Singh Solanki, added, “Jharkhand has an abundance of musical talent. Unfortunately, most artists here don’t get the kind of opportunity that their peers in metropolitan cities do. We want to change that. Dil Aziz is not a standalone project. We want to explore more collaborations with regional artists to help them showcase their extraordinary talent, and to make music a viable career option for them.”
The duo have collaborated several times in the past, including on the 2017 album Dzong.