What does it truly mean to A&R a record?
In a world that often reduces South Asians to a census category — a diversity box to check — or tries to manufacture “viral moments” by pairing artists from different cultures purely for optics, I’ve come to believe something even more important:
Great records are made by pairing people based on sound, skill, and instinct — not someone else’s idea of their culture.
I’ve known
@joshsahunta since 2019 from my time as a music journalist. I spent hours streaming his songs — these beautifully produced hooks layered with the most incredible strings — and kept asking myself: Who is this making such good R&B and pop?
Then I learned he was South Asian, from Edmonton, Canada.
Around that same time, I met the brilliant songwriter, producer, composer, and singer
@ramyapothuri . In 2021, during one of my many trips to Canada, I briefly met both
@chinstogram and
@keepclarity .
Later, when KC and I started organizing the camp rooms, the conversation was simple:
Not social media metrics.
Not streaming numbers.
Not optics.
Three producers.
Three guitar players.
Three singers whose musical worlds are shaped by shimmering guitars and ear worm-y hooks.
The result is “Subside.”
Now an
@amazonmusiccan Original and currently featured on the Sankofa (Yonge & Dundas) billboard in Toronto.
Don’t let anyone tell you what it means to be South Asian (especially other south asians lol)
Or a woman.
Or an artist.
Just be.
📸
@rattan.xx 
