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With his latest music video, a Bahrain-based ‘third culture’ musician is holding up a mirror to those who feel alien in every home, imploring them to be proud of all the cultures they can call their own.
Ashwin Shenoy, better known by his musical moniker ‘Xenai’, has released a music video for Ugly in which his music and Angelina Soon’s filmmaking skills muse about the idea of code switching and how non-Western youngsters have come to internalise the idea that their own culture is ‘ugly’.
Code-switching is where individuals, particularly those of ethnic minority groups, change their linguistic code, including accents and dialects, to be seen as part of the Western peer groups with whom they spend time.
“I wrote this song about two years ago with this concept in mind albeit with minor differences,” Xenai explained to GulfWeekly.
“Angelina approached me saying she wanted to do a music video for me – one that has a message and I immediately pitched this song. She loved it and brought our friend Tarun Malhotra on board to co-direct.
“Tarun’s experience as a model, dancer and an actor in Bollywood helped us a lot and he suggested broadening my story to relate to all cultures and ethnicities that have experienced this dilemma.”
The three brought on a diverse cast including Lujane Yacoub, Florencia Santillan, Jackeline Mbui, Jisun Kwak, Aziz Al Kharraz and Vishnu Salvacion Pillai.
Costume and styling were done by Roshini Raveendran with Christy Burton helping with props and jewellery.
With rapping ruminations flowing throughout the video, each cast member representing a different culture takes centre-stage, transforming Xenai’s personal story about wanting to rap while wearing “kurtas and eating dosa”, into a universal tale of hiding culture to better fit in.
“This song is a call out to those who feel ashamed of embracing their own heritage when trying to fit into the modern world,” the 28-year-old rapper added.
“In the music industry, a lot of international artists tend to force a western accent, changing themselves along the way and hiding their cultural backgrounds to appeal to a wider audience.
“The idea of embracing our own culture comes with a ‘fear of rejection’ or as the famous French philosopher, Alain De Botton termed it ‘cultural inadequacy’. This can happen with small things like ‘changing our accents to fit in’, or using a common name instead of our own when introducing ourselves.”
Born into an Indian family in Bahrain, Ashwin often considered himself an alien, neither belonging here nor there and with this unique narrative in mind, he produced Ugly to resonate with immigrants and third culture youngsters within the region and beyond.
The song borrows elements of hip-hop and regional music, with the oud being layered over a classic rap beat.
Sonically, the choice is intentional because Xenai did not want to sound overly Western despite admitting that he has been guilty of this.
“I have realised the only way to stand out amongst the crowd right now is if I embrace everything that makes me who I am instead of running from it,” he added.
“Right now artists in the West themselves are trying their best to sound unique and different. We already have it but aren’t using it.”
Xenai had released the Ugly single a year ago, but then got busy with other musical projects, hence the release of the music video a year later.
He has had a very productive year, having recently released the Tr.ust extended play (EP) which is a four-part story about “two people losing themselves in one another without consciously establishing boundaries.”
He has another four-song EP coming out, called Heal, which is set to be released in the next month, as he continues to work on his debut album, which is slated for release in 2023, as well as a number of collaborations with other Bahrain-based artists.
For more details and to check out the music video, follow @xenaimuzik on Instagram.
