Written by Diya Bechoo
Creative Director: Diya Bechoo
Artist: Renao Videographers: Diya Bechoo & Sophia Green
Assistant Videographers: Rajesh Bhovan & Aaliya Choudhury
Photographer: Sophia Green
Journalists: Shuma Begum, Diya Bechoo & Rajesh Bhovan
Edited: Diya Bechoo
A tangerine ambience diffused an illumination on bedroom walls adorned with meticulously placed illustrations, each with purpose. Each facilitating the ebb and flow of creativity and reflection.
With a mic and two cameras we walked into a bedroom dreamscape and sat down with South Asian singer songwriter Renao in his creative sanctuary. Guitar in hand, he relayed that his latest album “A SPACE BETWEEN ORANGE AND BLUE’ unanticipatedly, showed itself to be an extension of his diasporic identity in its formative stages.
“I realised I wanted to make music about my experience as a brown person in a western country”
Having moved to the UK from Bangalore at 19 to study music production Renao expressed that although being surrounded with western culture growing up, “watching every movie there was and listening to all the music”, he didn’t expect this alienating feeling of being an outsider.
Something that I think a lot, if not all South Asian’s/POC feel when assimilating to western culture.
We grow up watching it, “these over exaggerated versions of western life in movies”. Believing we understand the nuances of this ‘lifestyle’ we’ve consumed in the media, only to be met with this sobering feeling of being “the stereotypical Indian”
“When I moved here for Uni I remember I decided to speak with an American accent because I didn’t want to be stereotyped. Being the only brown person in a group of nine white people I just didn’t want to be seen as that Indian guy . But when I got there this Indian accent just came out of me…so I had to stick to it”
It’s important to recognise the way colonialism and western culture has infiltrated South Asian culture.
Unsurprisingly the impact it has left has resulted in many being burdened with this unwaveringly inescapable feeling of internalised racism, etched into almost every thought or action.
Giving rise to feelings of unworthiness stopping many from pursuing their passion. It all sounds a bit deep, but it's the harsh reality for many who are not white but are trying to enter these predominantly white spaces.
“At one point I was singing with a friend, and he had a bunch of brown friends who came to visit him. They were saying ‘wow you sing really well, we should make music together’
So it felt like, ah these guys like my music.
But my friend later told me that one of the guys said,
‘Oh yeah he can sing really well but he’s got an Indian accent”.
Can you have both?
(Can you not have both?)
Photography by Sophia Green
Having been met with similar responses in India and understanding why someone would say that, undoubtedly, it still hit very personally, “I would never want anyone to ever say that about me or my music”.
Filtering out the Indian accent didn’t feel like an option.
“I’d go to my room and read a book in this accent everyday for half an hour”.
In a world where standards of creativity are only measured against western opinions of social hierarchy and snobiety it's prevalent that “There are not many artists out there doing well with an Indian accent, and so you would want to change so you could appeal to a global audience…”
However, this harsh reality has resulted in a beautiful understanding of Renao’s journey through life so far in a western country as an Indian musician. Culminating authentic art.
“My greatest strength as a musician is in my story and bringing that to the people around the world.
I think that’s what I embrace now.”
If you could give a piece of advice to (younger) South Asian artists what would you say?
“Remember there’s no pressure that if you’re from a certain region, you need to represent people from there. I’ve had people come up to me and ask me…why don’t you sing in Hindi?
My experience is so different from that I can’t force that just to connect to a specific audience. Be yourself”
It’s important not to let this shadow of internalised racism loom over every endeavour, it’s important to uplift ourselves and all those seeking new ventures in our community to create freely, to feel and express ourselves without the desire and longing to fit into western ideals and standards.
We create our own.
“Being so open and transparent about my journey now is so freeing”
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