Ricky Kej: I'll sell my album in the US, not in India
Ricky Kej, who won the Grammy for Best New Age Album Award for 'Winds of Samsara, says he will sell his album in the US, not India. He wants PM to take interest in Indian music industry.
“I am really happy, and honestly, I never imagined that I would win the award,” says Kej, speaking from Los Angeles, US. However, surprisingly, the music composer doesn’t want to release his album in his home country.
He explains the reason behind his decision, saying, “In India, there is a culture of piracy; no one wants to buy music. And I blame Bollywood for that. All they (the members of the Hindi film industry) care about is their film and nothing about the artiste who has composed the music for it. They don’t care about his revenue. No one will buy my CD, so I will sell my album in the US, not in India.”
Kej, who composed the award-winning album with South African flautist Wouter Kellerman, says it took them a few years to create the music. “I met Wouter three years ago. His country had the great Nelson Mandela and we had Mahatma Gandhi — both powerful icons in spreading the message of peace. So, we started making songs around that idea and, two years later, we came up with an album. But at that time, we didn’t think we would win a Grammy or even be nominated.”
The musician — who said in his acceptance speech that he hopes that “he made Prime Minister Narendra Modi proud”, says that he wants the PM to take interest in the Indian music industry.
“I want to reach out to him to discuss the problems and maybe give some suggestions,” he says
