Desi Singer VJDAMUSICMAN Releases His New Single ‘Uglies’!

UGLIES is a 2.5 minute dance banger with consistent flow changes iridescent of the tumultuous road that Indian-Americans face when connecting to their identities. From the villages of Chennai to the colonial alleyways of North Carolina, the grassroots feel and homage to the sights of saris and coconut hair oil and sounds of kuthu music are utilized to show that regardless of the destination, the complexities of our identities follow.

VJDAMUSICMAN (he/him) is a 24-year-old Indian-American queer singer-songwriter. He specializes in writing Pop and R&B music, with a sub-interest in Hip-Hop and Rap. He has released two albums so far – “Escape The Retrograde” in 2020, tackling themes of mental health and introspection during the pandemic & “Kinks & Trauma” in 2021, using music as a means to process his sexuality. His third studio album “Chaos On A Canvas” out on May 12, 2023 promises to be as tumultuous as its lead single “UGLIES.” In “UGLIES,” VJDAMUSICMAN places all his identities at the forefront causing a battle to ensue. The song has a catchy Tamil hook and an infectious Kuthu beat while allowing VJDAMUSICMAN to switch his cadences and tell his story of identity clash.

These intersectionalities of identity can be easily seen with the two main characters the song highlights – VJDAMUSICMAN and Mad Hatter. MusicMan represents the confusion and insecurity that constantly surround culture clash, indicated by the mixture of R&B vocals with the heavy cinematic synths present in South Indian soundtracks. The visuals of the dancers performing in Indian garments with kuthu steps amidst the colonial architecture reflects the common experience of first generation Americans – no matter how hard we try to assimilate, we will always be seen as ugly.

 

Mad Hatter encourages confidence and pride in pursuing one’s vulnerability and truth, an often challenging road, sonically represented by aggressive rap lyrics. In order to visually represent the rap, we utilized one of India’s richest storytelling artforms Bharatanatyam. Bharatanatyam is commonly associated with the elite and educated circles, but we wanted to dismantle the wall that exists between the artform and an uncommon audience.

VJDAMUSICMAN offers his lead single UGLIES as the centerpiece of what promises to be his most chaotic album to date, pun intended as his third album “Chaos On A Canvas” hits streaming platforms May 12. Tackling themes of queerness, ethnicity, mental health struggles, and personality as a whole, we are immediately welcomed into the three identities – MusicMan, Mad Hatter, and Vybhav Jagannath (the person behind the artist) – has had to contain for so long, as he turns his culture clash into a path of self-actualization.