By Prasanta Phukon
An R&B singer-songwriter trio from Shillong has released their first music video after a yearlong lockdown. The single entitled “WEAK” which hit the digital music platforms on the 7th of August 2021, revolves around a person’s insecurities in a relationship and how it adversely affects both partners.
Review on B.A.D: “It would be wrong to compare the young group just after their first release, but after listening to their early collaboration with some of the big names in the local music industry they will remind you of the early 2000s R&B hits. Dipankar did a flawless performance in the 1.47 minutes “Weak music video”, the song will surely keep you wanting to continue listening.”
Officially formed in October 2019, B.A.D is a trio of young 20 something music producers hailing from Shillong; members, Benjamin Vendrame Mawrie (20, from Pohkseh West), Aleric Terry Shylla (20, from Nongrah-Dongktieh) and Dipankar Diengdoh (21, from Pohkseh Central) aka Dtrx, with their first-name initials lending itself to the name of the group. Their musical expertise primarily lies in the genres of Hip-Hop, Pop/R&B, and EDM. DJ Knack from Shillong manages and leads the group. They have collaborated with other artists like Banjop, HepRo07, Frank Synister, DJ Karma, and The Midnight Pros studio.
A little more about the song:
“Weak” is the group’s first music video, their seventh solo project and the first song released this year. Dipankar conceived the idea for the song as he was going about his daily routine during the previous year’s lock-down. He shared the concept with the rest of the team, which the other members took an instant liking to. From then on, started the process of transforming it into the final product.
The general theme of the song revolves around a person’s insecurities in a relationship, and how it adversely affects both partners. According to Mawrie, the lyrics of the song should be relatable to the younger generation’s experiences and issues. It took about a month for the idea to come to life, complete with music, lyrics and the video, says Terry, after which plans for its release were made. However, due to the recurring lock-downs, the release date had to be delayed multiple times.
According to the trio their previous 6 songs; however small it may seem, has helped them gain momentum in attracting newer audiences; listener count has been increasing; people/artists have been approaching them for collaborations, beats and other music related businesses; overall they have been busier than ever with new projects and opportunities that have been coming their way.
The Making of the music video:
The song’s video is the brainchild of Balajied Sungoh (Balvo). Balajied shot the video with the help of Evan Phanbuh, while the editing was done by Dauni Laloo aka Spider Music. The video was shot at Aleric’s paternal uncle’s place in Nongrah-Dongktieh. The group says because of the pandemic they had to record the entire video at a single location.
The official music video will be available on Youtube and on all streaming platforms including Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music,etc.
The group is hopeful that the audience will relate to this song, and being their debut music video, they are also hopeful that this will lead towards building their audience and it would be a stepping-stone for bigger projects up ahead so that they can open up in further opportunities to connect/work with more artists in the future.