What have you done during the pandemic? Because Malaysia’s very own Sasi The Don has recently released a new song from the confines of his own home.
The Malaysian Reggae icon, real name Sasidharan Chandran, recently revealed that his collaboration with renowned Swedish producer Tomas Granlind – known for his work with the legendary Dr. Alban in 2008 – started in late 2020, when he texted his old friend Granlind to request the Swedish producer to produce the new song that Sasi had penned and composed himself.
“The pandemic has hit the global scene badly. For people like me who share the same passion of creating and developing something new, our inability to go out, travel, meet new people, have new conversations, and gather inspiration from our surroundings is lost.”
“I just felt that I should take advantage of the lockdown to work on something exciting, so I reconnected with Granlind via text message with just a ‘Hello’,” he added.
The song took on a life of its own when mixing and mastering engineers from Cutting Room Sweden came on board – Martin Ankelius, famed mixing engineer, and Bjorn Engelmann, mastering engineer who was nominated at this year’s Grammy Awards, and have worked with the likes of The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Westlife, Dr. Alban, Ace of Base, and other distinguished artistes.
“Everybody has the power to inspire and show others that anything is possible. We don’t want to wait for things to happen, we make things happen if we believe in ourselves. When the whole world was unable to go out and do things regularly, I just felt that I wanted to take this challenge and make something out of it. Music is my power and I used it to turn around the hopelessness of the pandemic for myself, my family and musicians in my circle,” Sasi explained.
Inspired by Sasi’s own efforts in creating a cross-border collaboration, Digi Telecommunications decided to throw their support as the proud sponsor of the release and marketing behind “Come Follow Me”, which is a song about boldly rising against challenges and facing adversity with power and strength.
“Digi is excited to be part of this collaboration where digital technology is showcased at its best, connecting people to what matters most to them especially during this challenging period. We applaud Sasi’s efforts to adapt to the current situation and fully leverage on the power of the Internet and connectivity, bringing to life cross-border creative teamwork. As a digital service provider, this initiative is very much aligned with our effort in bringing the best Internet experience through total connectivity – consistent high-speed network experience and relevant devices to all of our customers,” said Lo Wei Tzen, Digi’s Head of Brand and Media.
The music video will premiere on Sasi’s YouTube channel on 11 March at 9pm (MY time). The MV also features Sasi’s own daughter and her friends, as well as the singer’s favourite icon, The Big Bad Wolf, the latter being the mascot of bookstore BookXcess.
A catchy danceable number, “Come Follow Me” features singers Sherilyn Marissakee from Malaysia, and Sofie Andren from Sweden. The song is now available across all music streaming platforms, including YouTube, and is also available in two different remix versions: one which features Hungarian violinist, Helga Sedil, and another which is remixed by Jusa, a producer based in the UK.
