AWARD-WINNING ANTI-CORRUPTION ARTISTS ‘RAIN IN SAHARA’ AND NASSEMAN TO RELEASE BARNSTORMING NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO, ‘GANGSTA BANKERS’, FEBRUARY 25
● ‘Gangsta Bankers’ combines hip-hop/reggae/alternative and biting satire to tell the character of an Indian business tycoon against a Liberian anti-corruption crusader
● Marks the first collaboration between Rain in Sahara and Nasseman – both winners of the Fair Play Anti-Corruption Youth Voices Award and Fair Play Anti-Corruption Music Ambassadors with Transparency International and JM International.
● ‘Gangsta Bankers’ follows previous Rain in Sahara singles Black Water and You Think Our Future Is A Joke, as well as their memorable performance at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen alongside hip-hop legend Mos Def
Rain in Sahara is an Indian-based, international, award-winning activist-music act whose members also feature as Fair Play Anti-Corruption Music Ambassadors, a global program led by Transparency International and JM International. On February 25th, 2022, they will release their highly anticipated hip-hop/reggae/alternative single and music video “Gangsta Bankers” featuring superstar Liberian reggae artist and fellow ambassador, Nasseman. Shot in Assam in the north-east of India and in Monrovia, Liberia, the tongue-in-cheek, satirical comedy track takes aim at global corruption and unbridled greed.
“Kids today grow up familiar with the concept of heroes and, sadly, even more familiar with the concept of villains,” says Rain in Sahara’s keyboard/flute/co-vocalist Lain Heringman, “Sometimes it can seem that there are more villains in the world than heroes, and this track tries, using humour and hero-versus-villain superhero tropes, to show that it should be the other way around. Because that’s what today’s younger generations desperately need.”
“Gangsta Bankers” tells a story pitting an Indian business tycoon against a Liberian anti-corruption crusader. Unfortunately, there is no fairy tale ending, demonstrating just how challenging and deeply systemic corruption has become in some parts of the world. With corruption at the root of so many of the greatest challenges we face as a global community, the song is a call to action to speak up and get engaged in the fight against it.
Rain in Sahara’s sonic palette fuses a huge and often experimental range of elements and instrumentation such as hip-hop, rock, trap, Indian and Western classical music, electronica, reggae, metal, and even Latin music to create their signature sound. Often described as “Music for Change,” Rain in Sahara uses the power of music to bring people together and to ignite minds. Their aim is nothing less than to move people to take positive action on the biggest issues we face as a global community by fostering engagement, spreading awareness, promoting dialogue and most importantly, encouraging empathy. The band name, Rain in Sahara, embodies the hope for and the belief in a flourishing future of regeneration as much of the human spirit as of our planet.
Rain in Sahara’s debut single “Black Water” has been viewed more than 270,000 times, and the group has won/been officially selected for many awards, including the Fair Play Anti-Corruption Youth Voices Award, which saw them perform at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Copenhagen alongside hip-hop legend Mos Def. Rolling Stone noted that the follow-up single ‘You Think Our Future Is A Joke’ saw “the Guwahati-based hip-hop/fusion band take on climate crisis deniers”, while Rock Street Journal reviewed it as “pulverizing… simmers with the rage of people who want to do something important no matter what…a furious and medium-tempo blend of electronic music and hard rock that has the unmistakable vibe of the kind of mood Muse gets into when they nead to make a point. The operatic faux-strings, the heavy guitars, the falsetto vocals and pummeling drums and bass that has become such a potent combo in recent years is present here in all its glory.”
Nasseman, one of Liberia’s most popular performers, was a headliner for President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s 2006 Inauguration and opened for international star Akon when he visited Liberia. He has also opened for or collaborated with top regional artists such as Nigeria's 2Face Idibia and Black Face, Sierra Leone’s Emerson and Ghana’s V.I.P. Boys, Ofori Amponsah and Castro.
Website: https://www.raininsahara.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raininsahara/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raininsahara
For further information, contact Lain Heringman at +91 8474808709 and lheringman@gmail.com