Raj “RajStar” Makhija, a New York and Mumbai-based music producer, composer, engineer, and songwriter recently won an international contest to remix the popular John Legend tune, “If You’re Out There.”
Out of the 1,780 entrants, RajStar won the contest with his unique spin of, “If You’re Out There,” featuring Abhishek Nailwal. The song was added to IndabaMusic.com where their growing community of music lovers, and judges, from around the world voted on the best remix. The judges included music producers Trevor Horn, Indaba Music Co-Founder Mantis Evar, and John Legend himself.
RajStar is a freelance music producer, composer, sound engineer, writer and musician based out of New York and Mumbai. He has been called the “next big producer,” of the Indian Diaspora with a fresh sound described as, “Timbaland meets AR
Rahman.”
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The social network and online collaboration platform encouraged more than 150,000 musicians to participate in remixing Legend’s “If You’re Out There” —an anthem encouraging generations to stand up and act instead of passively waiting for a better future to come |
Though RajStar’s mix of the song features more elements of dance than the original, the message that both songs try to convey is the same: be the change you wish to see in the world. When approached about winning the contest, RajStar said: “I’m honored and blessed to be producing a song for John Legend. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest talents of our generation. No matter what we have been born with in this world, we have to be so thankful for all of it. Each and every one of us has a unique ability to make change, so always be yourself and don’t be afraid to break the rules if you truly believe it's the right thing to do.”
The contest was created and run by Indaba Music, the leading site of online tools for amateur and professional musicians. The social network and online collaboration platform encouraged more than 150,000 musicians to participate in remixing Legend’s “If You’re Out There” —an anthem encouraging generations to stand up and act instead of passively waiting for a better future to come. The site, with its international online community of musicians, music professionals, and fans encourages the exploration of creative possibilities of making music with people in different places and in different ways. Indaba Music itself offers an online mixing and editing tool-allowing users to create their own sessions as if in a studio.
“John Legend’s song inspired our community not just through the amazing musical stems that were provided, but also through the collaborative nature and positive themes of the song itself,” said Dan Zaccagnino, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Indaba Music. “We’re continually impressed by the music created by the artists on our site and this collaboration brought out some of the most exceptional talent to date.”
RajStar’s winning entry will be streamed on John Legend's MySpace Page and on JohnLegend.com. The winner will also receive a personal phone call from John himself. Additional opportunities may arise based on John Legend’s own touring which may include dates in India this Winter.
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