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Harris Jeyaraj: the most overhyped artist in the history of TFM? Harris Jeyaraj: the most overhyped artist in the history of TFM?

Topic started by Vijay (@ 212.219.189.4) on Sat Dec 1 14:39:37 EST 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I have to say that, in my opinion, this guy - Harris Jeyaraj - is probably the most overhyped music director in the history of TFM. It's irritating at times when people call him "the next A R Rahman", a "phenomenon", a "talented" young music director, etc., etc., as if the music directors before him weren't any of these things. The media is making it sound as if he is the most exciting thing to happen to music ever! His website, which was presumably designed at least partly by him, says he is "redefining" music. He says he wants to do something "different" as if all music directors before him were idiots. I'm tired of this!
"Behind the calm and serene face lies the spirit to venture into the unearthed mystery of music." - www.galatta.com. Are they going over the top or what?! This guy is nothing compared to the greats before him! His "Vaseegaraa" number has to be THE MOST OVERHYPED song ever in the history of TFM. I think it was the eroticism of the visuals of that song that made it so popular, not the music.

In reality, this guy is just a sophisticated version of Deva.

Someone in this forum asked the following question: "who are we to criticise music directors like Harris Jeyaraj, etc., etc.? Can we compose music like them?" I agree that is a good point. But definitely we do not claim to be "redefining musik" when we don't have the talent. Harris Jeyaraj is definitely more talented than I am, but he is not a phenomenon. I think he is too overhyped.

If anyone needed proof that, good marketing is more important than real talent nowadays, Harris Jeyaraj's phenomenal commercial success - I have to agree that, considering his mediocre (compared to the true greats, not to everyday simple music fans like myself) abilities, he is phenomenally successful - is your proof.

Another thing that is annoying is the way he uses A R Rahman's name to give himself a "trendy, sophisticated" image. He not only keeps saying that his most unforgettable moments were the days he spent with A R Rahman (in order to remind everyone that he used to work with the real Isai Puyal), he also copies his hairstyle, his music (his themes, his orchestration, etc., etc.) and does everything he can to give himself an image of a young, sophisticated guy. Okay, many of A R Rahman's albums were also quite heavily publicised, but A R Rahman himself was never given an image as a sophisticated musician (although he really is). Rahman, even if he was publicised so heavily, deserved all the publicity he gets as he always delivers, in fact he almost always exceeds expectations. Rahman is a true genius. Another thing to be mentioned is that he used to work with M S Vishwanathan, but when he first came to work in the industry on his own, he didn't make a fuss about it. And Rahman is a modest guy. He doesn't call himself Isai Puyal (that was a nickname given to him by his fans), and he doesn't claim to be redefining music. He didn't copy anyone's hairstyle or style of music or anything.

Even Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja, sons of another true genius (Ilayaraja) didn't use his name to give themselves an image. They have said that they will try to be as different as possible from their father in their music, and they really are working differently. They may not be as talented as their father, but they don't call themselves the "lightings of musik" or the "princes", etc.

Harris Jeyaraj - "the lightning of musik"? Well, actually he is little more than a firework compared to the sun - a little bit of light, but only visible in the absence of the sun and it goes out very soon. I accept that he more talented than fellows like me. But we don't make a fuss about ourselves.


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