A confluence of culture led to ‘Commotion’, the debut album of rapper Tracy De Sa. Cherishing her roots in Goa, Tracy has grown up in the cities of Portugal, Spain and France and made her musical journey back to Goa through her song, ‘Rickshaw’. Hoping to tour in India soon with her music, Tracy is currently rejoicing the success of her album

 A product of multiculturalism, Tracy De Sa used her musical prowess to create her debut album, ‘Commotion,’ supported by her record label Ovastand and produced by the composer Tiery-F. The album has all the right elements to make a musical product for a universal audience. “I wanted my album to be inclusive. I want people to be able to identify with my messages through one way or another. If it’s not though the lyrics, then through the musicality, the emotion or the atmosphere I create in my songs. People appreciate how many interpretations my songs can have,” says Tracy.

Daughter of Saozinha Muriel Pinto from Calangute and Jose Agnelo De Sa from Panjim. She left Goa at the age of 3. “I was born in Goa, moved to Lisbon when I was 3, Spain a few months later and then France when I was 18. Even if I was abroad, I was felt close to my family; I didn’t come back to Goa until I was 11 years old, after which I visited every year or two. I do feel connected to my mother land and I want to come back and create my own unique story with this city,” says Tracy, who creates a musical arc by artistically shooting her musical video, ‘Rickshaw’ on her journey from Mumbai to Goa.

Sharing details about the video which is currently garnering close to a million views on Youtube, Tracy says, “This trip to Goa was special. I met Bilitis Joy Sharma, the director of the video who is my upside-down reflection. She’s French but she lives in India, so she understood my multiculturality. The creation of this video was very intense; there was a lot of emotions and introspection involved. One of the best things was also to be able to work and see my family at the same time, show them what I do and make them part of my present. We filmed the last shots in my family’s ancestral house, where my grandmother used to live, and we ended the music video with a photo of my mother in her early twenties, it was a homage to my family.”

The video was also shot by an all women crew. “The team was composed of strong, independent, open minded, creative and inspiring women. It really felt like we were sisters, even though we barely knew each other. We all wanted to learn, understand and empower each other. We felt free to talk about many different subjects and the connection was always so pure and intense,” adds Tracy.

Tracy had the advantage of learning different music and dances to make it into rap. She grew up with Flamenco, her mother singing Portuguese nursery rhymes, Konkani songs and teaching Bharatanatyam. As a teenager, she entered the world of hip hop through dance and was a part of crews who did street shows, battles and exhibitions. “I started rapping when I moved to France in 2012 and met different artists. When I moved to Lyon in 2014, I applied for different competitions. That’s when I met my manager, a woman who restructured my project, took me to a national competition in France called ‘Printemps de Bourges’ which gave me a lot of visibility. I signed with Ovastand, an independent record label. I think my journey has been progressive,” says Tracy.

Speaking about her experience of working on ‘Commotion’, she says that she felt a need to impose her style of music. “We spent a little less than a year working on this album, which is very little for this kind of project. The creation of this album was a personal journey that allowed me to confront my fears in order to move forward. While I was writing, I realised a lot of things about myself, I made peace with my past and learnt to appreciate myself as a woman. This album is one of the best things I’ve done in my life, the whole project is fresh, coherent and authentic. I only invited people who would contribute to the message of my album. I invited KT Gorique, a female rapper from Switzerland, Dee MC a female rapper from Mumbai and rappers Shez and Parry G, who are also based in Mumbai and that I have been following for years now.”

What’s next for this budding rapper? “I want to keep on promoting ‘Commotion’ for now. We will be releasing another two music videos during the summer and we will be touring with it. I want to take it on stage to the countries that mean something to me. India, Spain and Portugal are my priorities, it would be my way of thanking these countries for what they have given me,” concludes Tracy.

• | 05 Jun, 2019, 05:25AM