Shitom Ahmed: I want my work to be heard and understood
Jacchi Chute Bohu Dure-famed Shitom Ahmed has established himself as a notable musician on Spotify and other social media platforms
Shitom Ahmed was recently at a Bangla food restaurant in Toronto when a waiter approached him. The man could not tell if he was Shitom Ahmed, and was intrigued enough to ask him.
Such interactions are becoming increasingly common for Shitom Ahmed - the Toronto-based Bangladeshi musician - and everytime it leaves him overwhelmed. On social media and Spotify, this rising indie talent has been receiving a tremendous amount of love from all over the world.
Shitom' recent track 'Tomar Chaya' is trending on spotify's Bangla pop list. However, Shitom got his biggest breakthrough when he did the Bangla cover of 'Runaway' of Aurora. The cover was called ' Jachchi Chute Bohu Dure' which has almost 531,000 views on YouTube.
"I was exploring the algorithms of YouTube, Facebook and Tiktok. As I was Covid positive and bored, I had no work at that time. Suddenly, an Indian cover of 'Runaway' popped up in my feed and I saw the massive reaction of netizens. I was fascinated by the idea.
So, I decided to do a cover of this song in my mother tongue. I uploaded the song and went to sleep. The next day, I saw the song shared over 200 times and it gave me a humongous boost. Afterwards it went more viral on the internet."
Shitom Ahmed is a Narsingdi born artist who moved to Dhaka when he was nine years old.
"I was always into music. I cannot specify the exact time when I started doing music. Also, I don't belong to a family with a musical background. But my family always admired music and as my grandfather was a landowner, he used to arrange events where Baul artists and Palagan were frequently performed," answered Shitom.
Shitom grew up listening to Bari Siddique and Rinku. Bangla folk songs moved him a lot. He always had a keen interest in Bangla songs. However, after some time, Shitom felt English songs resonated with him more.
Shitom mainly focuses on his creations being convenient and easily accessible to the audience. He focuses on story-telling and is inspired by the great writer late Humayun Ahmed. Humayun's deviation to creating facile and uncomplicated content encouraged him a lot.
"I don't make music just for money. I want my work to be heard and understood. If the audience can relate to my emotions and contents, I am profoundly gratified," said Shitom.
His songs like 'Likhi Na Ar Toke Niye Kobita', 'Karon', 'Chera Ghuri', 'Dur Shopno' etc gained a lot of popularity on social media and spotify, clearly indicating the growing interest in indie music in our country.
Interestingly, Shitom took 'Likhi Na Ar Toke Niye Kobita' to a famous record label but they rejected his song. Ironically, this song earned millions of views on spotify and youtube. After that, Shitom Ahmed collaborated with Sheikh Saadi, Zakilove and many other renowned artists.
This young artist is currently living in Toronto, Canada.
"I am coming up with a song with some English and Bangla mixed verses. I am also taking music classes in Toronto so that children living there can learn music easily."
Shitom dreams he will collaborate with international musicians and will take his work into a new dimension. Hopefully, in the coming years, he will serve us with more quality content.
