Grammy Award winner and Indian music composer Ricky Kej has opened up about the responsibility artists have when it comes to social issues. At the Times Now Sustainability Conclave 2026, Kej said that it is essential for artists to sensitise themselves to relevant issues while speaking about them. Talking to Zaka Jacob, Times Now Managing Editor, the composer and environmentalist recalled the time he started his ‘career in activism’. As of today, he prefers calling himself an advocate rather than an activist. Here’s what he discussed at the event.
Ricky Kej on artists and social issues
Speaking about artists and their responsibility towards social issues, Ricky said, “I think first of all, it’s extremely important for artists to sensitise themselves to the issues at hand, and rather than having just surface-level information or being like a general-purpose spokesperson for every single issue that possibly exists on the planet.”
The composer further recalled the time he acted as an ‘aggressive activist’. “So, when I started off my career in so-called activism, I now call myself an advocate rather than an activist, I was just like any other very aggressive activist – just being very aggressively against pretty much everybody,” he added. Watch the full conversation below:
However, he realised something very crucial after travelling to different parts of India, continental Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. “This realisation dawned on me that in this whole world, there are only two kinds of problems. You can put every problem into two major buckets: a problem of survival and a problem of thriving. When it comes to the global North, that is the developed world, survival is sort of taken care of because everybody has got access to food and to some kind of shelter. People can flick on a switch, and a light turns on, and there is access to electricity and sanitation.”
Ricky Kej: Narratives in the West do not work for India
Continuing the conversation, Ricky revealed how circumstances are different in the global South compared to the global North. According to him, survival is looked upon as ‘everyday struggle’ in the global South and thriving is looked upon as an unimaginable luxury.
“Because we have to care more about poverty, hunger, malnutrition, education, sanitation, gender inequality, gender violence, all of these topics before we can actually move towards thriving. And unfortunately, the environment and climate change is looked upon more as a problem of thriving rather than a problem of survival. I also realised that the narratives in the west do not work for India,” he said.
Professionally, Ricky has been a three-time Grammy Award winner. He also been conferred with a Padma Shri award.