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Former US attorney Preet Bharara teams up with Indian-American Zeshan B for new music album

India-born Bharara is serving as the executive producer for the album, which is set to be released on June.26.

Preet Bharara and Zeshan B reportedly first met in early 2022. / X@PreetBharara, Facebook/Zeshan B

Indian-American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and recording artist Zeshan Bagewadi, who goes by the stage name Zeshan B, has collaborated with former US attorney Preet Bharara for his upcoming third album, “O Say, Can You See."



Bharara, former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, is serving as the executive producer for the album, which is set to be released on June.26.

According to Variety, it is a melange of “political and social-justice topics along with elements of classical, jazz and the Urdu music”. The entertainment portal notes that the album adopts "a more-refined perspective”, attributing this to Zeshan's friendship with Bharara. The two reportedly first met in early 2022.

Bharara agreed to join the new album project because, the 36-year-old musician has "a voice that is just out of this world”, he told Variety. “All this other stuff is great, but it’s undergirded with his magical, transporting voice and musicianship.” He decided “to get involved in Zeshan’s career after seeing him perform at a book launch event.” He was “just floored by the music, his voice, and the message in those songs.”

The songs in “O Say, Can You See” were written in “the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2020 election, the January 6 insurrection, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” Zeshan told Variety. 

Zeshan credited Bharara for teaching him about the justice system. He said he "always admired" Bharara, even before they met, because he felt Bharara embodied something important. "He has always fought for justice and has paid the cost for it," Zeshan said of Bharara.

Before meeting the former federal prosecutor, Zeshan felt "a lot of rage over all the things that are going on in the world," he told Variety. While his earlier albums were "a sort of sophomoric way of channeling that rage," his discussions and interactions with Bharara made him realize that "yes, it sucks for people of color, but it also sucks for everybody right now. Everyone’s hurting, everyone’s feeling the loss of something, there’s an enormous income gap, and the big problem is climate change." So with “O See, Can You See?” he “tried to craft things that were more universal”

Bharara, a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, currently hosts two podcasts, "Stay Tuned" and "Café Insider." The highly regarded lawyer, once dubbed "one of the most consequential prosecutors in American history" by The New Yorker, focuses on investigations and criminal litigation matters.

Nominated by President Obama in May 2009, Bharara became the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Serving from 2009 to 2017 — one of the longest tenures in SDNY history — he oversaw over 200 assistant US attorneys handling cases involving civil rights violations, cybercrime, domestic and international terrorism, financial fraud, gang violence, narcotics and arms trafficking, organized crime, and public corruption.

Zeshan grew up surrounded by both Indian and American music at home. His breakthrough album, "Vetted," was released in April 2017 to commercial and critical acclaim. The album debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Top 10 Albums (World Music) and reached #1 on iTunes’ World Music chart, as stated on his website.

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