Pupil sets up record company to champion new artists

A teenager in Dubai has set up his own record company and is preparing to release an album that champions the music of unknown artists.

Ranvir Shewakramani, 18, an Indian pupil at Arcadia British School in Dubai, has created Out of State records to support his own recording career and those of other aspiring musicians.

He came up with the idea after receiving assistance from the Forward Thinking Mentoring Programme, a UAE-based initiative that is currently helping about 100 students.

Ranvir, who was born and raised in Dubai, said he had “always had the idea of creating my own label” and was keen to champion unknown artists, many of whom he said lacked opportunities to showcase their talents.

He hopes to release a collaborative album featuring a range of artists, saying that his efforts follow the example of the American rapper and songwriter Travis Scott, who created Cactus Jack Records to support emerging talent.

“He made a label on which he put all the artists from his local community and now they’re really big because of that label. I was really inspired by that,” Ranvir said.

“It’s to push [the other artists] to their limits and provide them with what they couldn’t get access to before. It’s a stage for them to do what they do best.”

On the coming album, also to be titled Out of State, Ranvir will promote UAE-based artists from countries including Egypt and South Africa. He would also like to release solo albums of his own music, which he describes as alternative rap.

All of Ranvir’s musical activities come on top of his schoolwork. He is set to complete his studies at Arcadia British School Dubai next year and would like to read chemistry at university, ideally at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, a city renowned for its music scene.

He said his mentor with the Forward Thinking Mentoring Programme, which was started by Dr Navin Valrani, the chief executive of Arcadia Education, helped him “think through my own ideas and what I wanted to achieve” with both the record company and his education.

“I was open to ask them questions and discuss my plans before deciding what to do and taking action,” he said.

“It’s been really helpful for the academic side of things with a lot of guidance on things like, for example, study techniques – different ways I can make my time more efficient, things like that.”

Show caption: Yasmine Farra, 17, a pupil at the American School of Dubai, …

The bigger picture

Another pupil involved in the programme, Yasmine Farra, 17, a pupil at the American School of Dubai, has set up a company called Yoodle Doodle that produces large-scale colouring outlines for adults.

She has sold some of her art, which aims to have a calming effect on those using it, to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Centre of Lebanon.

Yasmine, who was born in the US and brought up in Lebanon before she moved to the UAE at age eight, is applying to universities in the US and Canada and hopes to study psychology as her major subject, with art as her minor.

She said the mentoring programme helped her to come up with an idea that would enable her to pursue her interest in art and psychology together.

“They helped me bring my idea to reality and guided me throughout the whole process and gave me feedback,” she said.

“They’ve always made me feel confident to take the next step. They’ve always been a great help in guiding me.”

She said the programme also helped her decide which courses to take and how to organise her time.

Dr Valrani said the mentoring programme, open to pupils from all schools, developed from a weekend “Junior MBA” initiative he taught to promote entrepreneurship among chilren.

He wanted to create something that contrasted with the “very transactional” college counselling industry.

“I wanted to build relationships,” he said. “We’re building a relationship that’s going to go way beyond what any contract document says.”

The programme offers assistance with university applications, subject selection, extracurricular activities, and managing studies.

Natasha Hemdev, the programme’s managing partner, said if pupils joined early, such as when there are in the ninth year or eighth grade (aged 13 to 14), the initiative was like being given “a blank piece of paper”.

“We can start sketching and brainstorming and putting together what is it about you as an individual, you as a student that excites you,” she said.

Pupils have virtual and in-person meetings with their mentors, and the programme can include work experience, which may be helpful in indicating to students what they do not want to do, Ms Hemdev said.

“It’s okay to come back to us and say, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” she said. “That’s a great answer because we know that’s something we can take off the table.”

If a pupil has creative interests, they may be assisted to create an app, podcast or research project. Some pupils being mentored are based outside the UAE, for example in Kenya, Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the UK and the US.