Singer Zeshan B and Preet Bharara: Meet the Odd Couple Behind a New Album That Combines Classic R&B, Social Justice and Urdu Music

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music When Indian-American singer-songwriter Zeshan B takes the stage and begins to perform, it’s safe to say that the sound you first expect to hear is not classic, gospel-infused R&B with passionate lyrics about American social justice.

Nor, when you look at the credits for Zeshan’s forthcoming third album, “O Say, Can You See?,” do you expect to see the words “Executive Producer: Preet Bharara” — the former U.S.

Attorney for New York’s Southern District renowned for taking on organized crime, terrorism and fiscal malfeasance; whose face appeared on the cover of Time magazine beneath the words, “This Man Is Busting Wall Street”; and who had the great honor of being fired in 2017 by then-new/ now-former president Donald Trump.

But their interests converge on Zeshan’s third album — out July 26 — which finds the singer taking on the political and social-justice topics explored on his critically raved-about first albums — along with elements of classical, jazz and the Urdu music he grew up on — from a more-refined perspective that is due in no small part to his friendship with Bharara, who he first met early in 2022. “Before I met Preet I felt a lot of rage over all the things that are going on in the world, and I think my earlier albums were a sort of sophomoric way of channeling that rage,” Zeshan says. “But my discussions and interactions with Preet allowed me to craft a more balanced approach: You know, yes, it sucks for people of color, but it also sucks for everybody right now.