American music artist Brian McKnight Jr. has joined forces with Sri Lankan singer-songwriter and producer Charin Mendes for “Marry Your Daughter (Aradhana),” a Sinhalese version of the sensational hit released under ABS-CBN’s Tarsier Records.
As frequent collaborators since 2017, Charin said he and Brian Jr. were more than excited to release “Marry Your Daughter” in Sinhalese, one of the national languages in Sri Lanka, which took inspiration from when he attended a friend’s wedding a couple of years ago.
“The lyrics on the first verse came together in my head almost instantly and I wrote it down on my phone. That set the tone and rhythm for the rest of the Sinhala lyrics which I wrote the next day,” he recalled.
The localized title of the song “Aradhana” flawlessly captures the original essence of the track about a man asking his future father-in-law for approval—since it roughly translates to “an invitation from destiny for two people to spend their lives together.”
Charin, who also has a background in improvisation and audio engineering, hopes that the 17 million Sinhalese speakers who are Sri Lankan natives will be able to relate more to this new version that also bears a fresh arrangement.
This latest flavor given to Brian Jr.’s massive hit is a follow-up to its 2020 electrosoul version produced by Tarsier Records label head Moophs, which currently boasts of at least 14 million streams.
Stream “Marry Your Daughter (Aradhana),” out now on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, and other digital music platforms.