Remember that rush you get when you’re breaking the rules? That electric feeling when your heart’s racing and time seems to slow down? Now imagine that feeling multiplied by a thousand – because getting caught doesn’t mean a slap on the wrist, it means real danger. That’s the world Massachusetts-based a cappella artist hachajah drops us into with his latest single, “Shooting Traffic Lights,” released February 28, 2025.
It’s nighttime in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Two young lovers are making out in a parked car, stealing a moment of intimacy in a country torn apart by ethnic conflict. Then an army jeep pulls up. In those few seconds, their romantic rendezvous turns into a high-stakes chase through empty streets. That’s the story hachajah tells in this five-minute track, and he tells it entirely with his voice – every beat, every sound effect, every harmony.
The song pulls you right into the driver’s seat. “Down the freeway we go, stamp that gas on the pedal floor.” There’s something almost defiant in those words, isn’t there? But then hachajah throws in these moments of raw vulnerability that hit you right in the gut. When he sings “Love can’t wait for wars to cease, but lovers don’t fit on war time streets,” you start to understand – this isn’t just about one couple’s escape.
Hachajah knows what he’s doing when it comes to a cappella. Back in Sri Lanka, he was part of The Revelations, an award-winning all-male a cappella group that influenced his musical journey. But it wasn’t until he started creating his own music that he really found his voice. Last August, he dropped his debut EP “No Place Like,” and one of its tracks, “Colombo Sky,” earned him a nomination for Best Global Video at the A Cappella Video Awards. Recently, the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA) announced the nominations for the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA) 2025, with “No Place Like” and “Colombo Sky” receiving eight nominations, including Best Pop EP and Best Song by a Solo Performer.
These days, you’ll find him in Massachusetts, but his heart’s still very much in Sri Lanka. He’s doing something pretty special with his music – taking those Sri Lankan rhythms and stories he grew up with and wrapping them in contemporary pop sounds that make you want to move.
When he talks about “Shooting Traffic Lights,” you can hear how personal this is for him. “I hope listeners will step into the shoes of lovers and families who faced heartbreak during the war in Sri Lanka,” he says. Then his voice gets quieter as he adds, “While this particular story follows a couple who escape, the music also serves as a tribute to those who didn’t. Many lost sons, daughters, partners, siblings—entire futures were stolen and families left forever incomplete.”
That’s the thing about hachajah‘s music – it’s not just about creating something that sounds good. Every song is a story, every story has roots in real life, and every life touched by war has something to teach us. He’s taking his experiences of growing up in a war zone and turning them into something that makes us feel, think, and maybe understand a little better.
When you listen to “Shooting Traffic Lights,” you’re not just hearing a song about two lovers outrunning an army jeep. You’re hearing about every couple who ever had to choose between love and safety, every family that was torn apart, and every person who dared to hope for something better. In a world where we’re still seeing wars tear communities apart, these stories matter more than ever.
The lovers in hachajah‘s song make it past those traffic lights and into the night. Not everyone was so lucky. But through his music, all of these stories – the escapes and the losses, the triumphs and the tragedies – keep racing down that freeway, reminding us that even in the darkest times, people still find ways to love, hope, and sometimes, if they’re lucky, break free.
Published by Mark V.
