CHENNAI: Extra-large t-shirts. Cap. Blings. Yes, we are talking about rap musicians. Funky beats for the backup, the lyrics of rap music consist of rhyming or rhythmic speech that often conveys a message. Rap music has African roots and has been existent for ages now. In the form of rhythmic sounds. This genre of music has been growing for over a decade now in the city, with many young rappers performing. “When I started rapping in 2010, Chennai had only 15 rappers. And today, there are more than 50 rappers from the city. That in itself is huge” says MC Sanna, Chennai Hustlerz.
Themes and Lyrics
Every genre of music, be it in terms of the lyrics or tunes and beats, is used as a form of expression and many musicians often sing aloud their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Rap music is no different. Ajay Anand Kumar aka AJ RWB agrees, saying rap music to him, is freedom of speech and is all the truth and facts that are delivered in a straightforward fashion.
“It covers everything about your life. Your everyday struggle, emotions, drugs, sex, gangs and the list goes on,” he adds. Rap music, too, has seen its set of changes. MC Vickey from the band Tupakeys frowns as he says, “Old-school hip hop always spoke about being real, but nowadays it has totally changed — it has become very commercial.” The band which includes Syd Ibu, Rude, Akk and Vickey was formed in 2006 and are inspired by old-school hip-hop.
In Chennai...
Although rap music has developed in the city, there are not as many listeners for rap, as there are for other genres of music. The acceptance of rap seems to be less even today. “The problem is that most of them here are more into Kollywood music and even those who do make it to K’town are all international rap artists. However Chennai will soon be the capital of Tamil hip-hop and we are working on it,” says MC Sanna.
Jerome (D-Troy) begs to differ. He says that although it is slow, there is a growth in terms of the number of listeners. “The Tamizh hip hop scene is doing well, I’ve been observing these artistes s and it’s amazing to watch them. There has also been a rise in the number of English hip-hop listeners too. I am waiting to see how the scene will grow in future.”
Even though the acceptance and the number of platforms are increasing slowly, the number of independent artists and bands that have come up in the last decade is huge. Especially with the advent of the internet, there are a lot of independent musicians who post their music on various social media platforms and gain fame and recognition. “Compared to the other metros, Chennai is a bit low in terms of promoting independent artistes,” avers MC Vickey.
Myths
Like any other art form, hip-hop and rap music has many misconceptions attached to it. And this often is a reason why most people in the society even look down upon this genre of music. “People often tend to hate us at first sight, because they think we carry an attitude and also because we use profanity in our lyrics sometimes,” AJ RWB points out. Even today, there are a lot of rap musicians who don’t get support from their families but still produce music secretly. “I am not surprised at all by the lack of support. I myself am a law school dropout. And it is a known fact that parents don’t support many of us. Things would be a lot easier if they just believed in us,” avers Dharni aka MC DDM.