BENGALURU: Hip hop artist Brodha V, is hardly a new name in the country’s music scene. The Bengaluru boy, who has been rapping since his teenage years has dipped his feet in the film industry as well. Brodha V, aka Vighnesh Shivanand recently performed at The Humming Tree. He talks to City Express about his love for his hometown, and what it means being a rapper in India.
Bengaluru is home to you. How do you think the city’s music scene influenced you into becoming a rapper/Hip hop artiste? Tell us a bit about your journey...
I discovered hip hop and rap music as a teenager, when I was often frustrated about many things. I wanted to be heard. I liked writing basic rhymes about a bad day at school or about my friends and classmates. I then slowly started writing songs about more personal things and social issues. But Bengaluru was all about rap and metal back then. I didn’t get to play anywhere except for at afternoon parties where DJs would spin Hip hop music.
I started performing at such places and got to meet people who were into Rap music, and some of them even wanted to Rap themselves. So we had an underground Rap community that slowly got more popular because of the internet and through word of mouth. Eventually, we started playing at college festivals and at other events. Since then, Bengaluru has opened up to our music and has supported us. Now you have at least 100 aspiring rappers from this city alone.
In your single Let ‘em Talk, Bengaluru plays an essential role. Tell us a bit about your love for the city and what you think about the evolving music scene here.Bengaluru is home. I’m a typical south Indian, middle-class boy, brought up in the city. My music is heavily inspired by my culture, where I come from and the people around me. I think Bengaluru has always had a lot of talent, and this talent pool only keeps growing everyday. The indie music scene here is so diverse, and I’m glad that I get to mingle with such amazing minds on a regular basis.
The track is definitely breaking away from the (little) hip hop that we see in the Indian music industry. Do you think there is potential for rappers such as yourself to carve a niche without becoming commercial and stay true to themselves?
I think we are living in a time where a lot of people are fed up with the generic music that is constantly playing on TV and on the radio all day. People are looking for something new, something more honest and unique. They have access to the Internet and youngsters today are on YouTube and Facebook all the time – this is where they get all their entertainment. I think there are a lot of independent artists today that are catering to a large number of people by just being themselves and making the kind of music they love. People love authenticity in an artist, and that authenticity will make them stars.
When we think of Indian rappers, Honey Singh, Bohemia and Badshah come to mind. How would you say their music is different from yours?
Bohemia is a well respected Punjabi rapper. He’s considered to be one of the pioneers in the desi Rap scene. Honey Singh and Badshah took Rap and made it popular. They’re still Bollywood hit machines. Their job is to deliver party songs that can sell movies.
I don’t have any such commitments. I get to rap however I want to, and say whatever I want to. I get the freedom to experiment with my beats, compositions and topics - something which won’t be accepted by mainstream labels, TV and radio channels. But I still tend to find my audience because I rap in English and fuse it with Indian classical and folk music, and that is something that most people haven’t heard..
You actually mention Badshah in your track. Healthy competition or bad blood?
It’s healthy competition at the end if the day. Or is it?
Which do you prefer,
being part of large Bollywood projects or being an independent artiste?
I like it when my independent projects are a lot of fun and when the Bollywood projects pay me good money. Real talk.
Who are some of your Indian and Western influences?
AR Rahman is my Indian influence. Michael Jackson, Eminem, Nas, Tupac, Timbaland, and
others are my Western influencers.
If you had to pick from the top of your head, tell us one other artist you’d love to collaborate with?
Eminem.