BENGALURU: The custodial deaths of Jeyaraj (63) and his son Bennix (31) in Tuticorin have taken the nation by storm, forcing people to raise their voice against police atrocity. One among them is popular Kannada rapper Gubbi, who released his latest single, Lathi in Charge, on Tuesday, to speak about the incident.
Gubbi, who had taken a break from social media to try to stay away from negativity, was moved by the incident when he saw an illustration made by artist Prajwal Acharya on the subject. “It hit me hard. I started reading up on the incident. It left me disturbed and angry at the same time. So I decided to write whatever I felt and words just poured in,” says Gubbi, adding that it took him less than 24 hours to write and record the whole rap.
Gubbi also points out that stories of police brutality are not a new thing in the country and that it is high time such incidents are brought to light. “People need to understand what is the reason behind this kind of brutality, it’s nothing but showing your power,” he says. “I don’t know if I could to go out and hold a protest about it, so this was my way of venting out,” adds the 30-year-old rapper, revealing that his phone has not stopped buzzing since he dropped the two-minute single on his Instagram handle on Tuesday morning. “People relate to the lyrics. I even got a message from a friend in Tamil Nadu, who said that his wife was deeply moved by the incident and she felt happy to see that it is being spoken about through various art forms,” says Gubbi, whose video got over 2,000 views in less than 12 hours.
The story of Jeyaraj and Bennix came to light when Chennai-based RJ and singer Suchitra Ramadurai posted a video last week, narrating the incident. The video went viral, getting support from big names like Anand Mahindra, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor, Shikhar Dhawan, and Sunil Chhetri. The case is currently in Madras High Court.