BENGALURU : Bengaluru is home to all kinds of musicians and 30-year-old Arjun Sharma, who goes by the stage name Quake, is keen on making it as a rapper with his own style that includes a bit of pop music.
“My roots are in Punjab, however I am a Bengaluru boy. My focus is to deliver commercial music. I want to put the city back on the map with my own style of rap with a mix of pop music,” says Sharma.
In 2019, he released his first song Sab Kuch Chahiye (meaning I want it all) as a part of Homienathans, a Bengaluru-based rap group with his friends Adi Dhar and Devak Kamath. They released four tracks including soneYEAH which he says received a good response. He broke away from the group last year as his friends got busy with work.
His earliest attempts at writing rap were met with much criticism, including from a close friend, Sharma says. “This was a painful moment,” he says. But when they saw the completed tracked before he uploaded it on to YouTube, they were sold. “I picked up references from fellow rappers in the city and my biggest inspiration has been Raftaar. I look up to his working style. I want to present rap in a commercial form and create a niche for Hindi and Punjabi songs in Bengaluru, which is a unique experiment.”
Six months ago, he released a video called Quake Wala Heat as a response to his critics. “It is a response to critics in my own creative and artistic way,” says Sharma. Sharma loves to be on screen and enjoys being in the “spotlight”. He has played negative roles in three Kannada movies namely Krishna Talkies, Krack, and Kumari 21 F. However, his heart and soul appears to be in music. “If things go according to plan, my music journey will be the choice. Films can wait,” says Sharma.
In the meantime, he is working on launching his new YouTube channel Quake World in mid-July where he will release his first track. The song is called LIT and it is a party track with a flamboyant show of energy and visuals. His new team comprises Alex Jimmy, director and editor, Amrith Raghunathan, music producer, Vidhat Mehta, choreographer, and Sakshi Gupta, artiste, makeup, dancer, and influencer.