BENGALURU: It was almost a year ago, during the first lockdown, that tennis player Adil Kalyanpur, aka A-Kal, started rapping, not just as a new-found hobby but to spread social messages. His first song — Mask On – was, evidently, about masking up. Now, Kalyanpur is out with his latest rap Vaccine, which is out on his YouTube channel. If you’re is wondering whether the song is in favour of or against vaccinat ion, then well… it talks about both. Kalyanpur dons dual roles to talk discuss taking the shot.
Or not. “Initially, and even now, there is so much discussion about whether to get vaccinated or not. While we all know people who are in favour of it, there are many who are still so sceptical about it or worry about the side-effects it has on your body,” says Kalyanpur, adding that he is personally in favour of vaccination and is going to take it once he registers.
The amateur rapper says his idea was never to preach about vaccination, but to prompt people to think about it. “I am not qualified to tell someone what is the right thing to do. In the song, all I am doing is stating the facts that I researched and found out. Now it’s up to people to do further research and decide the right thing to do,” says Kalyanpur. Ask him if he picks up only social topics to rap on, he promptly answers he never planned it but mostly things turned out that way.
“When I start writing any rap, it is usually inspired from the situation around me,” says Kalyanpur, adding that it was his mother who suggested the topic. The 21-year-old, who is currently in India, is quite busy with his music, but he has not forgotten his first love, tennis. Before he returned to India he was in Germany for practice but no there is no certainty on future tournaments due to the pandemic which took a toll on his mental health and he decided to return home.