With a rapping career spanning over a decade, Malayalam rap artist Febin Joseph aka Fejo is quite the familiar name to hip hop enthusiasts in the state. Over the last 10 years, the 29-year-old Kochiite has consistently released over 25 tracks with a singular agenda of popularising the subversive music genre in Kerala, while also fostering new talent in the indie music scene.
In a first, the rapper has collaborated with Pune-based musician Girish Nakod to release a fusion single titled ‘Kathare Kathare’. The song which was released on YouTube two days back is a mashup of a peppy romantic melody and lo-fi rap and has already garnered close to 50,000 views. Jumping between Febin’s colloquial lingo and the near timeless romantic verses effortlessly hummed by Girish, the song segues seamlessly between the two styles. The brief portion of Hindi lyrics written by Girish which come towards the end of the track also blends in well, and you may take a few moments to realise the singer has switched to another language.
Envisioned during the lockdown and produced immediately after, the music video of Kathare Kathare was shot in different locations. The love story dramatised for the video is as breezy as the song itself, steering clear of overt sentimentality. “We wanted the video to have elements of fantasy. This was achieved at the editing table. The entire process including the conception was done virtually. Because Girish’s portion was shot in Pune, we tried to match the atmosphere in both footages through colour correction,” adds Febin.
The track has already created a buzz within the rapping community with the likes of Raftaar and Dino James sharing it on their social media handles. While the direction and editing was helmed by Bengaluru-based Malayali artist KenoPhob, the cinematography was handled by Aaron V Joseph and Dipen Gadhia.
You can listen to the song on YouTube channel @FEJO
Mixed and matched
“I have known Girish for a couple of years now. He is a singer and composer who has worked with Hindi rapper Raftaar for the movie Andhadhun. The song came about primarily because he expressed interest in trying something in Malayalam as he is fond of indie music from Kerala. Girish’s forte is romantic music, so we decided to combine both our expertise. The idea was to create a breezy track with lo-fi rap elements which was also quite new for me as most of my work so far has been socially relevant or motivational and high tempo. Melodic lo-fi is something that has become popular lately in western countries. I wanted to introduce it to music buffs here as well,” says Febin who penned the Malayalam lyrics while Girish composed the tune. Ashkar Farzi rendered beat production and mixing.