Hyderabad’s Hitex Exhibition Centre is all set to host the sixth season of India’s biggest hip-hop festival, BREEZER Vivid Shuffle today. Raising the entertainment quotient high and joining the #BeatsOfTheStreet high voltage block party will be the youth icon Vijay Deverakonda. CE speaks to the Liger and Arjun Reddy actor about his association with BREEZER Vivid Shuffle, love for hip-hop and more.
In his third year as the ambassador of BREEZER Vivid Shuffle, he brings his signature charm to the festival, energising the audience as they come together to groove to the #BeatsOfTheStreets. With a host of live music acts, the block party will offer a bigger canvas to fans to vibe to hip-hop favourites.
Talking about his journey with hip-hop music, Vijay says, “Hip-hop music has always been a part of my life. I listen to it everyday and it’s been a long journey. I will always be connected with the genre and enjoy listening to it a lot.” Further adding about the Indian hip-hop scene and its evolution over the years, he says, “It will constantly evolve. It will explode now because now there are more platforms, exposure, even the underground scenes where a gang of friends jam after college is more. Also, once it can be monitised, then more youngsters will gravitate towards the creative arts.
Hip-hop will only grow from here.” On his experience with BREEZER Vivid Shuffle and its evolution into India’s premier hip-hop festival, the actor shares, “The journey has been very enjoyable. I was very happy to be associated with them during 2020 when we were all in a lockdown. I also had nothing to do, so I was stuck at home, it is then Breezer approached me for this and I was super excited to do this and more so because I enjoy this kind of activity. We are going to have four on ground events this time — Hyderabad, two events in Mumbai and another one in Guwahati.
I am looking forward to the Hyderabad-leg of the event, to feel the energy and vibe. Witness electrifying performances by some of the most sensational hip-hop voices in the country like Brodha V, one of India’s biggest rappers; Seedhe Maut, the Delhi-based duo who have used their lyrical dexterity to push forward the boundaries of Hindi rap; Hanumankind, a lyrical rapper who made his debut at NH7 Weekender in 2019 and DJ Kani, one of the topmost hip-hop DJs who introduced India to Video Turntablism. Hyderabad’s music scene may be dominated by movie music but we will see the rise of artists from other genres now, it will only expand.”
Vijay loves crooning to American rappers Lil Wayne, ASAP Rocky, Eminem and Jay-Z along with MC Zaac, Brazilian artist, Sampa the Great, a Zambian singer, Black Eyed Peas, the American musical group and TroyBoi, British artist to name a few from his playlist.
“I am mostly into fusions. Recently I was in Dubai a lot, I was listening to Arabic hip-hop and Arabic pop. I mostly listen to a mixture of a few genres,” says Vijay about his choice of music apart from hip-hop. When asked to choose from film music and indie music, he says, “Music is music, it doesn’t matter if it’s a part of a movie or not. I remember AR Rahman’s jingle for a brand for which we went crazy when in school. We were only interested in the jingle and not the brand — such is the power of good music.”
Vijay’s association with hip-hop music is not limited to his playlist, he brings with him in his movies too. “I did a little bit in the Dear Comrade movie, where I sang the Comrade anthem song. Every film I do, there is a bit of hip-hop for sure. Free-styling has become a part of dance in general. Next you will see me in Khushi which is releasing next year and a horde of other projects will follow soon too,” concludes Vijay.