Born in a family that has etched itself a name in Indian tennis, and having his generation follow the footpaths of the elders, Vikram Amritraj has now set in a different direction. The youngest son of Vijay Amritraj, Vikram was born and raised in California and has found a passion for something that none of his ilk have ever associated themselves with producing and promoting Hip Hop music.
Performing under the name Apostle, Vikram recently launched his second album The Chronicles. But he sees himself as more than a performer in the years to come. He owns a record label ‘Headon Records’ that he started in January 2007 partnering with his friend Nique Bhatt and is using it now to encourage and promote young talent.
Having played professional tennis until the age of 17, Vikram found a new love in music. But his liking for Hip Hop music bloomed early, even during his school days when he used to write songs and essays. He continued his studies and pro-tennis, knowing no outlet to express his desire for shifting his focus.
It was then his brother Prakash Amritraj, who got him his favourite O&G tape back in 1996 encouraging Vikram to do what he had always dreamt. But it was not until 2007 that Vikram cut his first album, Mind of a Prophet. The album was distributed in the streets of California and was critically acclaimed for its gritty and socially conscious lyrics. The success of his first attempt got him a good break as he then performed in clubs, including one in which he teamed up with his favourite band O&G. Such experiences also helped him meet popular music producers.
His latest album, Chronicles, too has strong socially relevant lyrics that Vikram has rapped along with another locally acclaimed rapper Veteran Eye. In fact, Vikram met Veteran Eye only at a night club during one of his performances. The album was released in iTunes and Amazon and critics lapped it up. Promoting budding artistes through his record label, Vikram’s company has signed seven producers and 3 artistes (including Veteran Eye whose next album is titled Corona). Vikram too is working on his next album.
A pillar of support is Vikram’s tennis-playing brother Prakash Amritraj, who makes it a point to be present in the front rows whenever Vikram performs. His father Vijay Amritraj never wanted to stop his son and actually only persuaded him to do what he does best. “My father will never involve himself in anything without in-depth knowledge about it.
Since his knowledge of music is really limited, he blindly led me into it and made me learn the ups and downs myself. All that he wanted me to do was complete my university studies and not regret later for not having a degree,” says the 21 year old.
Traveling around the world with his brother Prakash as he sweats it out in the tennis courts, Vikram does pick up ideas of local music with one of his goals being to go global with his compositions. He does have plans of fusing Indian beats with rap lyrics though he is now on a hunt for Indian musicians. “I am doing my university studies in LA and running my label full-time. I want to involve the street scene and club scene because there is a large pool of talent that is yet to be promoted. I also like to find more about the music scene, particularly hip hop here,” he signs off.