While the Bollywood boost may have propelled rap into mainstream playlists, for Delhi-based angst rapper Rawal hip-hop's nothing new with his new track against drug abuse, Nothing New, starring battle rapper MC Kode.
New Delhi: While it is almost taken for granted that creative pursuits and substance abuse go hand-in-hand, it does not always have to be so. We all have seen the viral 'Kamlesh' video showing a young boy addicted to 'solution'. Though it ended up becoming a viral meme, the reality is sad indeed when you think about what could have been if he was not addicted at such a young age.
The world has lost many young artists courtesy addiction and it has pushed 24-year-old Delhi-based rapper, Rawal, to take stock of the abuse in the music scene. And, this pursuit has brought together some of the coolest names in Indie rap scene.
After all, what do you get when you bring together battle rapper MC Kode, Sez On The Beat (from Gully Boy fame) and spitfire verses by Delhi-based rapper Rawal? Well, a literal rap dream team.
When this rap dream team drops a Doha Productions video directed by filmmaker Vaksh Vimal, the result is Nothing New. Ironically, the track and the video is everything new. While Zoya Akhtar's recent hip-hop movie may have propelled the genre into mainstream playlists, the majority may find Nothing New nothing like the mumbling, SoundCloud rap that they are used to.
Let us warn you in case you were expecting a hip-hop video with cars, women, and people blowing plumes of smokes through their nostrils. That it is not. The track runs deep and the video even deeper. Take a dekko:
Replacing punk rock with rap as an outlet for millennial angst, rapper Rawal spews venom as he takes on everything that is wrong with Generation Y. Yes, you with your white sneaker obsessions, cookie-cutter Carpe Diem or Wanderlust minimalist tattoos and addiction to emoji sexting.
With lyrics such as 'You are Made in China, Trynna get some hypes' and 'Only diamonds in my circle, mostly anti-social', the track has many rhymes that qualify for quotable quotes of the day. The rapper has also addressed the personal tragedy of losing a parent at a young age that adds to the raw, naked emotional verses.
In a first, MC Kode drops the mic and plays a moneyed, drug-addled antagonist in the video who meets a bitter end. The drone shots of the car collision and one with a funeral pyre especially stand out amidst the grim take on life in this video. Take a listen:
Last Updated Feb 23, 2019, 6:07 PM IST