‘Rap’ped up in local flavours

BENGALURU: India’s rap scene doesn’t have the best reputation for being gender inclusive, and that ratio is skewed further in regional rap scene. And this is where SIRI (the singer insists that her name be written in capital letters) stands out, providing a beacon of hope for future rappers like her. The Bengaluru-based musician recently released her new single, Yaaru, where she raps just as effortlessly in Kannada as she does in English. With lyrics like – When they not around, what you gonna do, yaaru nodadiddaga, helu neenu yaaru? –her message seems to be clear: Who are you really when no one is watching? 

“Friends and family think I’m doing great, I’m confident and I really know what I’m doing but that’s not the reality. People don’t know what happens away from the screen or behind the scenes,” she says of her new track, which was out last month, and was produced by Mumbai-based Aakash, who is an Emmy-award winning audio engineer and music producer. 

Her tryst with rap may have begun all the way back in 2013 but it wasn’t until three years ago that she started making music professionally. “I was good at rapping lyrics written by somebody else but when I got to know I sounded good, I started writing my own lyrics as well,” says the Bengalurean, who took a month to complete the track with Aakash. Since her journey with rap, she has come out with multiple singles, each gaining good traction and appreciation from listeners. Her song Gold saw over 1.3 lakh views on YouTube whereas My Jam, which premiered in April this year, saw over 14 lakh views. 

Besides Kannada and English, she also raps in Hindi and Telugu, but it’s the former two that she’s most comfortable with. Rapping in Kannada, though a niche, also helps her connect with local audiences on a deeper level. “When you rap in your local language, it’s for everyone. I have listeners from Mandya and Dharwad, and some from Canada too. So, rapping in Kannada helps me connect with people from 
different classes and regions as well,” she says. 

Like many other fields in India, women in rap too are far and few between. “Gender binaries and roles are thrust upon you from the time you are born. And though they seem innocuous or small, they have a big impact on your life while you are growing up,” she says. Her own parents, though not much in tune with rap, have no qualms with their daughter’s decision to pursue it. “I’ve always led an independent and rebellious life. I’m glad I didn’t listen to them, it worked out for the best.”   

While she may be an outlier in the scene, the rapper does have hope that it may not always be so. She says, “Things are changing. There are so many things, like your family, that you have to deal with before you become a rapper. But there are many female rappers doing it. Our numbers do need to increase.”