Indo-Canadian rapper and music composer Ishq Bector, who rose to fame with the hit song "Aye Hip Hopper" alongside Sunidhi Chauhan, recently headlined for his track "Disco Gully" which was featured in the web series Ms. Marvel.
In an exclusive chat with The Free Press Journal, Ishq gets candid about the Indian rap culture back in the day, the recipe to sustain as an artist, and more.
Ishq recalls that when he started venturing into the music industry as a rapper, he was not taken seriously. “When I first started my Hindi hip-hop Journey, I was told by composers that Hindi is not a percussive language. ‘Tumko Tamil mein rap karna chahiye, Hindi melodious language hai’. That’s why people before me were doing the Jamaican vibe. People were like no this is not going to fly but then somehow it caught on, look at it now, look at us now,” he says.
Ishq got his first break in Bollywood with the 2005 film Barsaat starring Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Bipasha Basu. He came onboard for the song “Nakhre”. He reminisces, “At that time, I would show up to any club and go up to the DJ and grab the mic and say I want to rap with them. In Kala Ghoda, there used to be a club called Red Light and they used to have Hip hop nights. One time I jumped on the bar and aag laga di thi maine uss raat. Salim Merchant was there. He waited for me and asked for my number. He called me and got me to write the vocals for “Nakhre”.
That was not it, Ishq was called by the makers to shoot for the song as well. He adds, “I remember them calling me and saying Suneel Darshan wants to shoot with me in South Africa. I went and Raju Khan was choreographing. Back then rapping was just like ‘Yo I’m a rapper’, unhone mujhe DJ booth mein laga diya. I was like ‘I’m not a DJ, I’m a music producer, I don’t belong in the booth.’ After the first shot, I stopped the shoot and I told them if it was okay I can audition then and there and if they like it, we can do something else. They let me, and I performed in my own way. They apologised and said I belong on stage. That is one lesson when you believe in yourself, and if people don’t see the vision, you might have to politely show it to them.”
Despite his entry into Bollywood, Ishq found recognition in the music arena couple of years later with the album Dakku Daddy which had the iconic song "Aye Hip Hopper”. When asked how he feels about the song trending even after ages, an elated Ishq gushes, “The track came together when Hanif Shaikh brought it to me as a joke about a star hip-hopper and a romantic angle with his maid. I thought he was nuts, honestly. But then it just kind of snowballed. We got Amitabh Bhattacharya to write the lyrics and then Chirantan Bhatt also came on as a co-composer. I presented the demo to Sunidhi Chauhan and she nearly fell off the chair laughing and agreed to sing the song. And now seeing all the Tik-Tok and Instagram dance videos that people are still committing to the song is just amazing and I’m really proud of it.”
Over the years, Ishq went on to be a part of several Bollywood films such as Bheja Fry 2, Besharam, and Shaadi Ke Side Effects, to name a few. However, the ultimate game-changer for any rapper in India was the 2019 film Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. He has the song "Har Gham Mein Khushi Hai" to his credit in collaboration with Ace from Mumbai's Finest. Speaking about his collaboration on the Zoya Akhtar directorial, Ishq states, “Battle rap is something that I've been watching since I was a kid. They are incredible and it’s so entertaining to just watch somebody brag and insult their opponent. It's just like boxing. I'm so appreciative to be a part of that project. I love hip-hop so much and for it to be done on such a great level and so authentically is one of the greatest highlights of my career.”
Sharing his recipe to sustain as an artist in a competitive field, Ishq concludes, “There hasn't been a better time for music for an independent person to become their own channel, cutting out the middleman, record companies, television and directly addressing your audience. The secret is consistency, releasing, experimenting, and being yourself. Everybody wants to know the artist; they want to follow them. I'm a little bad with the social media thing. I like being a hermit artist and releasing my music silently, which probably doesn't actually work that well. So, I don't recommend that you do that. It is very important to connect with the audience and have passion for your craft.”
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