Hip-hop is more than jewellery, girls, cars: Rapper KR$NA

By Durga Chakravarty

New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) Rapper KR$NA, who has pioneered socio-political rap in Hindi, says people tend to pick on the worst parts to stereotype hip-hop and that is why the genre is misunderstood.

Asked if rap is misunderstood in the country, KR$NA told IANS: "Hip-hop and rap as a genre is diverse and continuously changing. People tend to pick on the worst parts to stereotype it and that is why it's misunderstood.

"If a person was to listen to the genre, they would realise that hip-hop is more than jewellery, girls, cars etc. Every rapper is different and their subjects and stories are different. Change in perception will happen slowly, surely."

KR$NA, whose real name is Krishna Kaul, has rapped on an array of socio-political and human subjects with songs like "Kaisa mera desh" and "Vyanjan", will be seen playing himself in the forthcoming Zoya Akhtar directorial "Gully Boy".

The film, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, is said to be inspired by the story of street rappers Divine and Naved Shaikh aka Naezy who are known for their song "Mere gully mein".

The Delhi-born rapper of Kashmiri descent believes the film can, in a way, give people an insight on how tough it really is to be considered a good rapper.

On will the film help in making understanding the rap culture and genre better, he said,
"I definitely think it will arouse curiosity, which might lead to a lot of people actually looking into the culture and genre."

KR$NA is one of the several underground rappers like Naezy, Divine, Emiway Bantai, MC Heam, RAGA and Brodha V.

Will the film help in getting the due credit for underground rappers that they deserve?

"Having been part of the movie, I feel it will shed some light on the effort and skill that go into being a rapper. It might dispel the notion that rapping is an easy art form because in reality there are certain intricacies in rap that people don't understand," said the rapper.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)