My school bus was stuck in a traffic mess and it had to stop there for some minutes. I was falling asleep as I was tired, but my tiredness vanished when I heard the music coming out from a street. The music was coming from the cell phone (or perhaps, iPod, as I wasn’t able to see it properly) of a guy with his hood up, covering his face; I could barely see his face. The music was playing loud and he was walking on the street along the roadside slightly grooving and shaking his head on the beats of what you call “hip-hop” music. Honestly speaking, I was shocked when I saw that guy; I mean you rarely find anybody walking on the road playing music loud. But then I thought wait a second, over half of the population (even more than that) of teenagers are influenced by hip-hop music. Every teenager loves hip-hop. Ask anybody, any teenager, “Who’s Eminem?” and instead of just saying that he is the best rapper, they open up his whole biography as well as discography. And by that time I realized that hip-hop has really influenced Kashmir, Just like it has influenced US and several other countries.
Teenagers of Kashmir do not only acquire this stuff as hobby, but they also want to present it as their talent to the people and show them all what they’ve got. They want to opt it is as a career. And I tell you, the rappers of Kashmir are just amazing and talented. They perform like professionals.
Check out reverbnation.com, you will find Kashmiri teenagers sharing their songs. They record their songs independently, compose music themselves, and also write the lyrics of their songs. Isn’t that appreciative?
The latest rap band The Proof Brothers (they are also on reverbnation.com), consisting of boys mainly age of seventeen, is the best example of teenagers involved in hip-hop, using their talent in the best way. They are unsigned; they compose music themselves, write their songs, record them and post their work online.
While chatting with a Member of The Proof Brothers group, I asked, what rap means to him and why is he influenced by it, he replied, “I used to listen to rap since age of eight. I am influenced by it because rappers write truth; they speak truth and promote truth. And this thing makes us write on the experience of day to day life.” He says that since western culture is making inroads into Kashmir, emcees (lingo for rappers) have come out.
He says that they will sing for human rights, and take both the things - career and music – forward. He is really influenced by hip-hop and whenever he is on a walk, a sensation prevail his mind and words start coming out automatically. That all influence is created by rap.
But the thing that is coming in the way of the Kashmiri talented youth is the lack of support from the people. We should think for a moment that they make us proud. They represent us. They are one of us. And when they will succeed, we will succeed. We should promote their talent; encourage them for what they are doing, as they are doing something that is for the common good. They are trying to promote human rights and they speak truth.
All I can say is that we should encourage them and build some proper sources for them to achieve their goals, as they are balancing the two worlds, career as well as hobby. And we should be proud of these guys that they are using their brains in recreational activities like that and not sulking in streets, taking drugs.
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Lastupdate on : Sat, 12 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 12 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 IST