ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MIAMI MEDIA BLOG
Why has rap music captured the attention of the young Pakistani generation and how do we begin to understand its structure, rhythm and cultural relevance?
There are several interpretations, methodologies, origin histories, culture and music theories that can help deconstruct and explore this genre. The groovy hip-hop beats, spoken word poetry and growing community of rap artists in Pakistan have one thing in common that is their unapologetic attitude to expressing their social, economic and political opinions about society. The rise of rap music in Pakistan is not a recent phenomenon but has slowly gained momentum over the last 20 years. Rap verses are accompanied by a strong and catchy hook that is a recurring section usually acting as the chorus. The identity of hip-hop comes from its powerful resonance with the disenfranchised youth of America. Rap reflected the imbalance of wealth, frustrations and struggles of young black people. It became a unified voice for those looking to escape the harsh and cruel life of the streets. The powerful impact of rap music was that it offered a space for the youth.
Abrar Ul Haq In Music Video Of Billo De Ghar
Rap music has a powerful history of providing relief to the struggling impoverished youth that feels stuck on the streets in a life of crime, violence and poverty. It has close ties to the freedom movements around the world that use rap to express their political, social and economic opinions as a form of art resistance against dictatorship and neglectful governance. The tools of rap are available to everyone regardless of their ethnicity, age or background. It is truly an egalitarian community and collective of individuals who are standing up for their rights and for their voice to be heard. There are branches of rap music that include the classic Old School that had hip-hop-infused beats to newer forms of Boom-bap, Jazz rap, Trap, Mumble Rap, Rap rock and Gangsta rap. Many mainstream Pakistani singers have dabbled in rap performance within their pop songs. Abrar Ul Haq’s mega-hit song Billo De Ghar released in 1995 has an unforgettable section where Haq launches into an electrifying spree of verses.
Bohemia
Bohemia is considered the father of Punjabi rap, Pakistani American rapper and music producer from California who inspired a generation with his songs. His family moved from Karachi to California when he was only 14 years old. He is an icon and a street rap legend having delivered brutally honest, soulful and authentic verses describing his struggles, family and identity. The power of rap music is that it is relatable for anyone and everyone. What we are taught to be the highest form of art displayed in museums, produced for Four Season concert halls or given historical values are limited to those with a sophisticated education, wealth and status. Rap music does not belong to any one which makes it democratic, egalitarian and free for everyone. There are no academic qualifications required as the origin of rap happened outside any institutionalised organisation. It does not necessarily require any instruments, sound equipment,or the years of training required to play them. Rap can be simply delivered over a beat played on a loop. Freestyling rap artists will perform from their heart, mind and soul in an improvised style allowing themselves to create verses by reacting to their environment. This activated sense of expression is what makes rap revolutionary and relatable for the masses. The freedom to perform on the street made it easy for young people to get together, celebrate and compete.
Rap elevated young people, it was as competitive and thrilling as any other live sport. The community, the neighbourhood block and streets were the stage that groomed and grew talent. The inspirational tenacity of rap music is that it created international superstars that inspired people all around the world. In the 90s names like Notorious B.I.G, Nas, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Ice Cube, DMX, Snoop Dog, Lauryn Hill, Eminem, Missy Elliot and Dr Dre were the biggest and most successful rap artists in the world. Since then we have seen rap music diversify as more and more artists take it on as their own. Bohemia’s career as a Punjabi rapper is testament to how it can seamlessly cross over to Pakistani culture. His ability to connect with audiences here proved that rap music is part of our identity.
Embracing rap music as our own and celebrating it on a national level did not happen until this year when Young Stunners were featured in the PSL Cricket Anthem alongside legendary names such as Naseebo Lal. How has rap music infiltrated and inspired the youth of today? If we take a closer look at the artists who are pursuing this line of music there is no set pattern or rules. Rap music is entirely independent and pursued by all kinds of men and women from various economic backgrounds of the country. The ability to create, produce and record music is not common in Pakistan. Independent home studios are not hard to set up as all you really need these days is a laptop, headphones, a semi-decent mic and a soundcard that will cost as little as Rs 50,000. The technology and computers have improved so vastly that it has given a lot more people access to digital audio workstations (DAWs) which include software like Cubase, Garage Band, Ableton, Reaper and Logic that can record, mix and master tracks with ease. You do not need to have an education in audio production in order to master these techniques and programs, although it does help.
Faris Shafi
It is important to mention that rap fusion was first to enter into the mainstream musical vocabulary by Fakhre Alam, Ahmed Butt from Entity Paradigm and more recently by Faris Shafi and Adil Omar. The early rap by Faris Shafi was a powerful satirical collection of opinions on the economic instability, societal hypocrisy and politicisation of religion that twists and manipulates the status quo. His songs challenged and called out the abusive behavioural trends dominating our society. single “Awaam” featuring Mooroo resonated with young people and catapulted Shafi’s popularity in Pakistan and India. Pakistan faces challenges at every turn of artistic licenses, Shafi’s music was considered explicit for mainstream broadcasting, restricting it to private downloads and word of mouth. After Youtube was finally unbanned in 2012 we have seen artists like Faris be able to share their work independently and with artistic freedom.
Talal Qureshi, Diplo, Adil Omar
Adil Omar has worked tirelessly on his music and sound, he released “The Mushroom Cloud Effect” in 2013 with the explosive track titled “ Paki Rambo” that captured the attention of young Pakistani men and women. Omar has toured internationally and brought the internationally successful Mad Decent Block Party Festival created by the heavyweight DJ Diplo to Islamabad. The emerging rap talents on our radar currently are Maanu, GHAURI, They-See Battle League, Iqbal, Lyari Underground and Dark Street Youtube Channel.
Pepsi Black Rap Battle launched a unique music platform for the art form to become mainstream broadcasting it on national television to audiences of all demographics and segments of society. A huge number of 170 aspiring rappers submitted audience tapes and demos to the competition. Only 7 finalists were chosen and their videos were posted to the Facebook page for popular voting to decide which two would make it to the final stage of the competition.
BOL Entertainment launched Pakistan’s first reality rap competition called Star Rapper that has set the stage to promote the genre to a national audience. The judges panel includes Zaain, Maham Amir and Sahir Lodhi. This is unchartered territory for Pakistani music and seeing it become an active collective is exciting and inspirational. The community of rap artists is now present in every major city of the country with Urdu, Sindhi, Pashto, and Balochi rap being released regularly online. Rap has become part of our musical identity, young people find their collective voice in the verses of these songs. It is a reflection of their present time and environment.
Eva B
Pakistani rap music might be dominated by male voices right now but this does not mean that there aren't any female artists in the mix. Bisma Khan, Gully Girls and Eva B are breaking stereotypes and creating visibility for more women participating in the rap scene. The music industry of Pakistan presently is faced with numerous challenges, the lack of record labels, venues and limited avenues for income generation make it impossible to sustain a musical career for the majority of aspiring artists. Rap music is an invaluable addition to the industry offering singer-songwriters a chance to create an entirely new wave that can be made according to their own rules. Rap might have originated on the streets but it has become the top trending music genre of today’s generation. Look out for these new acts as they are creating a new wave that is here to stay.
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