For musician, writer, seeker, lyricist and hip-hop artiste Bali Rico, a life before he began playing the mridangam is almost non-existent, as he describes it. This anecdote itself denotes how intertwined the artiste’s multicultural influences have been, partly because he grew up in the ashrams of Mayapur — where both his life and musical journey received firm foundations. Bali recently released his first track — Shrine — from his upcoming album and, in a conversation with Indulge, he delves into its making and his intriguing journey.
Shrine seems like a unique opportunity to explore divinity through hip-hop. What inspired the track for you and how did it come to be?
This track was sent to me by my producer and friend, Govinda Ghosh. As soon as I heard it, I knew he had created something special. To me, it was the most beautiful hip-hop instrumental I had ever come across. The sample was mesmerising and the beat was infectious. I immediately began writing to it. But what truly unlocked the identity of this song was when I translated the chorus. It is a love song: “O beloved, please come home. My eyes are longing without you.” As soon as these words entered my heart, I knew that Shrine was the name of the song and captured its essence. It is the shrine of my heart, in the mood of so many devotional poets in my lineage and the countless parallel lineages in the bhakti tradition. From that moment, it was a free flow of thoughts and rhymes from the inner chambers of my soul.
In a physical sense, a shrine is a sacred space, but in a hip-hop and groove-led track, how do you construct a shrine sonically? What elements, whether a supporting track, a specific rhythm or a lyric, act as the inner sanctum of this track?
The beautiful vocals and rhymes both capture the essence of longing. We sit in our shrines, asking our beloved to return to the inner sanctum of our hearts. This is the shrine, a place of devotion that can be expressed in so many forms. My method of expression is music and poetry.
Growing up partly in the ashrams of Mayapur, with Colombian roots and an upbringing in the US — offers a fascinating contrast. How has moving between these completely different cultural and spiritual realities shaped your songwriting and your worldview as a storyteller?
This upbringing taught me early that there isn’t just one way of seeing the world. I was exposed to very different cultures and their ways of understanding life. Mayapur gave me a spiritual, contemplative foundation. I absorbed kirtan, bhakti and the culture around them. Growing up in America exposed me to hip-hop, where I found a musical kinship. It also gave me a bit of attitude, an edge. My Colombian roots gave me a rich, emotive basis for expression and, together, they shaped my art, creativity and spiritual path. My work is coloured by these cultural paradigms. Musically, kirtan, ghazals, Bengali folk melodies and carnatic rhythms blend with hip-hop, rock, electronica and a dash of salsa and merengue — quite a mix.
Looking at the broader body of work coming with this album, what transformation or realisation do you want listeners to experience?
I think that the album is a musical journey with hard-hitting peaks and some deep, maybe even melancholic, lows. There is joy in life and there is hope, but there is also pain. Light exists, as does shadow and I think people can follow its thread through the songs to ultimately come to an experience of wholeness, spiritually and emotionally. It is a fun album, with infectious beats that can make you dance, but there is substance and sincerity in there and I hope people can connect with that.
Shrine is streaming on all audio platforms.