Vighnesh Shivanand, better known as Brodha V, is someone who does not need any introduction when it comes to the rap industry in India. Being a multilingual rapper, some consider him as the face of multilingual Indian rap. He is also known to sometimes mix devotional songs into his compositions to give people something that is refreshing. Some of his most popular hits include Aathma Rama, Aigiri Nandini, Vainko, Basti Bounce (both of which he collaborated with Jordindian) and several more. He just released Azhage (Fallin), his latest single, and the track has already garnered 3.4 million views and counting on YouTube! We catch up with the Bengaluru huduga for a candid conversation about Azhage, his first love song, 10 years of Aathma Rama, his future projects and much more…
So, Azhage is your first love song. What was the idea behind the song since most rappers do not usually work on love songs?
That maybe because I have been engrossed in the idea of being a rapper all this while and I wanted to make hardcore rap. But this year, I wanted to be a bit more experimental and versatile in my music and my whole thought process. Starting with Basti Bounce, I wanted to make it a go-to kuthu song with rap infused in it. Then I thought that the next thing I wanted to try my hand at was a love song. I wanted to do it in a way that rappers have not done it before. Even if they have done it, I wanted to be able to create an emotional love song with some sort of depth to it and I wanted to see for myself if that was possible.
Tell us more?
It was mainly about me wanting to be versatile. I had this rough track that I produced many years ago. I had a scratch of this when I was a kid and it had potential but I did not know what to do with it. Every time, for the last couple of years, when we used to go on drives and listen to songs, my friends were like, play that beat. So, it was something that was locked in a vault and kept away but when I decided it was time for me to do something unique and different, I knew it was right time to bring back that beat and work on it.
The song has been getting quite a lot of recognition already?
It has been crazy. It feels great to find a place on Spotify’s Rap91 playlist. It embraces music and musicians from all over the country. I think it is a first step to give a platform to more South Indian music and I am super happy for it.
It has been a bit over 10 years since you released Aathma Rama?
The first time I wrote the song, it was very personal to me. It was quite introspective. I was still an underground artiste at that time. I had no idea what marketing was or how I can take this song forward. I was just pretty honest about my music and myself and I put the song out. This song at that time was like an underground hit, which put rap from India on some sort of a map because the country at that time was still pretty much focused on rock and metal. In the last one or two years, Instagram Reels have made the song even more popular and go viral too.
One of your biggest hits was Aigiri Nandini?
Most of the people’s reactions were positive, only because this was the first time that people were hearing rap with something that was relatable to an Indian audience. Even as an artiste, I have grown up listening to devotional music, Bollywood music, folk music and rap only came in much later. So, it was quite natural for me to use these two genres. People were also huge fans of hip hop music and rap music but were only consuming what was coming from the US. So, for somebody to incorporate some local and show that they also know about their own culture and their own space gave a feeling that this is our artiste, this is our own hip hop. But yeah, there were few people now and then who would pop up and say that you disrespected the song, this is not how a shloka should be used. I have always tried to use the shloka in a way that I do not take the meaning away from it but also use it in today’s context. Rather than making a song about God, I try to bring out what the song actually means and incorporate that into today’s reality. It appeals a lot more to today’s generation.
Tell us about your most memorable performances?
Well, it is too difficult to pick out just one but I remember this one very clearly. It was one of my first performances in Thiruvananthapuram and is still one my favourites. It was a college festival. The crowd was enthusiastic and so energetic that by the end, I was out of breath and I had to wrap up the show. The crowd was screaming my song so loud, I couldn’t hear myself. I had to pull out my ear piece and let the audience sing and I really vibed with the crowd. The energy was out of this world. Hopefully, the same crowd comes back when I perform in Thiruvananthapuram next.
What’s up next?
I would be performing all over the country but predominantly I would be focusing on the South. I also have a lot of collaborations coming up this year with a lot of interesting artistes. So, I will try and work with every language, every industry and every state possible to make a pan-India rap song. I want to incorporate more folk music from different parts of the country and hopefully perform in those places as well.
Azhage (Fallin) is now streaming on all major music platforms.
Email: alwin@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @al_ben_so