Crooning melodies in unison with hip-hop beats make for soul-lifting rhythms that the Malaysian duo Havoc Brothers specialise in. Rapidly growing bigger in the Tamil rap scene and having struck a chord with their fans, siblings Naven & Mathan’s music is here to stay. For their visit to Chennai, on Saturday, fans will witness a range of tunes from their endless reservoir of projects. Ahead of this musical extravaganza, Naven from the ensemble chats with Indulge.
He gets frank about their opinions on the rise of vernacular rap, what is striking a chord with their younger fans, their approach and process to creating a new track, and how the Tamil word has enabled them to communicate their “innermost feelings and expressions."
The name of your ensemble adds quite a unique ring to the ears of those who have discovered your music. How did you zero in on it?
All of the concepts hold the backstory of our lives, literally a hint, a moment of our endured hardship in life, and it continues to be the ideology of our music.
Y’all are growing to become quite prominent figures in Tamil music. Who are your favourite artistes?
So far everyone has been doing a phenomenal job in the industry, and we are indeed ready and keen to be associated and work with anyone.
You have produced over 40 songs since the inception of the ensemble. What is your process to approach a new song?
We believe each song has its niche when it comes to listeners, and it always depends on the listeners’ perspective on how it’s perceived. Every song hits differently, and we engage in taking time for proper research on current trends and muses to be able to produce a track, song, album, etcetera that’s worth
listening to.
Amongst a Havoc Brothers playlist, a listener might find a good number of your songs revolving around the concept of love. What made it such a central theme to your projects?
All due to the experiences of our past life pertaining to love and crushes, the emotions and feelings that are subjected to each song.
What aspect of your music do you think is striking a chord with the younger generations of today?
Definitely, the new school music. The catchy tune and the lyrics as well. One without the other wouldn’t be sufficient enough to produce something that
isn’t aspiring.
The Havoc Brothers are based out of Malaysia but sing & rap fluently in Tamil. What sort of a role has this language played in your lives?
Malaysia is a multi-racial nation with a bilingual community, no doubt. Hence, we thrive to reach out to all listeners by producing in our mother tongue, Tamil. This is the sign that we ought to play to point out the values of our mother tongue.
What kind of influence do you think Tamil rap is having amidst the advent of mainstream vernacular rap in India?
We believe vernacular rap is indeed a great niche and certainly a talent to behold. Rapping in Tamil has not only allowed us to express our innermost feelings and expressions linearly, but also for us to show — that to be comfortable in your mother tongue and never feel coy to speak up in any situation, to break the barriers of being an introvert, and definitely, rapping in Tamil can invoke your inner confidence to be bold and flexible.
Are any other languages from the subcontinent in your mind that you have employed / might employ in the lyrics of your songs?
We have already implemented a second language in some of our songs and plan to make a pan-nation album, which has input from most of the languages in our country.
Your presence and engagement with your listeners on social media are swiftly increasing. How important do you think it is to regularly reach out to audiences for up-and-coming artistes like yourself in this manner, beyond the music?
Artistes, singers and performers should always have healthy interactions with their fans and supporters, as this increases the bonding amongst fans and supporters. Regular interactions would enable such artistes and performers to understand their demands and requests, as this would indirectly contribute to a much larger scale in the world of performances. This enables leniency amongst performers and their supporters, which is the rightful way it should be.
Finally, what can the audiences expect from your live performance on your visit to Chennai on 1st April?
This isn’t just a performance. It’s going to be the ultimate memoir for all supporters and fans of ours. It’s going to be a fanfare extravaganza, filled with nothing less than pure hype, fun and havoc. Expect nothing less from the Havoc Brothers.
₹199 onwards
Tickets available online.
April 1. 6 pm
At Phoenix Marketcity, Velachery.