Nithish Shetty brings depth and lyrical prowess with his new track

The first strains of Nithish Shetty’s Kaattey are hypnotic. But what follows comes as a pleasant surprise, to say the least. The 24-year-old artiste, who goes by the stage name brownkiddreams, is slowly making his mark in the relatively untapped Telugu Hip-Hop space. His latest track began as an exploration of techno and electric sounds — something that was far outside his comfort zone.

Nithish finds his niche in Telugu Hip-Hop

But it’s not just the instrumentals that speak to you. The lyrics, where each verse comes sharper than the one before, are an indictment of the self. “The lyrics in Kaattey are all about tearing away from my old self that used to preach a lot about everything I saw around me and deemed it as right or wrong,” Nithish says. “It became a reflection on my ambiguity and how, as an artiste, I might not be on a higher moral pedestal, and can only speak about things that pertain to my situations, actions, and consequences,” he adds.

There’s no shortage of self-awareness in his lyricism, and that perhaps is what draws you in. Having begun his writing journey at 15 when he would sneakily pen lyrics under his bench during classes, Nithish found his niche in Telugu Hip-hop. “I started with English as my primary language of expression and found my voice in Telugu. It definitely is a lot harder to write in Telugu as it’s not a language naturally built for Hip-hop; it’s a lot more musical than punchy,” he explains. “I found my voice in wordplay, learning to use the musical attributes of Telugu as an instrument in itself while writing my lyrics,” Nithish adds.

Taking inspiration from artistes like Frank Ocean, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Devi Sri Prasad, Nithish’s music primarily draws from Hip-Hop influences. “It has almost always boiled down to Hip-Hop. This formed the basis of my mode of expression, and everything else followed in my style of expression,” he remarks. For the artiste, however, his love for film surpasses all else. “Film has always and will always be my first love,” he exclaims. “As an aspiring screenwriter and director, I take sound and music in film very seriously. When I work on anything related to film, I ensure that the accompanying soundtrack is the best possible pairing to what’s on screen,” he adds.

Currently collaborating on projects with friends in the industry, Nithish is also working on an album that blends alternative Hip-hop with south Indian influences. As one of many independent artistes embracing regional languages while also incorporating other genres in the creation of music that hasn’t been seen in the mainstream, Nithish is eager to challenge himself. “I wanted to stick to a regional language because I believed that there was untapped potential there. I wanted to challenge myself until I got great at it. I believe I’m still getting there, but I’m confident that I eventually will,” he concludes.

Kaattey is now streaming on all major music platforms.