Feeble sprouts have started voicing their unrest and the stagnation under-ground, and have begun expressing an unabashed yearning for their own moments under the sky. Until now, in the Indian Rap space, things existing only at the extremes of the genre’s spectrum had dominated the mind of an average rap fan. Choices existed only between mass market yoyofied songs or the still struggling quality of an underground artist adamant about the strength of his lyricism. It’s a really difficult territory to tread especially when corporate and big ticket stakeholders get involved, which is when content has to go through the rites of yoyofication, but in the process, alienating the core rap fan further away from having any hopes of a concrete Indian rap space.
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| Krsna, Can-he? yea? |
Rappers who have had an experience in the underground circuits, before trying to hit the mainstream, face an even problematic scenario as they have to shed a particular bent of writing, accumulated over the years and dominated by lyrical flexing and dexterous deliveries. "Sellout", despite the very frank title of the album, is not a product from a rapper who is emerging from the underground and is in a big hurry to dumb stuff down by galactic proportions in order to attract a public that is apathetic to rap, a harsh reality that Krsna understands when he raps, ‘livin’ in a place where rap ain’t shit.’ (Last Song). Instead, ‘Sellout – The Album’ unravels as a strong story of an Underground Rapper who has realized the stagnation which the scene suffers from, and therefore is keen to take onto different missions, all out of his love for rap. In the song, ‘Sellout’ which is done on a strong southern beat with standard 808 kicks, Krsna makes the strongest statement indicative of an Indian rapper’s frustration with the directionless Indian Underground when he raps, ‘They telling me I sold my soul like I am meant to be on my own/You got a record deal, you don’t how we feel/Now you don’t even sound that real anymore/So maybe I should stay very poor/Maybe I should not get paid any more’. It’s a further indictment of the current mentality that keeps most Indian rappers dragged down in a delusional notion of maintaining fidelity to a core rap sensibility when Krsna raps, ‘But I'll make a mixtape full of shit that don’t even get played any more.’ The song also offers a counter-reason to rap fans to avoid automatically assuming an artist to be wack, the moment he appears on the television or if his song is playing on the radio. ‘They hate the mainstream like it’s a crime/But never cared when I was on the grind.’
The first song, ‘The Glorious First Step’ starts with an almost apologetic stance on reverberating snares and declaratory horns; the song's lyrical essence being similar to a successful hunter’s prayer for the prey he has just killed. The idea resonates as a restrained celebration. Krsna announces his intention to take over your consciousness but, at the same time, is almost regretting at this whole idea when he says, ‘to the dudes I used to rap with, look what the flow became’. It was perhaps an intentional irony to drop a nod to Nas – Underground Rap’s Messiah – followed by a smooth delivery of rhymes that were a little complex for commercial releases. This strain of regret peeks up again in ‘Last Song,’ where taut sounds of a congo, coupled with hi-hats and kicks, paint a valedictory urgency. Krsna’s pacy delivery packed with oodles of rhymes and topped off with the SEXIEST male chorus, that I’ve heard in a while, make for a perfect and powerful conclusion to the playlist. ‘This could be my last song, may you never know’ starts with a masculine choral irreverence and segues into sweet despondence in the second half of the chorus.
‘Faded’, ‘Getting Away’ & ‘Tripping’ revolved around love based themes. All three of them were notoriously executed in a very drakeish fashion, perhaps with the exception of ‘Getting Away’ where Krsna retained control of his characteristic delivery. While ‘Faded’ was a playful regret of a reminiscent guy, rendered on an RnB instrumental, and caressed with delicate pianos, ‘Getting Away’ spilled out the rage of a cheated boyfriend who is angry at his love’s betrayal, and was done on an emotive instrumental with an effusively dripping singing on the chorus. On the other hand ‘Tripping’, done on a smooth Kid Ink type sound, was about a love-struck guy. All three were on themes that are well travelled on the beaten path, but the choruses sufficiently donned the mantle of being the rescue act in all the three. However, ‘Getting Away’ was where Krsna’s delivery appeared a little weak when he had to slow down and speed up alternately to keep up with the drums. This can work for a track aimed at the underground audience, but it misses out on tight bouncy rhythms that would prick the ears of general listeners.
‘Last Night’ was where Krsna’s delivery was the bounciest and had him flowing on an EDM sound backed with electric guitars. This song has its own video which has been aired already on VH1 India. This was a formulaic, but likeable offering. However, judging the entire album based on the content of this song alone will be unfortunate for both the listeners as well as the rapper. Krsna, as Young Prozpekt has earned his underground stripes sufficiently enough to avoid being labelled as just another vacuous rhymer.
Sellout, all in all, must have been a tight-rope to walk on, but it ended up definitely as an enjoyable product with Krsna’s confident delivery and masterfully crafted choruses. Production wise, it’s far from anything groundbreaking, but is sensibly packed with the reigning sounds of current hip hop; throw in Erryday to complete that assessment with Sonny Brown’s southern drawl. Krsna has also managed to start a conversation for underground rappers to question the stagnant philosophy of the day. He has managed to speak to both underground rappers as well as the general audience by cooking his debut offering on two burners. But the regret of a rapper – with the soul of the underground – but ambitions of becoming commercially successful is evident when Krsna rounds it off in ‘Last Song’ by rapping, ‘If this is the path to success – then I should’ve taken a better route'.
It is but curious that despite appropriating ‘Sell-Out’ as a probable response to the release, the rapper chose to go with his given name – Krsna instead of the earlier underground dwelling stage name – ‘Young Prozpekt’. Let’s hope ‘Last Song’ remains the last song only for this album, and not Krsna’s rap career.
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