I'm feeeeelin' it... You??
Friday, June 08, 2007
Morphology of Tamil Rap
The evoltion of tamil rap seems to be on an accelerated pace these days, and most of this evolution seem to draw heavily from the gangsta rap that originated in Brookly, NY and Los Angeles, CA, permeating world wide. The Ground Zero for this new evolution seems to be Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, which boasts a significant population of ethnic tamils who migrated decades/centuries ago from various tamil speaking communities in South East Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, etc).
Malaysia's leap into the 21st century to catch up with the West in terms of development, facilitated a techonolgical revolution of sorts in the 1990s. With miles and miles of fiber optic cable and broadband connectivity, the marvels of internet technology (YouTube)fed to the insatiable apetite of these tamil teens growing up there. Gangasta rap, which often fascinates teens and young adults in their 20s around the world, captured their minds and imaginations, leading to a rap fusion of sorts, blending tamil lyrics and the gangsta ruggedness.
Often experiemented in the back alleys and abandoned parking lots, the evolutionary core of this tamil rap genre started getting to the mainstage in the past few years. With elite rappers such as Yogi -B and Natchathra (Dr. Burn, Guna, et al) awfully talented crew of four, the community of growing youngsters were introduced to a blend of sweet of old tamil film musical hits laced with the hard rap. Usally layered on a 2X2 beat, these songs are quite catchy, super easy to follow and often easy to recite for ones who speak the language. Revolution really happened with the advent of YouTube, where these new videos now find a home to serve the audience from the Tamil diaspora all over the world. Classic hits such as "Madai Thiranthu" seen below have fueled this frenzy and spawned new groups.
Another popular group, ChakraSonic, has taken this ruggedness to the next level. Their video, Qurbani, seen with the disclaimer "home-made video, seriously makes you wonder if this is filmed in Malaysia except for the few references you hear in the song's lyrics. The corn-rows, hooded sweat shirts and the head gear along with the flashy cars with shiny 22s make the video and the rappers look no different than any T.I video around on the Internet.
Add to the mix, Boomerang-x, another tamil rapper who has delivered a nice video with a catchy tune and a video that never stops showing a mix of fashionable ladies and gentlemen all gyrating to a feet tapping tune. The video is worth noting here for the fun element it infuses with its little little storyline - a suspecting girlfriend watching her boyfriend dance around with other women in a club all observed and recorded through the trinkets (body gear such as sunglasses, necklace, etc on one of the dancing ladies). This is in contrast to the ChakraSonic where there is no intent of conveying a story but the message conveyed is in the form of riveting ruggedness and the jumpy tunes. The Villanz is another group that has started to create some ripples in the community with this video.
All of these groups, have one thing in common - the ferocity of lyrical delivery and the careful emulation of rappers from the west (especially the US) in attires. The dresses and hair-dos are no different than what you see in the 50-cent of T.I videos. The ruggedness envelops new boundaries that are not often associated with the tamil community. It's quite scary to think that some of these videos can play fodder to the next generation's thought process and create the notion that it is okay with the thuggishness that oozes out of these videos.
As long as it all remains in the limits of legal acceptance, we should be proud to have such a creative group of youngsters who have charted their own paths into this uncharted waters. Most groups would evolve and find a niche in the community as their CDs and MP3s get into the hands of their growing audience. Hope they find their own identities and not emulate the west in every bit of their song, which currently reflects in the rap videos generated all over the world. Let's wish them good luck and show some appreciation! Big Respect!
It all rounds up with this funny video, my favorite of all..
Can't tell you how deep it hits when you realize what these youngsters sold for attention - their identities! But the video also showcases the one of the core values in our community - respect for our elders among these young folks even if they are thoroughly embarassed. Sitting in the cross roads of multi-ethnic environments, this video is a sure sign of the coming times where our folks will be forced to chose their identities in this changing world. Hope we will be there to help them in this process!
Malaysia's leap into the 21st century to catch up with the West in terms of development, facilitated a techonolgical revolution of sorts in the 1990s. With miles and miles of fiber optic cable and broadband connectivity, the marvels of internet technology (YouTube)fed to the insatiable apetite of these tamil teens growing up there. Gangasta rap, which often fascinates teens and young adults in their 20s around the world, captured their minds and imaginations, leading to a rap fusion of sorts, blending tamil lyrics and the gangsta ruggedness.
Often experiemented in the back alleys and abandoned parking lots, the evolutionary core of this tamil rap genre started getting to the mainstage in the past few years. With elite rappers such as Yogi -B and Natchathra (Dr. Burn, Guna, et al) awfully talented crew of four, the community of growing youngsters were introduced to a blend of sweet of old tamil film musical hits laced with the hard rap. Usally layered on a 2X2 beat, these songs are quite catchy, super easy to follow and often easy to recite for ones who speak the language. Revolution really happened with the advent of YouTube, where these new videos now find a home to serve the audience from the Tamil diaspora all over the world. Classic hits such as "Madai Thiranthu" seen below have fueled this frenzy and spawned new groups.
Another popular group, ChakraSonic, has taken this ruggedness to the next level. Their video, Qurbani, seen with the disclaimer "home-made video, seriously makes you wonder if this is filmed in Malaysia except for the few references you hear in the song's lyrics. The corn-rows, hooded sweat shirts and the head gear along with the flashy cars with shiny 22s make the video and the rappers look no different than any T.I video around on the Internet.
Add to the mix, Boomerang-x, another tamil rapper who has delivered a nice video with a catchy tune and a video that never stops showing a mix of fashionable ladies and gentlemen all gyrating to a feet tapping tune. The video is worth noting here for the fun element it infuses with its little little storyline - a suspecting girlfriend watching her boyfriend dance around with other women in a club all observed and recorded through the trinkets (body gear such as sunglasses, necklace, etc on one of the dancing ladies). This is in contrast to the ChakraSonic where there is no intent of conveying a story but the message conveyed is in the form of riveting ruggedness and the jumpy tunes. The Villanz is another group that has started to create some ripples in the community with this video.
All of these groups, have one thing in common - the ferocity of lyrical delivery and the careful emulation of rappers from the west (especially the US) in attires. The dresses and hair-dos are no different than what you see in the 50-cent of T.I videos. The ruggedness envelops new boundaries that are not often associated with the tamil community. It's quite scary to think that some of these videos can play fodder to the next generation's thought process and create the notion that it is okay with the thuggishness that oozes out of these videos.
As long as it all remains in the limits of legal acceptance, we should be proud to have such a creative group of youngsters who have charted their own paths into this uncharted waters. Most groups would evolve and find a niche in the community as their CDs and MP3s get into the hands of their growing audience. Hope they find their own identities and not emulate the west in every bit of their song, which currently reflects in the rap videos generated all over the world. Let's wish them good luck and show some appreciation! Big Respect!
It all rounds up with this funny video, my favorite of all..
Can't tell you how deep it hits when you realize what these youngsters sold for attention - their identities! But the video also showcases the one of the core values in our community - respect for our elders among these young folks even if they are thoroughly embarassed. Sitting in the cross roads of multi-ethnic environments, this video is a sure sign of the coming times where our folks will be forced to chose their identities in this changing world. Hope we will be there to help them in this process!
Labels: Boomerang-X, ChakraSonic, Dr. Burn, Guna, Malaysia, Natchathra, Qurbani, T.I, Tamil, The Vallavanz, Yogi-B
1 Comments:
Nice Beats on top of everlasting tune!! Cool! :)
Last cliping is my fav. too! Amazing sence of humour! :)))
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