In the video for his song ‘Panam’, Rahul Sridhar walks out of an ATM in the first shot, with a wad of notes in his hands. He launches into a rap to his friend, stand-up comic Abishek Kumar about wanting 20 crores in his bank account, and how “it is a vibe bro”.
On Tuesday, a rap song of his, but of a very different kind hit the Internet, Rocketlane, A Chennai and US-based B2B SaaS (Software-as-a-Services) firm announced their $24 million series B funding through a rap music video, written and performed by Rahul . The song ‘I like B’, not just announces their milestone, but has Rahul rap his way through the corridors of their workspace while chronicling the journey of the company so far. “Hey, we thought let’s do a press release, but a tad bit more aesthetically,” he raps, in the song.
“In 2022 as well, we made a rap song to announce the company’s Series A funding, and it feels great to be able to mark yet another milestone through a song,” says Rahul, who also is a part of their marketing team. Music has paved the way for several full-circle moments for him. It was a rap song for a software testing company’s 10th anniversary he made a few years ago that got him noticed by the head of his current organisation as well.
A quick scroll through this Chennai-based rapper’s Instagram account throws up songs he has written and performed on a range of themes — he has things to say about the city, satirises the work-life balance that comes with a corporate work environment, the struggle to find resolve everyday, or even the concept of self care.
“Artistes who come from extreme poverty, and grew up in troubled environments — this features prominently in rap music. I have had a very cushioned, privileged upbringing and I cannot flex about something I haven’t lived through. The songs I write are focussed on my own lived experiences,” the rapper says, while speaking about how pervasive hip-hop culture is. “Only when I tap into this can I be authentic, and I try to reflect on things around me that are interesting,” he adds.
When the world shut down for the pandemic, Rahul found himself having time on his hands, and the belief that he had nothing to lose if he began writing songs. Beginning his journey on Instagram, he started off by asking people for prompts and words based on which he wrote his early songs.
“English was what I was initially the most comfortable with, and my songs now have both Tamil and English lyrics. I strongly believe the language should be accessible, and not alienate the audience. I feel inspired by how rappers here like Asal Kolar and Paal Dabba use Tamil,” he says.
Describing himself as someone who is not a musically well-versed person, Rahul says he limits his presence to sharing his songs on Instagram as he feels he can offer a great beat, something comedic, and a visual element, all packaged well thanks to their audio-video reels format. “If not for the music, I feel like at least one aspect will stand out, and will hopefully make people scrolling through, to stop and take notice,” he says.
Rahul and stand-up comic Abishek Kumar in a still from the music video ‘Panam‘
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Having written, shot, edited and starred in all his songs for a while, it is only recently that he has begun to collaborate with people to star in his videos. Stand up comic and actor Ramkumar Natarajan, theatre artiste Naresh, and Abishek Kumar feature in his last three songs – all of which have racked up views in millions.
“It has been great to work with collaborators who share the same energy. We shot the ’Panam‘ video with Abhishek on one of Chennai’s truly punishing summer days, and carried on thanks to how enthusiastic we all were and just bounced off each other’s energies. Even with Ramkumar, I just had to ping him to talk to him about an idea I had, a manager in a corporate setting and he was immediately excited,” he says.
As someone who began his journey by dabbling in stand-up comedy, Rahul also hopes for a show that would bring his two passions together, comedy and music in a very Bo Burnham-esque show. He says, “Incorporating music always makes for an engaging performance experience, and I can’t wait to try this.”