Bold new music by Azadi Records

How to know what young India is thinking? One way is to listen to its contemporary music. Bollywood’s hits tell their own stories. But far from the limelight of commercial success, in small towns and inner cities, also spring up songs and rhythms that have a pulse of their own.

Making their presence felt as performers are a number of young talents. They are rising stars in a hip-hop world of raw Indian realities. Infused in their lyrics and music are their personal histories. They are passionate and bold and flaunt a unique fusion of many influences. Their concerns are caste, communalism, the environmental crisis, free speech, identity, politics and more.

Bringing them out of their social enclaves and into the mainstream is Azadi Records, an independent music label started in March 2017 by Uday Kapur and Mo Joshi.

Kapur, who is 28, used to be a journalist who wrote on South Asia’s underground music scene for VICE India, Sole DXB, Rolling Stones and other magazines.

Thirty-eight year old Joshi was a vocalist in a hip-hop band in the UK and worked with Grammy award-winning labels Ston’d Records and Illa State. He moved to India in 2014 and in 2015 took over desihiphop.com, the world’s largest platform dedicated to South Asian hip-hop.

Once they had met they knew that the one thing they wanted to do together was build a music label that truly represented India. When Kapur was working as a music journalist, he felt that what was being defined as ‘Indian independent music’ was really only being tapped from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. “That’s not India. So I thought, how do I play my part rather than just be cynical about it? How do I make this change happen?” he says.

They invested their own money and started Azadi Records. Three years down the line their roster has 10 musicians from Srinagar, Calicut, Surat, Delhi and Mumbai. Azadi Records’ musicians sing in Punjabi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, English and Tamil, and across genres of hip-hop, R&B and electronic music.

The atmosphere is electric at performances by Azadi Records | Picture by Samarth Shirke

“We have eight languages across the label. This didn’t happen by chance, we worked to make it happen,” emphasizes Joshi. They have 103 tracks, 27 music videos and 20 million streams to their name.

Why a controversial name like Azadi? “First of all we wanted to give artistes the freedom to put out the music they want to put out. It’s important to provide everyone the access to say what they want to say and deliver their message,” says Joshi.

Kapur explains that the word azadi got stigmatized after Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with a sedition case in February 2016. He was accused of using the word to demand freedom for Kashmir though he was, actually, talking of azadi from hunger and poverty.

“Any individual who said azadi then was thought to be useless. They might not be talking about Kashmir. They could be talking about farmers’ rights or parking issues, for all you care,” remarks Kapur. Naming the label Azadi Records was an attempt to restore its status.

The idea was also to produce music that was politically conscious and progressive. “Music should evoke thought in people, especially considering the time and space we are living in,” remarks Joshi.

Search for talent

Finding unusual musicians means searching for authentic stories. It means looking where no one else is looking. Kapur and Joshi go to lesser-known music festivals like Haflong in Assam to find talent. Crawling through SoundCloud and their inboxes has also led to some discoveries.

As a result, Azadi Records now has a diverse portfolio of artistes. There is Prabh Deep and Seedhe Maut from Delhi, Ahmer Javed and Ali Safuddin from Srinagar, Swadesi, Tienas, Rak and DJ Blunt from Mumbai, DJ Uri from Surat and Sharan Jayan from Calicut.

Their songs get to the nub of current concerns. “The Warli Revolt”, a song by Swadesi, a hip-hop collective, spoke for the Warli Adivasi community living in the Aarey forest where hoary trees were being axed to make way for a Metro car shed. Environment groups protested. The Supreme Court stepped in and restrained authorities from tree felling in October 2019.

Swadesi, a hip-hop collective, sings for the environment and communities who live in harmony with nature | Picture by Samarth Shirke

Swadesi went into the Aarey forest and got Prakash Bhoir, the tribal chief of the Warlis, to collaborate with them. The song that emerged has a rhythm and beat that is distinctly tribal. It says:

Hold your development dreams

Back off from our forest

You tempt us with money

To make us your slaves 

“Azadi doesn’t make you into a yo-yo rapper,” says 25-year-old M.C. Mawali, aka Aklesh Sutar, of Swadesi. His inclination to music came from his family – Sutar’s father used to play the harmonium. As a young boy in school, he wrote rhythmic poetry. His friends introduced him to hip-hop and rap.

Through their music, Swadesi hopes to challenge the way people are made to think. “We have become like machines blindly believing in so-called facts,” he says. “Art is political first, and a form of entertainment later.”

Swadesi also runs Swadesi Treks, an initiative which organizes camps and treks around Mumbai. Their love for nature and for communities that live in harmony with the environment inspires many of their songs and lyrics.

Prabh Deep, a 26-year-old Punjabi rapper from Tilak Nagar in Delhi, is one of Azadi’s rising stars. Apple Music recently featured him as their spotlight artiste of the month. His song, “Suno”, is about rampant drug abuse in his locality. The video features a boy who bunks school and instead helps a drug dealer. Prabh Deep raps:

Be your own man

Don't follow the herd

You sold your education

Bought a book

Educated yourself

And learnt nothing

Prabh Deep is one of Azadi's most popular artists | Picture by Samarth Shirke

“Suno” is one of 12 songs in Prabh Deep’s debut album, Class-Sikh. His lyrics talk of growing up in Tilak Nagar, a locality with a significant Sikh population. Prabh Deep’s grandfather died in 1984 in the anti -Sikh riots, and his third album will explore the trauma that passes from one generation to the next.

So lyrics also reflect the personal histories of music performers. Ahmer Javed from Srinagar relates stories of his childhood in Kashmir. His song, “Elaan”, a jugalbandi with Prabh Deep, is a searing indictment of the powers that rule Kashmir. “My whole childhood has been at war,” he sings.

You know where I come from

The most dangerous place on earth

Justice they deny it

Violations bring them joy

Prabh Deep hits out at the media in “Elaan”.

Ask yourself

Who created this hate in your heart?

By depicting half-truths.

Javed’s album, Little Kid, Big Dreams, is partly autobiographical. Little Kid, Big Dreams, is a heartfelt song about his journey as an introverted child in school to a rapper. He sings:

How are we to feed our families

We are out of business

Our schools don’t open

We were sold by our own

Whom you vote and elect.

Javed came to Delhi when he was 16 and now divides his time between Srinagar and Delhi, so that he can pursue music. Being away from home and missing family events and celebrations is not easy, he says. 

When Javed first met Kapur, he felt that talking about Kashmir might not sell. But Kapur encouraged him to speak about his family’s experiences. “I wanted him to rap in Kashmiri and create something for his people first, rather than think about what others might think,” said Kapur.

Javed, who is only 25, believes music and politics are inextricably linked. “If you know people follow you, you can change their minds, educate them, or make them aware. This becomes a responsibility. If someone loves hip-hop, they’ll respond to your message because they love the medium,” he says.

Ahmer Javed, rapper from Srinagar, sings about life in a conflict zone | Picture by Swaraj Sriwastav

He turned down offers from other music labels and opted for Azadi Records. The two are in sync. “Money is not what I started this journey for. Money will fade away. But I know when I listen to my music when I’m old, I won’t regret it. It’s satisfying to make the music I do.”

Sharan Jayan, 28, is from Calicut in Kerala. His debut album, Triangles, combines classical music with hip-hop and multifarious sounds. The classical influence comes from his family. With Azadi Records he has been able to connect with other singers and music producers. “Creative freedom is everything for an artiste,” he says.

Creating legends

At Azadi Records, Kapur spends months with his musicians to produce an album. It takes time to create music that sounds fresh. Sometimes it means spending time with the musician’s family and understanding where they come from so that the music can truly reflect their story.

Kapur and Joshi’s own sensibilities about the role of musicians define the way they run their venture. “We’re looking for artistes who want to create a legacy through their work rather than those who just want three minutes of fame. We want them to create something that will stand the test of time. Having 20 million views on a music video is one thing, but are people listening to that song after a year?” asks Kapur.

“Fifty years from now, if someone looks back at this era, they will wonder, ‘What were the arts and culture saying? What idea of India did artistes have?’” says Kapur.

But they are careful not to impose any sameness in their range of music. “We don’t treat it like a formula. Each artiste has a different sound.”