If the Kashmiri hip-hop duo SOS – Straight Outta Srinagar consisting of Syed Arsalan aka AATANKKI and Tufail Nazir, has not entered inside the perimeter of your hip-hop radar then it’s only a matter of time earlier than they viscerally get in your face. As has been the case with their newest launch Blackball produced by 30KEY!, the duo has prolonged what appears to be a long-standing rivalry with ex-Azadi Records labelmates Seedhe Maut by firing photographs via their cutthroat lyricism and trap-addled manufacturing.
The two rappers’ journey discovered its roots in Srinagar, impressed by fellow Kashmiri artist Ahmer’s work and world hip-hop icons corresponding to Biggie Smalls and 50 Cent. In a area marred by the complexities of violence, political turbulence and dispute, the 2 discovered respite in music. They took the duty upon themselves to create the Koshur Nizam Collective (alongside Ahmer), a step in direction of cementing the legacy and unfold of underground Kashmiri music.
What has caught the quick consideration of North Indian hip hop followers of late, nevertheless, is their sophisticated historical past with Seedhe Maut, the juggernaut Delhi-based duo, and Azadi Records, the label each artists have been signed beneath. Prior public interviews have revealed deeper info from the members of Straight Outta Srinagar with claims that Seedhe Maut has allegedly copied bigger album ideas from the Kashimiri duo, and the way the label has beforehand been untrue in delivering the guarantees made to the artists.
Rolling Stone India has reached out to Seedhe Maut’s administration for remark.
In the music video for the observe “Blackball,” we’re proven the 2 rappers Syed Arsalan and Tufail Nazir firing these direct photographs and incendiary claims in opposition to the Delhi-duo in opposition to the backdrop of lush, sprawling Srinagar fields. With the looming thematic components of strife and injustice that has plagued the area being a stakeholder in and of itself in this newly blossomed beef, Straight Outta Srinagar doesn’t maintain again or mince any phrases when coming for the princes of Desi Hip Hop.
“Paanch saal se tere hi sheher mai // Mere mai ek din dikha de jee ke”
SOS additional continues the lyrical assault by together with references to comic Samay Raina, who has beforehand made an look in the Seedhe Maut music video “11K” and has publicly proven his assist for the rappers. The inclusion of the myriad of intricate, deep-cut references to the interpersonal relationships of the opposing rappers’, verses mocking their flows, and the alleged lack of originality are all architected by SOS to create an attention-worthy warning shot to the Delhi rappers. The Blackball producer 30Key! additional samples the refrain of the tune “Bumbro Bumbro” from the 2000 Hrithik Roshan-starring movie Mission Kashmir, an applicable nod to the meta-commentary that this diss observe is aiming to deliver to gentle.
The observe has not discovered its option to streaming platforms as of but and is restricted to a music video launch on the Straight Outta Srinagar Youtube channel. While this isn’t the primary or final beef that Desi Hip Hop has witnessed, it’s proving to be one which is deeply rooted in longstanding rivalry and complicated lore and can, hopefully, deliver to gentle considerations that stretch past the constraints of a recording sales space.
