September has marked two necessary milestones for artist Prabh Deep – he launched a power-packed mixtape referred to as DSP that proved to desi hip-hop he’s very a lot a rapper and in addition made his performing debut within the JioCinema series Khalbali Records.
In the latter, he performs an artist named Mauj, whose life and dying drives a strong-headed music producer (portrayed by Skand Sanjeev Thakur) to insurgent towards his father’s (starring Ram Kapoor) long-established report label enterprise. Khalbali Records is directed by Devanshu Singh and even consists of roles that includes Indian rappers like Epr Iyer, Yungsta, Agsy and Ahmer, amongst others.
For Prabh Deep, it was an opportunity to proceed his love for the digital camera, whether or not in entrance of it or behind it. “I think I’ve been manifesting it [acting] for a while and it finally came through,” he says. Prabh says the director Singh was impressed by his 2021 album Tabia whereas creating the sequence.
The soundtrack for Khalbali Records gave Prabh one other likelihood to work with singer-composer Amit Trivedi, after initially teaming up for the observe “Sherni” from 2018 film Manmarziyaan. For the brand new sequence soundtrack, Prabh leads songs like “Tham Ja” and “Majbur Mazdur,” plus sharing area with Agsy, DeeKing and Smoke on “Cypher I.” Prabh says, “I learned from him [Trivedi] and the full sessions were just the director [Singh], Amit and me bouncing off of each other’s energy and all of us creating and them giving me space to do what I do best.” Although Trivedi didn’t “interfere” in Prabh’s course of, the Punjabi artists admits he “probably did more [interference] than” Trivedi. “I kept going at it and telling him to let me put more work into it and write more,” Prabh provides.
Ask Prabh about performing and taking part in a personality like Mauj and he says the sequence – shot in 2022 – mirrors “very similar stuff” that occurred to the artist in actual life and what “I’m going through right.” He doesn’t get into particulars however agrees that the present’s premise of “label drama” has been a part of his life. He says, “I want artists to see this character Mauj and realize that when you pick wrong people around you, and you take decisions which are rushed, your career will be ended, or your life will be ended.” The present and his life, he says, maintain up a lightweight to the “fuck-ups that hamper your artistry.” This, he says, is the “main takeaway” for him and what he’d need aspiring artists to see in Khalbali Records.
In the curiosity of constructing it extra accessible to wider audiences, Khalbali Records isn’t too targeted on the “backend” of how labels run. “It will bore the audience, it bores me also,” Prabh says with fun. But he says the sequence walks a steadiness between “giving people drama and also making a non-artist audience aware of how much work it is to be an artist.” He provides, “It’s not just flashy all the time. A lot goes [on] behind the scenes, like brushing up your skills and creating music or whatever art you’re doing, it’s a lot of work.”
Overall, he says Khalbali Records offers viewers a glance into how “unpredictable” the music business is, particularly in making stars or shunting out others. “People who may have 9 to 5 jobs can look at this and see how artists really don’t have job security like they do. Sure, your company could close, but you can always look for a job elsewhere. But with artists, if your career is gone, it’s gone. It’s very hard to revive it. Very few people come back from the depths and I’m lucky to be one of them,” he provides.
After making his performing debut in Khalbali Records, Prabh is open to extra roles. He says he was drawn to this venture resulting from his reference to Singh and the script. “I feel like if I can do justice to the role, I’ll definitely do it. I’m not a full-time actor, I’m a musician first. So I won’t come in the way of somebody else’s job. If I see that somebody else can fit perfectly into a role, I’ll give it to them,” the artist says.
With DSP and Khalbali Records, it’s heartening to listen to Prabh say he’s “bouncing back” after a few “crazy years of up and down” and “figuring my shit out.” He says about DSP, “I just went into the studio with beast mode on. There are a lot of collaborators who came on board. It feels like the whole community is supporting me right now.” The nine-track album brings in everybody from Pakistani hip-hop veteran Faris Shafi and Punjab’s GD 47 to Bangkok-based American hip-hop artist Big Calo to Ahmedabad rapper Dhanji and extra.
There are plans to do three reveals in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to advertise DSP within the coming months. While Prabh’s coronary heart remains to be set on doing huge stadium reveals, this venture – his first mixtape, one which’s not pushed by any idea like his earlier albums – is all about “throwing parties.” He says, “I want to go perform for 60 minutes to 90 minutes, just like how I used to do it back in the days when I was just starting out and trying to get the audience engaged. I’m coming out as an MC after a while. It’s gonna be a kickass party.”
