Bengaluru: Kerala is what nurtured the rapper in Baby Jean aka Habish Rehman, who exploded on to the national scene with his hard-hitting Malayalam lyrics and a bass voice like no other, landing himself a deal with a coveted rap record label.
His hometown Malappuram, said Baby Jean, vibes with his songs at a different level. "They understand the slangs and the imagery that I use in my songs," he explained.
So, it is not really a surprise that he would be part of Kerala's new contemporary three-day music festival, which bills itself as India's biggest beach music festival. Alboe by the Beach is slated to be held at Thiruvananthapuram's go-to beach destination, Varkala from February 9-11.
However, the festival director and the brain behind it, filmmaker Vishnu Shyamaprasad said the festival is not about how big or small a musician is. Rather, it is about giving the music lovers a glimpse into the scope of music talent in India, he added.
The idea for the festival popped up in his head when he was working on a film that traced the hip-hop scene in India, he said.
"I was amazed by the talent pool here, particularly from south India. This was the starting point for Alboe, which by the way is an acronym for 'a little bit of everything'," said Shyamaprasad, a former adman who quit his job and moved from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram to explore long-format films.
A little bit of everything includes, for instance, the pop rock of the four boys – Shiyaz Mohammed (lyricist and keyboardist), Asvin Gopinath (lead singer and guitarist), Melvin Mendez (lead guitarist) and Mohammed Shinaz (drummer) – from a small town in picturesque Wayanad.
Inspired by Avial, Kerala's fusion band that rocked the nation in the 2000s, the four boys, straight out of school, decided to get together and make music, calling themselves Matadoria, in a nod to the iconic Matador van that they used to travel to live performances – mostly college fests – in and around Kerala. During the Covid-imposed break, the four taught themselves recording and post-production work, biding their time.
"Time is certainly going for us now. For one, our parents have stopped telling us to go find ourselves a proper job. And we play in more places outside Kerala. In fact, we recently went on a road trip to Himachal Pradesh, playing our music en route at many joints and festivals," said Gopinath.
Festivals like Alboe, which pitch them on par with famous singers from India, is what they need to get a wider recognition, said Mendez.
"We started with Malayalam lyrics because we were more comfortable with it. But now we will be releasing an album in Hindi, you know, for wider reach. Our sound has evolved a lot over the time, and we are experimenting a lot too. We are open to sing about pretty much everything but break-up songs," added Shiyaz.
Besides big names – like rapper Arivu of the breakout hit Enjoy Enjaami fame; The F-16s, Chennai’s all-time favourite alternate band; Brodha V, the rapper from Kanchipuram who in no time snatched himself a "one of the best rappers of India" tag; rapper Paal Dabba, known for his quirky music videos and unapologetically Tamil lyrics; Arunachali Taba Chake, whose 2019 album Bombay Dreams hit a sweet spot – Alboe also features fledglings of the music industry.
Like civil engineering student Daiaphi Lamare from Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills, who raps under the name Reble. Now based out of Bengaluru, Lamare said she chose to be a rapper – even though she is comfortable singing anything – because the genre gave the perfect outlet for the rebel in her.
"Music is a form of expression too. I come from a broken family and have all these angst inside me. Hip-hop is almost always about personal struggles. Listening to rappers like The Notorious B.I.G, Eminem or Tupac – these guys talked a lot about their struggles – I felt that I could relate to that. That is how I started rapping," added Lamare.
Lamare said she always knew she'd be a musician. "Right from when I was, say, four years old, I could hear music in everything, even in the keypad of the landline phones," added one of the few female rappers of India.
Being a student, hip-hop gigs and festivals are her main outlet, said Lamare. "But Alboe sounds different from the ones I have been to. It seems to support a lot of people from the south. There’s a very nice line-up of hip-hop artists from the south, for instance. It’ll certainly help me expand my fan base, Now, my music is known more among people from the North-east states," said Lamare.
Shyamaprasad is planning to make Alboe an annual event. "We wanted to have it last December in fact, but untimely rains spoiled that plan. The locals are very supportive and I feel Varkala is poised for a big change. Already, the surfing community is changing the vibe of this popular beach destination. The festival will now be another new terrain, people here think it’s a good thing," said the festival director, adding that he started planning for the event in June last year.
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