JOIN US‘Pandemic slowed me down, couldn’t stop me’
Rapper Aditya Guglani, better known as QOINI, was slowly making his way into the mainstream in 2019 when the pandemic nearly halted his growth. Now he’s back and more determined than ever to break open the scene. He talks to Metrolife about his name, music and future plans.
What drew you to music?
I was an introverted kid who was always fascinated by creating things. I used to sketch as a kid, I was decent at it. I then tried to write my comic book when I was just 10. I had my hands full with anything and everything until I discovered music. It was like love at first sight. I saw many artistes who created their personas, who had stories to tell and this had an impact on me. I still remember when I first heard Eminem when I was 13 years old, it all changed for me after that.
How would you describe your sound?
For me sound is something that is not constant as every song has an emotion and I can’t limit it by sticking to one sound. But lyrically, most of my songs are about introspection and hustling through life with a chin-up attitude. I love writing lyrics that can be interpreted in multiple different ways, so it takes on a personal meaning for each listener.
Why the name Qoini?
There was a phase of my life, wherein I isolated myself from others. The more self aware I became, the more I realised that to something of yourself you have to shed all notions of self. You have to start from being nothing, that realisation gave me that sense of freedom to pursue anything and build something from nothing.
I wanted to encapsulate that emotion into my artistry, so “no one” translated in hindi is “koi nahi”, and I thought a cooler way to write it is “QOINI”.
You were gaining traction before the pandemic, how did Covid affect you?
Yes, actually I built an artiste network community “BUSQBOX” where we try to provide support to independent artistes. Before covid we had our first gig and we had stand up, hip hop, bollywood and dancing acts in our roster. We had all our events lined up for 2020 but everything got cancelled.
Apart from that, all the music projects that I was working on, got shelved. So saying that it was a frustrating period would be an understatement. I couldn’t step out to a studio for recordings as my parents are touching 70 and I didnt want to put them at risk, so I waited and waited.
You created a home studio. What was that like?
When I realised that waiting for the pandemic to be over was a lost cause, I started studying about soundproofing and acoustics. After all my research I put my somewhat street-smart brain to use and I created my own vocal booth out of a laundry basket. It might sound crazy but I recorded close to 10 demos and 1 track ‘Ghissey Jootey’ with that laundry basket. The pandemic slowed me down for sure, but it couldn’t stop me.
What’s next for you?
Well I couldn’t release most of my material which was done in 2019 and I have some fresh material that I wrote and recorded in 2020. So a lot of music will be coming in a very short span of time. The next track is Nas inspired boom-trap song ‘Ye Dilli Hai’, the song is dedicated to my hometown of Delhi.
After that I have an EP, which is a big milestone for me. I am experimenting with concepts and sounds. So 2021 is going to be exciting.