Beyonce was spot on when she sang in a 2008 release Diva is a female version of a hustla. Similarly, five divas from Bengal have come together to release their debut single, East Side Queens, and have also established themselves as the East Side Queens.
Ratchet, sass and drama sum up the song and video that was recently released. MC Disha, KDiva, Sukanya, Rialan and SAKURO don’t shy away from what they represent. The main objective of the all-women hip-hop collective is to “inspire more women to pick up the microphone”. And what better way to put out such a message than with their debut song? The music video also features many local dancers, b-boys and b-girls as well as city-based rapper Cizzy, who was behind the production of the song. Here’s what Sukanya Majumder of the collective has to say.
How did you and your team curate the song?
I curated this song when Rialan approached me about a song around collective consciousness and we wanted to make it from Bengal. This was very sudden as I am not a rapper but eventually we ended up with two singers and three rappers to bring out this sassy-flavour from Bengal.
How were you approached?
We all met online and vibed to the beat that Cizzy gave us. We met for the first time on the first day of recording at a studio. The five of us stay quite far from one another... Jalpaiguri, Ranaghat, Howrah, Dum Dum and Behala. So there weren’t frequent meets but the Internet blessed us.
What were your different roles in the song?
We all flexed about our own thoughts and ideas. We all had our different verses in the song which was a mix of rapping and singing. Cizzy was the one who produced the song. Some of our friends, b-boys and b-girls were also a part of it. Devraj Sanyal of Universal Music India had approved our song for Found Out records.
Where does the message stem from?
As a collective, we want to make a space for women rappers and singers in the hip-hop industry and avoid the chances of exploitation. This, unfortunately, is the usual scene.
Will the East Side Queens Collective have something more to offer?
Yes. We have a lot of things planned for our listeners and well-wishers. We are working on that right now.