Royal Stag Boombox previewed in Mumbai recently and it will bring together Bollywood tunes and hip-hop beats, with the lineup featuring the likes of Badshah, Armaan Malik, Amit Trivedi, SlowCheeta, Nikhita Gandhi, Bali, EPR, Neeti Mohan, Jasleen Royal, DJ Suketu and Dino James. While the ‘in-studio format’ will see musical tracks being put together, the property will also tour Pune, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Manipal and Jalandhar. The Telegraph caught up with some of the artistes to know more.
What are your thoughts on the concept of Royal Stag Boombox, merging two genres of music? How are you approaching it?
Bali: I actually approach this with my own style. I wanted to create something unique and I wanted to put my sarcastic approach with it, so I think it came out well, like a commercial, but I feel everybody will be able to relate to it.
EPR: I’m approaching it as music. First, I don’t like to divide music. But then again, I would like to bring in different elements. I mean, what I did was within one I wanted to try out or do poetry. I wanted to try out electronic music into rap music, and then fuse it with Indian classical elements as well. So I think when you’re a musician, you want to bring in all your experiences and put them into your music so that people can relate to it.
Armaan Malik: Royal Stag Boombox is a very unique IP. I feel like the whole concept is getting Bollywood and hip-hop together. These are two genres that people wouldn’t think would fit together. But Royal Stag Boombox has made that happen. And there are a lot of eclectic genres that are going to be mixed in this IP. A lot of exciting artistes and performers are going to come together to make very interesting and unique music. And while you know, there’s a studio aspect to the IP, there’s also a live, on-the-ground aspect to the IP as well, which I’m very excited to be part of. And I can’t wait to bring my mindset to the Royal Stag Boombox and have a fun time.
Badshah: World-famous Bollywood music, put together on the same stage, and in the same pot with hip-hop music, is amazing, which is something that I wanted to see for a very long time and it’s actually happening in front of my eyes. I think the amalgamation of Bollywood music and hip-hop music is something that Royal Stag Boombox is taking pretty seriously and I love it.
Amit Trivedi: It feels amazing. I had a blast while creating it and so far, just me and SlowCheeta jammed on it. I can’t wait for Ranveer Singh to jump on the bandwagon and all three of us will have a blast at a party. The basic format of this particular thing is that I won’t call it Bollywood, I don’t like that term. It’s contemporary Hindi film music meets hip-hop. These two worlds are coming together, where hip-hop is all about rap and poetry, and Hindi film music is all about melodies. So rap poetry and melody, all come together creating something interesting.
Dino James: It’s a very interesting format to begin with; it’s always very good to actually have two genres together and hip-hop especially with melody and especially two artistes coming together and having a platform like this to emphasise that and put it across on such a huge scale is actually quite a big opportunity for the artiste and is a very good chance for the audience to get to listen to a beautiful new genre.
SlowCheeta: I think Royal Stag Boombox as an IP is incredible because if you see the kind of people who are collaborating and coming together for the opportunity for these two worlds to meet, which almost seems like they should be together, Bollywood and hiphop are so hand in hand... this IP is priceless. Like for me, for example, I go to record with Amit Trivedi in a studio and write with him and collaborate with him. If you make music so honestly, so genuinely and make two passionate worlds meet, it’s got to be good.
What are your favourite top three Bollywood tracks of all time?
Bali: First is Haye garmi, Kar gayi chull (my favourite!) and third is my song which is going to be released.
EPR: I love all the songs of Dev.D .
Armaan Malik: Top tracks on my playlist? Apna bana le by Arijit Singh and Sachin-Jigar my own song, Sun maahi.
Badshah: Dil hai ke manta nahin, Chehra kya dekhte ho and Tere dar par sanam .
Amit Trivedi: I am right now shuffling, very random and the latest chill. There is a playlist called Chillin’ on Spotify which is folk. I am just enjoying random artistes.
Dino James: I always say that I am a mixture of Eminem and Rahman so it has to be Rahman all the way. Although I love Bollywood throughout, from Altaf Raja to Arijit Singh. I like Kun faya kun a lot, Urvasi a lot and I like Luka chuppi .
SlowCheeta: I can tell you my recent favourites. I think Kabhi kabhie mere dil mein is my alltime favourite.... It has to be an Amit Trivedi song but I was just thinking about which one should I pick from Dev.D, Udaan, Shaandaar, and so many others.
(L-R) Dino James, Amit Trivedi, Badshah and SlowCheeta
Who are your favourite Hindi film music directors of all-time?
Bali: A.R. Rahman.
EPR: Amit Trivedi.
Armaan Malik: My favourite Hindi music directors of all time would be Salim– Sulaiman, Pritam Chakraborty and A.R Rahman.
Badshah: Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, A.R. Rahman, Amit Trivedi and Pritam Chakrabortyda .
Dino James: A.R. Rahman to me all the way but I was a big fan of Anu Malik as well, even Vishal-Shekhar and ShankarEhsaan-Loy are really good.
SlowCheeta: I’ve been a massive fan of Amit Trivedi because if someone comes from a foreign country to me, I want them to listen to Bollywood songs. I always play Dev.D. And, that album is 13 years old and it’s still relevant. You hear Duniya , Aankh micholi, they are all still relevant and amazing. And my current favourite Bollywood song is Ghode pe sawar.
Who are some of the promising names in the Indian hip-hop scene right now?
Bali: I think the whole hip-hop scene is growing so much that every artiste is growing with it and after MTV Hustle there are a lot of artistes who are shining in the hip-hop industry. So I think King is a very good example. He has shattered every record there.... Second is Ikka Singh. He’s been doing it for the past 10 to 15 years and he’s everywhere.
EPR: I think from different sectors, a lot of people are doing well. Karma has always been one of my favourites. He’s from Dehradun. Then Ahmer from Kashmir is doing really well and from Hyderabad, Mo Boucher, is doing really well.
Armaan Malik: For me Divine and Badshah, these two are really cool. And they’re doing very different kinds of music. There’s also a young rapper called Yashraj, who I’m a huge fan of and he’s a little brother to me. I love his music and I feel like he’s going to be a big name in the future.
Dino James: I like Badshah and Mika because we have done songs together but everybody is doing a great job in their own way.
SlowCheeta: It would be unfair to do a section because I think the Indian hip-hop scene and Pakistani hip-hop scene are just outstanding right now and some of the music that’s coming out is incredible. But the people who I really listen to a lot and look forward to their music, it has to be the king of Bombay, Divine, and he is just running the scene right now. It is very inspirational to watch his career. Seedhe Maut’s music is incredible and outstanding these days. But Dino, EPR, Bali, Yashraj and Raga, just the whole hip-hop scene, it’s a community that enjoys each other’s music. All the Gully Gang boys MC Altaf, D’Evil making such good music.
If you could remix one Hindi song with hip-hop, what would it be and why?
Bali: Any Govinda movie song. I love his songs so much like Akhiyon se goli maare or even basic tracks.
EPR: There’s this old song called Kadam kadam badhayeja. So, I wanted to make it into a very motivational, inspirational track. I wanted to mix it with hip-hop music. That’s something that I’m working on.
Armaan Malik: I think you know how Divine made Baazigar. I think that was a very cool amalgamation of Hindi-Bollywood music with hip-hop.I think there’s this one song from Veer-Zaara called Jaanam dekh lo. I think that would be a cool sample to use for a hip-hop song. And if anyone uses this please give me the credit. I gave you the idea.
Badshah: Kuchi kuchi rakkamma.
Dino James: I wanted to do a song called Ik tu hi bharosa because it was actually in my head. I wanted to sample that and I thought about it almost five years back when I started hip-hop because one of my friends, played that song, she remixed that song and when I heard it, I thought I could do something on it.
SlowCheeta: Taal. The theme song of Taal is my brother’s idea, but I just feel like the drum pattern and the waves produced seem like it has to have a rap verse on it.
BOLLYWOOD AND HIP-HOP HAVE HAD A RELATIONSHIP FOR A BIT. WHAT KIND OF A COUPLE WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT AS?
Bali: Bittersweet, a couple that didn’t work in the beginning, but in the future, they come together.
EPR: I think, right now, Bollywood and hip-hop are kind of in a popular phase. So previously, it would have a rap portion in a song, but right now, you have full-fledged rap songs in Bollywood. So it’s pretty much growing now.
Armaan Malik: I think the couple that’s never compatible, but still love each other in some way or the other.
Badshah: Mr. And Mrs. Smith.
Dino James: It’s actually a couple where marriages work very well, where one individual is very calm and the other one is very aggressive, so I want say that hip-hop is a very aggressive partner and Bollywood is a calm and composed one. That’s the reason that whenever you listen to hip-hop plus melody, Bollywood song, it always stays for a longer time.
SlowCheeta: I would say it’s the honeymoon phase. You know, it’s almost like a chase where everything’s flowery and amazing. And everything seems like nothing can go wrong. I think it’s in that relationship status now because I feel like the sentiment in the country, or the world around is very hip-hop centric. People want to talk like if you see the ’60s jazz is so famous and why soft rock was so famous in 2000 because that was the mood of the general population. I think the youth right now is very hip-hop centric. They have a lot of resentment or rebellion. So hip-hop is the best way to let that out. And there is no bigger platform in India than Bollywood, so that marriage is just meant to be.