Music
A duo from Chennai is out with one of modern Indian hip-hop’s most compelling releases.
Since its very beginning, hip-hop music has been innately political – used as a powerful tool to deliver a strong narrative to societies most in need of hearing them.
Therukural by ofRo and Arivu gives us that and more in the first Tamil hip-hop album in over a decade. Rohith Abraham aka ofRo is a music producer, composer and sound designer from Chennai, and Arivurasu Kalainesan aka Arivu is one of the region’s most sought after lyric writers. Together, they craft songs about society, politics and the youth of India.
Therukural began as a community project founded by Abraham, Kalainesan and Mumbai producer Tejas Nair aka Spryk, to create social gatherings in public parks for undiscovered artists, many of whom came from small villages in Tamil Nadu and its neighbouring states. Over six editions of music and lyric sharing, Therukural morphed into a more formal platform for creative collaboration and ideation.
Fuelled by this burgeoning scene, ofRo and Arivu decided to create an album out of Therukural. “We decided to write a song about each topic that we felt lacked representation,” says ofRo. “Therukural is the first and only political Tamil hip-hop album. In the society we live in, there are countless stories of marginalised communities that never get the media attention they deserve. It was of utmost importance to create representation for communities through an artist like Arivu who shares a similar story,” he adds.
With the use of repetitive lyrics and immensely catchy beats, Therukural’s intent is laser-focused. “We chose to focus on lyrics over the beats. It was important to use the language of hip-hop to convey the message of this album”, says Abraham. “I would sit by Arivu’s side as we hashed through every line. While Arivu wore the writer’s hat, as the producer, I had to make sure that the words were simple, the story was coherent, and the flow was engaging. Tamil hip-hop is characterised by fast delivery and breathless flows; this alienates older listeners. So, I had this theory that if we were to write it in a certain way, I could get my grandmother to understand hip-hop. And it worked. The simplicity of the writing and the simple arrangements are the most compelling parts of Therukural.”
Therukural opens with ‘Kalla Mouni’, a scathing criticism of those who pretend to champion social movements and protests mindlessly, only to capitalise on the trend of being aware but remaining largely ignorant of their causes. ‘Anti Indian’ on the other hand, is a direct protest against class and caste-based oppression. “I didn’t even use a bassline for ‘Anti Indian’,” ofRo admits. “Because it was such a riotous song and this raw beat seemed like it was just enough to turn up.”
‘Snowlin’ is a lament about the tragedies involving J. Snowlin who lost her life in the anti-Sterlite Copper factory protests 2019 and Asifa Bano, who fell prey to communal tensions in Kashmir. ofRo chooses the use of church organs and Oppari-style vocals, drawn from a form of Tamil folk music sung at funerals, to channel these emotions of anguish. They celebrate womanhood in ‘thamizhachi.’, using strummed guitar to evoke a vibe more in line with Tamil pop than hip-hop.
‘Middle Class’ and ‘Ok Sir’ feature notable collaborations with Malaysian rapper Roshan Jamrock from the K-Town Clan collective and Tenma, the founder of The Castless Collective respectively. With ‘Middle Class’, the album breaks away from old school hip-hop production to make way for new-age trap beats and mumble rap, and ‘Ok Sir’ forms an ode to the journey of an artist in relation to the working culture and opportunities in Tamil Nadu.
In recent times, ofRo has also co-founded Madras Media, a music festival aimed at promoting indie artists by showcasing regional performers and vernacular acts. “Madras Media was started to create an interest in indie regional music, to encourage equality and inclusivity in the arts,” he says proudly. “It’s our vision to create an ecosystem for these artists to hone their skills and showcase them.”