Hiphop Tamizha

Hiphop Tamizha
Jeeva (left) and Adhi (right) at the audio launch of Aambala, 2014
Background information
Origin	Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	2005–present
Members	Adhi Jeeva
Website	Official website

Hiphop Tamizha (pronounced Tamiḻā) is an Indian musical duo consisting of Adhithya "Adhi" Ramachandran Venkatapathy and Jeeva R. based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Initially underground since their formation in 2005, the duo achieved wide recognition through the track "Club le Mabbu le"; a radio performance of the song received over two million views within a week of its release on YouTube in 2011. The international brand Remy Martin, after hearing the song and being impressed with their determination, eventually launched Hiphop Tamizha as an official brand. In 2012, Hiphop Tamizha released their debut album Hip Hop Tamizhan, which is India's first Tamil hip hop album; it was a major critical and commercial success. While the duo are primarily independent musicians, they have also contributed to numerous works outside independent music; they have performed and composed for films, and have also launched a clothing brand.

Early life

Adhi's full name is Adhithya Ramachandran Venkatapathy and he was born on 20 February, while Jeeva R. was born on 29 June 1991. Adhi's family roots are from Puliampatti Sathyamangalam in Coimbatore region. Adhi was born into a middle-class family with no knowledge in music or cinema; his father works at Bharathiar University while his mother comes from an agricultural background. Adhi came to know of rap music when his neighbour made him listen to Michael Jackson's "Jam". His interest in hip hop music started developing when he was in the tenth grade. He would upload rap songs to the internet and got positive response from people expressing interest in listening to more of his music; this encouraged him to start rapping in Tamil, also because he was more comfortable with it. His decision to rap in Tamil rather than English was to avoid looking like a "wannabe". Adhi named his account on the video-sharing site YouTube as "Hiphop Tamizha" with an image of the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, to avoid being caught by his parents. Adhi's father had initially opposed his idea of choosing music as his career; he wanted Adhi to pursue higher studies, but gave him a year to do what he wanted, with the only constraint being that Adhi should not expect any help from him. After realising that Adhi was "trying to do some good work", he encouraged him. Adhi then moved to Chennai to "try [his] luck".

Career

Origins

Adhi first met Jeeva via the social networking website Orkut in 2005; the latter adopted the moniker "Jeeva Beatz". Both were passionate about music, and decided that they should create an independent music scenario in India, in their native language Tamil. Around the mid 2000s, Adhi released Viswaroobam Arambam, considered the first Tamil hip hop mixtape. It also played a major role in promoting hip hop as a part of the Tamil culture. Adhi and Jeeva remained underground, until they were asked by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to compose an election anthem; Adhi never knew how they found the group. Hiphop Tamizha's single "Ezhuvoam Vaa" was chosen as the official anthem for Tamil Nadu's 2011 state elections, and Adhi performed it at Pachaiyappa's College when Anna Hazare came there. Though the song was unsuccessful, Adhi and Jeeva considered it at one point their "best work so far". Although Hiphop Tamizha is a duo, Jeeva has seldom made public appearances; Adhi told IndiaGlitz that this is due to his shyness, and compared him to the unseen lion in the emblem of India, which includes four lions, but shows only three. Other independent artists have also collaborated with them, including beatboxer Bharadwaj Balaji (also known as Triple B) and B-boy Bravo. The official logo of Hiphop Tamizha is a graffiti of Bharati.

The song "Club le Mabbule" was composed by Adhi when he was in his first year of college. On how it developed, he recalled, " I grew up watching my mother and aunts just being traditional, and when I saw girls going to bars, I immediately wrote the lyrics of that track. And through my lyrics I am raising the debate over whether we are really changing as a society or are simply aping the West." When Adhi was living in Chennai in a 10 x 10 room, he met Ma Ka Pa Anand, then an RJ at Radio Mirchi. Anand allowed Adhi to perform "Club le Mabbule" on his radio show, with Bharadwaj Balaji also performing. The recording became viral, crossing over two million views within a week of its release on YouTube. Afterwards Remy Martin, an international brand, was surprised by his determination and after listening to the song they launched "Hiphop Tamizha" as an official brand. According to The Hindu and Hiphop Tamizha's verified Facebook page, Adhi founded Hiphop Tamizha on 15 February 2010.

Independent music

Hiphop Tamizha are credited to be the pioneers of Tamil hip hop. In December 2010, they performed live at "One Chennai, One Music", an event organised by Radio One to promote independent music in Chennai. In November 2011, Adhi and Bharadwaj Balaji performed at Astra, the two-day inter-school cultural festival of Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram, Kilpauk.

Hiphop Tamizha's debut album Hip Hop Tamizhan was released on 17 August 2012 at Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai. Publicised as "India's first Tamil hip hop album", the album was launched by Purple Note and produced by Remy Martin, who was for the first time associated with an Indian album. The music for all the songs was composed by Adhi and Jeeva while the songs were written by Adhi. The album was lauded by critics, with Naren Weiss, writing for Zomba, calling it "nothing short of a masterpiece," and Venkatrangan R of Musicperk calling it "A must listen. Not only for the music but for the messages hidden in it." The album, which included "Club le Mabbule", was also a commercial success, becoming the best-selling music album of 2012 on Flipkart. However, Adhi lamented the fact that "Club le Mabbule" was accepted for airplay by radio channels only after its viral success, and that some of his other songs never got airplay even once. In September 2012, Hiphop Tamizha performed at Dr G R Damodaran College of Science's Brand Expo 2012, Loyola College's Ovations, Kilpauk Medical College's Pradharshini, and Alagappa College of Technology's Sampradha.

The India Book of Records later recognised Hiphop Tamizha as the "first artiste to release a Tamil hip hop album from India". On 14 February 2013, Adhi received the award for "Internet sensation of the year" from BIG FM 92.7. In the same month, he performed live at Madras Christian College's cultural event Deepwoods. He also won the "Independent Artist of the Year" award at Anna University's annual event Techofes. On 4 May 2013, Hiphop Tamizha performed live at Madras Music Academy in a concert organised by SS International. They also performed with American rapper Emcee Call on All I Wanna Say, an album that features several samples of Michael Jackson's songs.

In November 2013, Adhi had signed an international album with Remy Martin, titled International Tamizhan, which will feature eight tracks, including two songs by American artists Sol and Emcee Call. The album will be released in English, Hindi and Tamil, and was initially scheduled for release on 15 August 2014; however, Hiphop Tamizha instead released the album's song "Vaadi Pulla Vaadi" as a single on the same date, and as of October 2014, the album, according to Adhi is still "under progress". In the same month, he performed for the second time at Madras Music Academy, this time as part of SS International's nine-day concert Navotsavam. In December 2014, he announced that he will launch "Madrasi Mafia", a music label that will manage independent music artists; as of 2015, it has been launched. As of February 2015, Adhi and Jeeva were collaborating with independent Tamil singer Kaushik Krish on his forthcoming single, but his debut song eventually became "Kannala Kannala", composed by Hiphop Tamizha for the film Thani Oruvan (2015). In July 2015, Adhi performed at Isai Sangamam, a musical event organised by the NGO Raindropss. In January 2016, he performed live at a concert named Nenje Ezhu that raised funds for victims of the 2015 South Indian floods.

Cinema

Though Adhi initially expressed no interest in singing or composing for films, he and Jeeva have contributed to numerous works concerning cinema; Adhi sang his first film song, titled "Thapellam Thappe Illai" composed by Vijay Antony for Naan (2012). He also sang the title track of Ethir Neechal (2013) composed by Anirudh Ravichander and accompanied by Punjabi rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh. Adhi wrote "Sudden Delight", composed by Santhosh Narayanan and performed by Rob Mass for Soodhu Kavvum (2013). In May 2013, Adhi again collaborated with Anirudh to perform the song "Chennai City Gangsta" along with Hard Kaur for Vanakkam Chennai. In July 2013, Hiphop Tamizha composed "Na Na Na (Nice v/s Naughty)", a song used for promoting The Smurfs 2 in India. The song, which also features nine contestants from the singing reality show Indian Idol Junior, was the first song Hiphop Tamizha composed for a film, although it did not appear on the soundtrack album. Adhi's third collaboration with Anirudh was for Kaththi (2014) where he performed the song "Pakkam Vanthu".

Hiphop Tamizha's first Tamil film as music composers was Aambala (2015), where they wrote all the six songs and performed three: "Pazhagikalaam", "Aye Aye Aye" and a remix of "Inbam Pongum Vennila", from Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959). They also composed for Indru Netru Naalai, where they wrote two songs and performed one: "iPhone 6 Nee Yendral". Adhi wrote and co-performed "Naam Vaazhndhidum", composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for Vai Raja Vai (2015). Hiphop Tamizha also composed for Thani Oruvan, where they performed two songs: "Theemai Dhaan Vellum" and the title track. Thani Oruvan topped Apple Music's Best of 2015 list in the category "Best Tamil Album of the year". In February 2015, Adhi was named "The Rising Star of 2014 Male" at the Edison Awards. He also performed at the 9th Vijay Awards in April 2015. Hiphop Tamizha composed for Aranmanai 2, Kathakali, and are currently working on Thamizhan Endru Sol.

Other works

In August 2013, Adhi told Behindwoods that he would be acting as the lead in a film based on Hiphop Tamizha, which did not materialise; in October 2014 he told Kungumam that despite receiving many offers, he has no interest in acting as a cinematic hero. In November 2013, Hiphop Tamizha launched "Tamizhanda Clothing", a collaboration between them and a firm named Difference of Opinion. Hiphop Tamizha composed and wrote "Poda", a song celebrating the 10th anniversary of the television channel Sun Music. In July 2015, Adhi conducted a seminar on brand management, titled "Face to Face: Hiphop Tamizhan" at Dr G R Damodaran College of Science, Coimbatore. Adhi also made appearances in the Zee Tamizh talk show Simply Kushboo, and the Sun TV reality show Sun Singer.

Musical style

Adhi told Sudhish Kamath that he was inspired by the works of Michael Jackson and Jay-Z. In July 2013, he said that he draws inspiration from Tamil poetry, mostly those by Subramania Bharati. In 2014, he said that Hiphop Tamizha's aim is to rebuke the belief among contemporary youngsters that conversing in Tamil is "not cool", and that the project was started to enable them to "relate to the concept of being a proud Tamizhan, to give them an identity." Although the songs "Manithan Tamizhan" and "Tamizhanda" glorify the culture and language of Tamil Nadu while simultaneously lamenting their negligence in present day, Adhi has stated that through Hiphop Tamizha and their songs, he does not want to preach that Tamil people should speak their native language or sing praises for it, but to give it a little respect in the way they do with English. He has also said that he wants to change the Indian urban culture of hip-hop being about wearing "baggy pants, ‘bling’ and big shirts" and eliminate the notion that rap music is about "the money, the women and the gangster-ism." Though Adhi has no formal education in music, he claims to compose purely on instinct. While Adhi is the sole lyricist of his songs, both he and Jeeva produce the background music. Hiphop Tamizha experiment with various elements of Indian music and fuse them with hip hop, creating a "fresh sound" of Tamil hip hop in the process.

Hiphop Tamizha's songs cover a wide range of issues across various fields; "Club le Mabbu le" covers certain ills of Tamil women, which include frequently visiting clubs, pubs, drinking, smoking, consuming cannabis and having live-in relationships. "Sentamizh Penne", the exact opposite of "Club le Mabbu le", talks about a culturally rich girl, a traditional girl who Adhi respects. "Tamizh Theriyum" ridicules those who mock the Tamil language or act like they do not speak it. "Vaadi Pulla Vaadi" focuses on the conflicts of caste and love, and was inspired by the personal experiences of Adhi's friends. According to him, "Iraiva" talks about how love is not the end of life: "Two people might really be in love, but because of things like caste, they might not be able to be together. This, we feel, is because of lack of education and awareness". The song "Karpom Karpippom" is dedicated to education, describing it as the main tool required to solve social problems. "Cheap Popularity" is Adhi's response to those who criticised him for allegedly seeking popularity through "Club le Mabbu le".

Controversies

"Club le Mabbu le" became the subject of immense criticism due to its portrayal and depiction of Tamil women. Rapper Sofia Ashraf claimed that the song was not only disrespectful to women, but also an insult to rap music. In an interview with The Hindu, Adhi was quoted saying, "Hip hop is about self expression and opinions so such controversies are only natural. The song was intended as a fun number and most people like it because the lyrics are witty. We also sings [sic] about social causes like education and individual identity". In late August 2012, Adhi was reported to be "apologetic to whoever may be offended by the track." In December 2015, Janani Karthik of The Times of India named it as one of several Tamil songs "that have taken crass to an all-low level".

Personal life

Adhi studied at Chavara Vidya Bhavan, and electrical engineering at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology. He holds a state-level rank in Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test and is a graduate in Master of Business Administration from the Department of Management Studies, University of Madras. As of October 2014, he was studying a Ph.D course at Bharathiar University, which he completed in June 2015. Jeeva, an engineering drop-out, is also an alumnus of Loyola College, Chennai.

Discography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Albums

Year	Title	Notes
2012	Hip Hop Tamizhan	Studio album
2015	Aambala	Soundtrack album
	Indru Netru Naalai
	Thani Oruvan
2016	Aranmanai 2
	Kathakali
	Thamizhan Endru Sol †
TBA	International Tamizhan †	Studio album

As a singer

Year	Song	Film	Composer	Ref.
2012	"Thapellam Thappe Illai"	Naan	Vijay Antony
2013	"Ethir Neechal"	Ethir Neechal	Anirudh Ravichander
	"Chennai City Gangsta"	Vanakkam Chennai
2014	"Pakkam Vanthu"	Kaththi
2015	"Pazhagikalaam"	Aambala	Hiphop Tamizha
	"Aye Aye Aye"
	"Inbam Pongum Vennila (Remix)"
	"Naam Vaazhndhidum"	Vai Raja Vai	Yuvan Shankar Raja
	"iPhone 6 Nee Yendral"	Indru Netru Naalai	Hiphop Tamizha
	"Theemai Dhaan Vellum"	Thani Oruvan
	"Thani Oruvan"
2016	"Azhage"	Kathakali
	"Erangi Vandhu"
	"Party with the Pei"	Aranmanai 2
	"Poraada Poraada"
	"Amma (Amman Song)"

Music video appearances

Year	Song	Album/film	Composer	Ref.
2010	"Excuse Me Kathali"	Non-album singles	Hiphop Tamizha
2011	"Ezhuvoam Vaa"
2012	"Club le Mabbu le"	Hip Hop Tamizhan
2013	"Manithan Tamizhan"
	"Iraiva"
	"Nice Vs Naughty (Na Na Na)"	Non-album single
	"Chennai City Gangsta"	Vanakkam Chennai	Anirudh Ravichander
2014	"Vaadi Pulla Vaadi"	International Tamizhan	Hiphop Tamizha
2015	"Inbam Pongum Vennila" (Remix)	Aambala
	"Theemai Dhaan Vellum	Thani Oruvan

Further reading

• Hip Hop Tamizha adhi talks about his success - Cinema Vikatan
• ஹாலிவுட்டில் பாடிய தமிழ் இளைஞர் - The Hindu

External links

• Official website