A few days after Eid al-Adha one of Bengaluru underground hip-hop’s most promising emcees emerged into the spotlight. Mohammed Affan, known by his rap moniker Nex, gave us a view of ‘Eid ka Chaand’ – Bangalore’s first rap track in Dakhni.
For a dialect that traces its origins to the 14th century and the courts of the Deccan Sultanate, the story of Dakhni has been in the dark for generations. But on ‘Eid ka Chaand’ Bengaluru rapper Nex boldly turns the spotlight towards a tongue that’s rarely been explored in Indian hip-hop history.
As the story’s protagonist ‘Bangalore ka Potta’ (Bangalore’s Boy) he makes his way through the Garden City bumping on a fresh beat from Manas Sharma, as Karim Poocha’s lens follows. The independent filmmaker was at the fore earlier this year with his short film Free World Order – the story of a graffiti artist, and hones his eye for the alternative further on ‘Eid ka Chaand.’ The track and visuals capture Nex’s journey over a day through Bengaluru’s lesser-known sights and sounds as a mellow female voice lingers as a hook.
Making his way through the urban concrete jungle, in dark nights and moody evenings the emcee is spotted sneaking in escapades and exploits with his Bengaluru boys. Poocha’s gritty visuals, Sharma’s production chops and Nex’s incisive rhymes on ‘Eid ka Chaand’ team up as an ode to the city street, its overlooked alleys and perspectives.
‘Eid ka Chaand’ gives us a glimpse of a language that’s been kept quiet (Dakhni) and its stories that thrive in our cities, yet are kept away from its bright lights. The track is a clearing of the skies of our ignorance, as the moon eventually shines in full bloom on a culture and its creators.
Nex is a member of Bengaluru’s collaborative hip-hop community Wanandaf and ‘Eid ka Chaand’ is the first single from his expected album Bangalore ka Potta.
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