28 April,2023 08:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
Prabh Deep as Thappad-man. Pic Courtesy/Tanish Singh; (right) The comic-inspired artwork of his latest single
Childhood can be a fertile ground for creative minds. For rapper-singer Prabh Deep, that was not always the case. The neighbourhood of Delhi's Tilak Nagar was very different from the urban locales of Mumbai, he tells us. Yet, his latest song, Thappad, harks back to childhood dreams of cartoons and comics through its visuals and lyrical concept.
Prabh Deep says he did not grow up around comic books, "But this song was born of high energy. It was a burst of action." So, when the creative team were working on the visual concepts, the singer suggested going with a superhero comic feel. "It also takes off from the visual of the comic slap, which pops up in a bubble on the page," he shares. The moment is often punctuation for the character on the panel. The result, in Prabh Deep's case, was the arrival of the angry superhero, Thappad man in his first independent single in six years.
In its lyrics, the song also references the anger of another superhero - The Hulk. "I was not trying to write a superhero song, but it was a natural expression for my personality through the beats. There were times in the past when I was that angry," explains Prabh Deep, adding that his favourite superhero is Thor.
While working on the concept, the artiste admits there was a risk of coming off as cliché. "With a comic book visual, sometimes you can come off looking cringe. The key was to build a storyline around the song to draw listeners in."
While comic books were not a big part of his childhood, cartoons played a key role in his growing up years. "I was drawn to the more vivid world of animation," the rapper says. He is not alone in that. Drake, J Cole and Kanye are well-known anime fans, as well as the singer's latest collaborator, Raftaar. "I grew up watching Thomas the Tank Engine, Oswald and classics like Tom and Jerry, to be honest," he says.
How do these visual influences play into a rapper's imagination, we wonder. Prabh Deep recalls, "I remember listening to the title track for Swat Kats in Hindi back in the early 2000s. The track had the opening riff of an electric guitar. That was the first time I had heard such a rhythm in a cartoon. Then you heard its fast-paced lyrics. They really hit hard and stayed with me." Perhaps, subconsciously so, the Swat Kats' thematic colours of red, blue and black pop up in the video as well.
Recalling experimental cartoons such as Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ed, Edd n Eddy in the 2000s, he says, "We were on a trip back then. Incidentally, I watched a few cartoons this week, and thought it was odd that we watched these as kids," he says. "But then, as a creative person, you have to be interested in stuff that is more vivid - something out of the ordinary," he jokes.
After the superhero binge, the rapper is onto newer things. "Sounds," he specifies adding, "I am now trying to figure out how to create a new sound. Once the rain starts, I will lock myself in the studio and see how it goes. I don't mind the work as long as
it is something new, and I get to have fun while making it," the singer concludes.
Log on to Thappad on spotify.com
