Baba Sehgal: If you follow other rappers, you won't go far

Having lent his skill to an animated series, Baba Sehgal discusses the importance of being innovative when rapping

Unlike popular notion, there are enough and more distinctions within rap music, says Baba Sehgal. Having performed with new-age 'gully' boys Naezy and Divine, Sehgal credits them for being individualistic with their methods. But the bandwagon that's followed, he says, will find it tough to make a mark if they merely mimic them.

"Like [today's rap artistes] I've also faced [tough times]. I belonged to a middle-class family and wanted to travel to Delhi to make a [career]. So, every generation [toils]. I've survived for three decades in the industry, not because I followed a trend, but because I created one. If you rap like others do, you won't go too far.

[Artistes will] talk about being poor, [lament] over what [people] did to [them], then [throw in] some abuses, and then what? You have to evolve. The gully boys rapping now need to get out of their mould," says Sehgal, who recently rapped for the animation series, Inspector Chingam.

Belting out 52 tracks for the score, Sehgal credits his tendency to deliver songs at a quick pace ("a song per hour") for sailing through the project. "A lot of places needed a South Indian accent. That was exciting because, not many know that I have sung playback for 40 Telugu songs. I also worked on the original soundtrack of the [2010 Tamil film] Singham."

Also Read: Baba Sehgal: People are more into copying or recreating the old songs in Bollywood

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