For an introvert living in a hostel, who is being ragged and hardly has any friends, life is tough. For Santosh Gupta, in such hard times, American rapper Eminem came to the rescue. Lose Yourself and Not Afraid became anthems that this youngster lived by. The rhythm and poetry soothed him while the lyrics proved to be relatable. "It was my getaway," recalls Santosh. And it was at that point that his journey as a rapper started. Before he knew it, Santosh AKA Genesis started writing rap songs.
Santosh was part of the band Acoustica while pursuing BTech in Metallurgical Engineering from Indira Gandhi Institute Of Technology (IGIT), Sarang. The first time he stepped on to the stage was in 2015, when he was performing a rap version of retro Bollywood songs and the audience absolutely loved it. Today, he performs more often and much more confidently. "Looking back at my performance, I feel that now, I have learnt to judge the crowd and have improved lyrically and composition-wise as well," explains the 23-year-old who has been in the scene for four years. He currently works at TCS in Bhubaneswar, a job he is grateful for, and writes rap after work.
Talking about his songs, the young rapper says that he likes to keep things real. "Rap is a reflection of you. Those who rap about cars and money have probably experienced that life, so they can rap about it authentically. I cannot do that as I am struggling, so that is what I rap about," explains the Bhubaneswar-born. What about rapping in Odia, we ask. "If I don't rap in Odia, I won't be able to connect with people, do Hindi or English also suffices, but not all the time. There are many things that youngsters are going through — heartbreak, family problems, unemployment, social pressure and so on. If I convey their struggles in their language and make them feel that they are not alone, then that would be great," he shares.
Hence, he started his YouTube channel. And though he has dropped three songs in six months, he intends to be more consistent, starting with releasing a song by the end of the month. "It's going to be a motivational song, about how I was back in the day and what I have been through," he shares. Looking ahead for now, we wonder what his future looks like to him? "The ultimate goal is to make a living out of rapping, but I don't want to become super rich or a sell-out. I want to be known as a lyricist," he confesses.
When you play his songs
I Begin
"Whenever you are about to start something new, your brain says ‘Don't do this’. My first song is about dealing with self-doubt," explains the rapper. This song has about 1,100 views on YouTube
Killshot Remix
He also remixed his idol Eminem's song, Killshot. He rapped in Hindi, English and Odia for it. It has about 4,300 views
Hustle Jaari
He collaborated with his college friend and fellow rapper X-Cape for it. It has more than 3,800 views and was uploaded last month
For more on him, check out facebook.com/genesis.rapper.7
