There are a lot of points that Rapper MaaHaa's Quarantine Freeverse makes and all of them are relevant — how doctors who are treating COVID-19 patients are being disrespected and how fake news is rampant. The rap ends with the line, 'Remember all gods want you to stay home and stay safe'. Clearly, here's one rapper who is trying to make the most of the lockdown while delivering a message for the good, which is what he always intends to do — put a good word out there. "I've always been inspired by the rappers of the 90s and have liked motivational content. My aim is to always give the song a purpose, a message and, at the same time, I don't like to be too serious," says Mahadeva Sastry AKA MaaHaa.
Who knew that the grandson of Carnatic singer Lalitha Kameswari, who once used to sing on All India Radio, would become a rapper? The Hyderabad-based rapper was trained in Carnatic music for two years and the mridangam for four years before he was introduced to English music and college bands. Then came rap and it seems to have never left. When he began to randomly record songs, he was spotted by Telugu media houses Tamada Media and then, iDream Media and worked with them too. It was while pursuing Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, that he was a part of a band, participated in fests, and even won a few and really got to polish those rapping skills. Currently, he works at iDream Media as their front-running artist and is running their independent music channel too.
We wonder how Carnatic music has contributed to his musical abilities and ask him about it. "It has definitely played a crucial role. It helps me identify good music and understand the power of fusion," says the 24-year-old who writes his own lyrics. This is when he tells us about Shashank Alamuru, who he has been collaborating with for over six years now. Shashank makes the beat and is great with instruments while MaaHaa's speciality are the lyrics, vocalisation and directing the video. Speaking of videos, check out his video Hyderabadi Power shot at... yes, you guessed it... the iconic Charminar and Golconda Fort.
The multilingual rapper, who raps in Hindi, Telugu and English, has got many movie offers from the Telugu film industry as well. So, what does the future look like for MaaHaa? "I want to be the best rapper out there and want my voice to reach everyone," he says passionately. Expect more of his videos from iDream Media, a reunion with his college band and many more quarantine musings from him.
MaaHaa and his inspirations:
Brodha V
Hailing from Bengaluru, this rapper inspires MaaHaa because he always has something meaningful to say. He particularly likes Brodha V's song Aathma Raama
Divine
MaaHaa has been tracking this Mumbai-based rapper's journey since 2007. He likes Divine's recent album Kohinoor and, apart from that, his song Teesri Manzil
For more on him, check out maahaamc.com
