Resplendent in Sambalpuri costume, rapping in Sambalpuri while talking about all things, you guessed it, Sambalpuri. That's what we liked about Sambalpur Zilla, the latest track by Jyoti Ranjan Mohanty AKA JRM Bawa and it would be safe to assume that the over three lakh viewers who watched the video since it was uploaded on August 31, liked it for the same reasons.
"Sambalpur Zilla is all about us, our scene here in Sambalpur," says the 22-year-old. The song also features rapper Lala, and together, they belt out lyric after lyric about tourists spots and how the people of Sambalpur are like. The song was shot in Sambalpur and is as stylish as they come. "My mother is my stylist and designer. Whatever she thinks will look good on me, I wear it without asking questions," shares the rapper and for this video too, his mother meticulously picked out the T-shirts and kurta he has donned in the video.
On an aside, we already have our eye on the mint green knee-length kurta he flaunts midway through the song!
It was back in 2015 when Jyoti Ranjan was introduced to rapping and he started Desi Squad with rapper AJ, but it took him a long time to start rapping in Odia and Sambalpuri. "I just felt the need to rap in my local language. The people here might not take to the songs as easily, but they need to," says the BCom graduate from Gangadhar Meher University Sambalpur. For him, rap is modern poetry and that's how he expresses himself — he takes pride in calling himself a west zone rapper. "Whenever my heart aches to say something, I express it through my songs," he says and adds that he is passionate about penning lyrics.
Currently, he is looking to bag the job of a clerk in a college, the same one which his father held, and once he is financially more secure, he is hoping to focus on hip-hop even more. "It's only because of the support of the public, blessings of elders and a dash of my own hard work that I have been able to come this far," he says emotionally. He hopes to go much further with his art.
Some of his songs you should hear:
Kancha Sath
Lockdown Knocked Us Down
For more on him, check out instagram.com/west_zone_rapper
