We are all familiar with lyrical, and really fast, rap songs by now - thanks to Bollywood. They brought it into the mainstream with the blockbuster movie Gully Boy in 2019.
This is a whole lot faster. Like light light years faster.
However, this 23-year-old rapper from Mumbai's Powai has recently been recognised as the country's fastest rapper by the India Book of Records for creating a record of maximum words sung in a rap song in one minute — 335 words. Known for his speed-based rapping style called chopper rap, Rahul Khadtare aka KIDSHOT has also been in the spotlight this month for his debut EP BhotKuch.
KIDSHOT’s debut EP focuses on his journey and how he’s turned out to be a successful rapper through dedication and hard work, eventually to be signed to his idol, Nas’ label — Mass Appeal India. Talking about his latest release, the musician says, "I had been working on this for quite some time now, I wanted the quality to be top-notch — a mix of old school hip-hop, lyrical rap with a lot of punchlines. The songs in my debut EP try to convey the conflict of emotions we as people go through during the difficult times in our lives. Chopper rap hasn't been done in India before this, it's a revolution, the EP is a true example of my skills. I am confident that all the tracks will definitely resonate with the masses and the hip hop community. I hope it will motivate everyone to stay positive under any circumstances, dream big and never back down."
Rahul aka KIDSHOT began rapping since he was 13 years old. The technique he uses called chopper rap or chopper flow is a hip-hop music style that can be traced back to the Midwestern United States. Rahul tells us that it features fast-paced rhyming or rapping, following the beat of how a chopper or a helicopter sounds. Musicians and artists who rap in this specific style are commonly called choppers, and their style is often referred to as chopping. "When I was 13, I used to listen to a lot of rap, especially Nas and Lil Wayne. I researched about them and other rappers in the West like Eminem, their journey and got inspired. Following this, I began writing my own lyrics in Hindi. Around the years 2013 and 2014, I began taking it seriously and decided to take it up full-time," adds Rahul.
The musician was seen in the movie Gully Boy, he has been featured in GQ and has previously collaborated with artists such as Raftaar, Kr$na, Encore ABJ, and many more. He has also contributed two tracks for the Netflix series Gabru: Hip Hop Revolution and also wrote a few of the show’s dialogues. One of his singles, released in July, called Haadse garnered more than a million views for being vocal about several issues like casteism, discrimination prevalent even in our 21st-century society.
Speaking about the effects of COVID-19 on the music industry, Rahul adds, "The industry has come to a halt, it is definitely not working smoothly enough as it does in normal times. However, we are capable of creating music in a room and thus the workflow hasn't stopped for me really. I wish to keep creating and writing more songs. I want to release a full album in the near future, so I am working on that too."
