HYDERABAD: “Haq ki awaz, main hoon Hyderabadi atishbazi
Kabhi na dekhi hogi alfazon ki golabari
Watan se nafarmani, farzi tera rashtrawaad
Beimani pardafash, kalam ye inquilabi”
Rife with anti-establishment angst, the new single by Hyderabad’s Urdu hip-hop band Thugs Unit registers the political shift the country has seen over the past couple of years. It is one of the 12 tracks that the band is releasing in an album called Resurrection 040 on November 20 on Apple Music. The inclusion of ‘040’ in the title, which is Hyderabad’s STD code, is a tribute to the city that’s an integral part of their music. Apart from observations on society and politics, the band has also explored spirituality through the songs. Their second track Roobaroo, which talks about the inner turmoils of discovering oneself, has been produced by Buckwild, a Grammy-nominated American hip-hopper.
The beginning
Back in 2006, Syed Irshad aka Irish Boi was organizing hip-hop parties in the handful of clubs in Hyderabad. He called his group Thugs Unit. Popular hangouts like Bottles and Chimneys, Afterlife, and The Sixth Element were witnessing the sprouting of a home-grown Urdu hip-hop movement, which had the intricacies of the city woven into it.
“I got interested in the genre because of my African friends. My parents were okay with my musical career as long as I pursued it as a hobby,” says Irshad. He met Mudassir Ahmed aka Mo Boucher through a common friend and performed with him at one of the parties. From the rousing applause they received, they knew that they should work together.
They went on to release several mixtapes and singles till 2014. “We were one of the pioneering hip-hop groups in India. We made a mark with our signature multi-lingual lyrics which switches between English, Urdu, and Jamaican Patois. We use our music as a medium to raise our voices against all oppression. After the release of the movie Gully Boy, Indians started relating to the film’s tracks as the only form of hip-hop music. But we want to show that this genre goes much beyond that,” says Mudassir.
A detour
Around 2014, Mudassir started grappling with an identity crisis. Despite making music, he found that he could not fill the void he felt within him. This was the beginning of a spiritual journey, during which he learned Sufi practices and meditation from a master. He studied different religions and paths, which gave him clarity about what he sought from life. In the meantime, Irshad joined an MNC and got married. He now works as a procurement analyst in a company.
Resurrection
After a hiatus of six years, the duo is back with an album that reflects their personal journeys. They also seek to portray a Hyderabad free from stereotypes. “Any song about the city invariably talks about sherwani, biryani, or Irani chai. We want to introduce the listeners to other aspects of the city,” adds Mudassir.
