Hip Hop 2011 and the Big Dogs
By Ch Nabeel Ahmed
There’s no doubt that only thing that dominated 2011 in Pakistani music scene other than Coke Studio was Pakistani Hip Hop. The slow pace of other genres and consistent discontent from formula hip tracks created a vacuum which was filled by the much needed Hip Hop/Rap videos that came one after the other. The major boost came in May when ‘Conflict Management’ by Rap Engineers, ‘Off the Handle’ by Adil Omar featuring Xzibit and ‘Too Much Pride’ by Lazarus dropped in the same week back to back. Not only the videos went viral on timelines but also took over the TV channels, where ‘Conflict Management’ still stands in Top 5 music videos of AAG and ARY Musik.
The storm didn’t stop there when Osama Com Laude dropped his ‘The Balance’ with Talal Qureshi and Fortitude bringing the Pushto Rap ‘Time Pass’ to the front that officially made its mark with Project BX’s Dewaar in 2010. Other significant names that kept the game running with their releases were Dj Danny, Bali Shah, Atomic Chain, Fahad Qureshi and Billy X.
Hip Hop has been underrated in this region and never been taken seriously before but today it holds fan pages with huge strengths and dedicated fans and people actually looking forward to Rap concerts. Adil Omar making international waves with his album ‘The Mushroom Cloud Effect’ coming up and Rap Engineers holding the game tight within sub continent with the highest desi following and consistent Live shows that they have been doing for past 6 years. With A.O catering the international and elite Pakistani audience, R.E offering a blend of Punjabi (Xpolymer Dar), English rap (Maddy Khan) and classical (Yaruq) music for the desis around the globe.
2011 was wrapped up by ‘Paki Rambo’ by Adil Omar and ‘Batain’ by Rap Engineers, unquestionably two of the most catchiest Hip Hop tracks from 2011. Hip Hop/Rap in Pakistan has made its repute and its mark with these names remaining honest to their music and originality. With ‘The Mushroom Cloud Effect’ on its way, ‘Green Machines’ by Rap Engineers in the making, OCL working on his videos and other Hip Hop producers like TQ, Dj Danny and Webster, engineering some of the hottest beats in their labs, 2012 is supposed to be a colossal year for this Genre.
On an even better note, we all anticipate the first cypher from Pakistan coming soon, which features Osama Com Laude, Xpolymer Dar (Rap Engineers), Adil Omar and Bali Shah (Rapsteradoz).
The question that remains is, ‘will this genre also going to decay with time in Pakistani music scene and lose its originality like many others or will these promising Hip hop acts provide a firm platform for the coming rappers to shine on?’ And ‘Will all those rappers who have been battling on Rap forums since 2003, ever make it to the front with actual quality music and challenge the big dogs?’
