KOCHI: For all purposes, 24-year-old Joselin Sebastian grew up in a more or less regular Christian household in the city. But listening to him speak and his overall demeanour suggest how much rapping has influenced his life. His swagger and clipped speech - interspersed with rap - makes him appear exactly like the Nigerian rappers he grew up listening to since childhood.It was this passion that got him to form a group of rap singers, who gave a 15 minute stage performance in the city at a music show, where the Mullaperiyar issue was the theme. Their songs were liked, and Joselin and his friends felt encouraged to make a You Tube video of it called ‘Dam Revolution’. Though the youngsters had to shoot on a meagre budget of `. 30,000, the result seems to be impressive. Ever since the video got uploaded, it has been getting about 1000 hits every day. Joseline’s dream is to make it big nationally and internationally as a rapper. The youngster calls himself ‘ Lonely Doggie’. His simple explanation is that he loves ‘loneliness’ and ‘dogs’ “One's creativity is fuelled most in moments of loneliness,” he says.Joselin says he didn’t know what rap was for a long time, although he loved listening to it. “I was completely bowled over when I heard ‘Petta Rap’ from ‘Kadalan’. Also, there used to be a lot of English music in my house. Though a policeman, my father liked songs and he used to play it loudly,” says this resident of Kakkanad. “I was also brought up in a strict way, and ended up staying a lot in the confines of the house. I didn’t go out to play that much, neither did I have friends. That is how my love for music grew,” he recounts.Then Joselin went on to do his engineering. Meanwhile, his interest in rap was growing and he started educating himself about the history of the genre through stories.So what is rap? “It gained popularity in Africa, where two groups would battle it out on the streets using words. Rap stands for rhyme and rhythm. It involves ingenuity and word-power. I could sit here and rap about anything, a bottle, a chair, or a person.”“A good rapper should be a good lyricist, If the lyrics are poor, the rapping will also be bad,” he says.Joselin soon discovered there were hardly any hip hop rappers in Kerala. That is when he established contact with others in Bangalore and Chennai. He met rapper Bigg Nikk, who advised Joselin to start writing lyrics.“When I was doing my B.Tech, I got together with my co-rapper Meldren (Mel) and we started a band, which we called Rappa Hoeliks. This was three years ago. We performed at college festivals. We also had a few others who joined us. Then one day we were at Marine Drive, and just like that we started rapping. It is called ‘street rapping.' Soon, we were surrounded by people who wanted to listen to our music. That is when we decided to perform the next week as well, and invited our friends and acquaintances to join in.” The group started doing some individual shows. Considering that rapping is in English, and Keralites are not exactly familiar with the genre, did he encounter difficulties in reaching out? Joselin agrees it hasn’t been easy. “We dropped what is ‘core’ rapping and inserted melody into it. That appeals more in Kerala,” he says.Joselin’s dream now is to represent India as an ace rapper and then make it big on the world stage. Clearly, rapping is all that is on this talented youngster’s mind.
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