Music unplugged!

“The idea is to expose Chandigarh to all sorts of musical genres,and we’ll soon be getting East India Company,Parikrama etc,” Hari hands over the mike to Mc Sid – Siddharth Sood,a Channel V veejay turned music producer turned Mc – “turned freestyle desi rapper,” he takes over.

All rapped up!
“For starters,I worked with Channel V for a year,and quit. They are bad paymasters,” he laughs. To make a mark in the world of media,Sid decided to pursue an MBA,which he did from Symbiosis,Pune,and is interestingly totally tuned into the world of stocks and shares. But his main area of expertise lies in rap. “I’m not your regular rapper. I’m a freestyle rapper who raps extempore,” says Sid,who realized that to survive in the field of media,more than an MBA,freelancing and doing your own thing will help. And so began his independent music venture where he rapped and has done lot of overseas work for adman Prahlad Kakar. But for now it’s rap,and for the uninitiated,he informs,Rap stands for ‘Rhythm And Poetry’,and I play around with this variable art form of poetry. Sid,people,raps spontaneously,without preparation,without script,or lyrics. “And this is what makes my act unique,” says the guy who believes in instant gratification and most importantly,being a proud Indian. “Unfortunately,most of the Indian rappers have this gora fanatcism,and are seldom proud of their language and culture. C’mon,how many of us understand Eminem! I,on the other hand,rap in a language and tone people can relate to and understand,” so it’s a mix of Hindi,Punjabi,English,and if he’s traveling down south or abroad,popular words and phrases are roped in.

He’s toured 35 cities,worked with Channel V Freshers,opened for Mobb Deep and Akon,club hops,and interestingly,performs at many NRI weddings too! “Big ticket weddings like the ones in Madrid,Bangkok,Hongkong et al,” he winks.

“The thing is that I employ Punjabi break beats in my compositions which makes my act indigenized and desi,and I make an effort to Bollywoodise it,you know,relate it to actors,scenes so that people enjoy it. Also,I don’t have an American accent in my vocals,and this allows the listener (predominantly Indian) to easily decipher the lyrics which increases the appreciation of the talent,” adds the chatterbox who is now working on Bollywood feature film projects. “All I need is a hit song!” in the meanwhile,catch him live at Swagat’s S Lounge,Sector 26,this Sunday night at 9:30pm. And don’t forget to log on to http://www.mcsid.in for more!

The Country Girl
Another one to catch this Sunday night at Purple Rice is Jasleen. A MA French student,music is passion for her,a creative outlet which keeps her spirit up and about. “It’s a stressbuster,and I’m right now pursuing it part-time,” thanks to her long time friend Sukhmani of Hari & Sukhmani,Jasleen will be performing at Purple Rice,Sector 35 every Sunday and Wednesday night,starting tomorrow. “It’s going to be me,my guitar and soft melodies,” the girl’s all set to give us an unplugged version of country numbers and slow rock. “Once it starts,I’ll slowly try and rope in Hindi and Sufi numbers too,” she carries on. Don’t miss,book your table now!