Politics Rocks!

In another corner of the city are two rappers who go by the name F-Luux,and ‘voice’ their opinion through some expressive rap music. The first hip-hop crew in north India,DAV’s Puneet Tandon (P feaT) and medical student Deepanshu Goyal (Doc D) came out with their song,”Jo Desh Ke Khilaaf Hain” post 26/11. But before that,it was Bharat Anthem on Republic Day last year. “Most of the underground artists make songs about drugs,alcohol,guns and girls,but we talk the common man’s language,about real life,and its happenings,and hence songs on terrorism,patriotism and social messages,” tells Puneet,his F-Luux standing for uninterrupted stream of musical expression. While the two have their songs on http://www.f-luux.com,their song got 500 downloads in just four days on Orkut. “There is too much anger and resentment,and may be,we will see a day when there will be no violence and there will be no division on the basis of religions,status,caste,colour et al,because God is too big to fit in one religion,” raps Puneet,while Deepanshu chips in – “Our idea was to make a song to inspire people to vote,and work for the nation for casting a vote is not enough. We need to be participative in the democratic process.”

In Mumbai,musicians are being the change they want to see. Channel [V and Big Adda’s ‘Be The Change’ campaign was one. So what if the voter turnout in Mumbai was low,there are still more to go. In that spirit,the concert saw performances by Kailash Kher, Bappi Lahiri, Raghu Dixit and Anushka Manchanda and the three finalists of [V Launchpad — Faridkot,Cassini’s Division and Reverse Polarity. Shivanandan Pare,COO of Big Adda,says,“The idea behind the concert is to communicate to people that we need to be aware of what is happening around us. It’s more than just going out and voting – one has to be aware of the issues that affect us. It can be something as simple as refusing to use plastic bags.” It’s an effective medium of getting across to the youth,and “nothing works better than rock music,” says Lahiri while Kher adds,“It’s not enough to vote. You need to know the administrators in your constituency,and whom to approach.” For Raghu,preaching is not part of the game. “We’ve got together because when music can be used for therapy,for celebration,why not motivation,” Raghu used the platform to trigger a thought process. For him,this was a congregation,large numbers where the message can be dissipated faster. “And the fact that youth will any day listen to his idol,a musician more seriously than a cynical politician,” he points out.

“We are not a bunch of irritating,ignorant teenagers,we too have opinions and ideas,” thumps drummer Revant of rock group In Exile. The new world order,democracy,political changes,economic lowdown – the band indulges in some pretty rocking poetry,and with them,the latest to catch the poll fever is Mumbai-based rock band Pentagram,whose new album will offer heavy-dose commentary on politics. The new,yet-untitled album will be the fourth for band members Vishal Dadlani (vocals),Randolph Correia (lead guitars),Shiraz Bhattacharya (drums) and Papal (bass). “There are other themes like the global,urban and environment conditions but the album will not get antsy,” assures Randolph. We’re all ears for ‘Political Dance Party’.

(With inputs from Pooja Pillai and Suanshu Khurana)