Weaving rhymes with fluid narratives
‘OJ Da Tamil Rapper’ began his schooling life as Anoj, playing beats on his classroom desk at the tender age of 11, later he formed a crew and dropped the ‘an’ from his name. As far as OJ is concerned, grass roots Sri Lankan rap originated from St Thomas Bandarawela.
He remembers fondly the huge rap culture in his school. “Many seniors loved to rap and beat box, challenging each other during breaks and lunch periods,” OJ said. He can remember memorising the lyrics to rap albums like Dr Dre’s ‘The Chronic’ and having rap battles with seniors. Every year there was a talent show that was mainly dominated by rap acts, in all three languages. He formed a crew with three friends called ‘Hip Lez Hop’
He grew up listening and emulating American west coast rappers such as Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Tech N9ne. By the age of 15 he started to write his own lyrics with the help of his crew ‘Hip Lez Hop’. Jonathan ‘AKA Nasty’ could play various instruments and also composed songs while the other two members Dominic and Araviee provided vocals and rhymes. They felt compelled to comment on their own lives and surroundings. Much like their idols that they were listening too.They chose to rap in Tamil not only because it was their mother tongue but also because it gave them endless possibilities with word combinations and definitions. OJ started off writing about life in boarding school, facing life on his own. Now he raps about topics from war,
hunger, humanity and the nature around him in Nuwara Eliya.
“Kadavulandruulagathaipadaithaan Manithanaipirakevumseithaan, Manithaninanniyayemthangaellamel yen padaithenendrukavalaaiutraan-” the following lyrics from one of his works describe God creating the earth then regretting creating humans for the troubles they caused.
After a brief stint working in Colombo and trying to concentrate on his music on the evenings and weekends, OJ decided to comeback to Nuwara Eliya, to take over his father’s seven-acre farm. With no facilities to record music or other musicians to help in the up country area, OJ almost gave up his music career. Yet with the help of a dedicated friend, Iiham Hossen who pushed him to record his tracks, OJ made several trips to Colombo to make mix tapes. “I would practice my lyrics for hours and hours, when it came to recording the track I would only need to pay for an hour of studio time, I did this to save on costs,” said OJ.
At present he is recording tracks and working on material for an album. He recently collaborated with a Hindi music star Mann Thenaja, which shall be released by Sony Music India. If you have the chance to look him up on Facebook or Sound Cloud you will be able to hear some distinctively fluid sounds. With particular significance is a track called ‘Break Free’. The chorus used is in English with thigh rhymes. “I hope to get a chance to break free and make it as a musician. I use literature-speaking Tamil in my raps. I stray away from the slang and profanity.” OJ said.
