“I'm not a singer, I'm a rapper. In many ways, rapping is more difficult than conventional singing,” says Kaur, who has sung in Kismet Konnection, Haal-e-Dil and Bachna Ae Haseeno. While she debuted with a single called Glassy over a year ago, her fresh voice made listeners sit up when Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy roped her in for the hip-hop song Move your body in Johnny Gaddar. “The SEL trio was willing to take a risk and the journey has been really good so far. People are now beginning to understand rapping,” she says.
She released her first album Supawoman last October and her second one, still untitled, will hit the stores by the end of this year. “My second album has some interesting collaborations with artists I have always wanted to work with. It’s India’s way forward in a genre that’s considered to be either for blacks or whites. The browns are here with some old school hip-hop,” she smiles.
Her new album has the American hip-hop band D-12, which has been signed on by Eminem’s Shady Aftermath label, singing on her track Desi dance, as well as producing it. “Their management had seen my songs and videos on the Internet and we had been talking for a while,” says Kaur about the track that was recorded in Detroit and New York.
Kaur is unsure what role, if any, Eminem might play in her new, untitled album. “It's his label, but we'll decide when I meet him on my next trip,” informs Kaur, who also has Mika featuring in one of the songs.
While the rapper is working with other music directors like Bappa Lahiri, Sajid Wajid and SEL, she has also taken to composing. “I’m composing for a film called Chai Garam,” she confirms. Her rapping has been getting rave reviews, but is hip-hop the future? “The youth is all for hip-hop. It’s not a passing phase. Hip-hop will always survive,” she signs off.
