Badshah on his type of music: I'm like a journalist, sing about the things that I see

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Love him or hate him but you cannot ignore rapper Badshah. The man is undoubtedly the numero uno in Bollywood music with almost all his songs topping the charts. While he is loved across generation for his foot tapping numbers and quirky lyrics, there is a section that scoffs off at his rap terming it derogatory, offensive and sexist. But the man seems unfazed by the criticism that comes his way.

“Any artist who is famous has gone through such scrutiny,” says Badshah as we sit down for a chat. But doesn’t he feel that some of the things he raps about are sexist and offensive? “You see, I am a journalist like you, I say/sing about things that I see or observe. I am sort of a reflection ( of the things that exist). I like to call myself a folk artist. ‘Saturday, Saturday’  was not my lyrics, neither was ‘Chul’. ‘Tareefa’ is a universal song for husbands whose wives need validation and approval all the time. I am what people have made me do, quite honestly,” says the man who has sung songs like 'DJ wale Babu', 'Wakhra Swag', 'Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai' to name a few. 

The man who can be credited for introducing several of the contemporary music composers and singers to Bollywood has now turned producer for a show called ‘Lockdown’ which is currently streaming on Zee Network’s digital platform, ZEE5. The show will have one established playback singer collaborating with a Youtube star and recreating a popular Hindi film song in each of the episodes. The song and the music video has to be created within 24 hours.  Shot in some of the most exotic locations in India it features Badshah - Jonita Gandhi Kailash Kher - Raja Kumari Harrdy Sandhu - Neha Bhasin Raftaar - Thaikkudam Bridge Monali Thakur - Mickey Singh Benny Dayal - Bryden & Parth Shirley Setia - Sachin & Jigar amongst others.

Was Badshah looking into projects to produce or did he decide to take up production after hearing the concept of the show? “ I have produced a Punjabi film in the past so production is not completely new to me. We were looking into various ideas to produce and ZEE5 came to us with this and the concept seemed interesting. Usually, we have shows where two people recreate the song in a studio. But we decided to tweak the idea a bit- instead of a studio we decided to take them to a new place, give them 24 hours and let them create something new.  And what came out was rather interesting as the two artists belong to different spectrum. “

Why not create a new song altogether? “To create a new song, it takes time. Recreating is possible in the limited time we had,” Badshah reason and added, “A lot is at stake when you ask two artists to work together on something new. It may or may not work, it may jeopardise their credibility. Besides, remixes and recreating of old songs are currently working a lot these days.”

Bollywood, in the past year or two, has been picking up popular numbers from 90s films are recreating them. Most of them are chart-toppers and Badshah himself has recreated a few including 'Humma Humma' in 'Ok Janu'. A lot of music fans argue that the concept may be hit at the moment but fail to create a lasting impression. Is Badshah aware of the criticism that such songs bring? “ Your favourite colour can be blue but I may not like it. I may hate it. So it is okay. Everyone can't be pleased, " the singer says. 

Badshah has been part of reality shows on TV but 'Lockdown' will be his first show on digital space. Does he feel the reach becomes limited, considering its on a subscription-based app? "Of course, it limits the reach. I won't say it was disheartening but maybe the satisfaction level was little less that it was not reaching as many people as it could on TV. But it's a Zee product and they have been quite supportive. I hope that ZEE5's reach increases with the popularity of this show and more people subscribe and watch it. Eventually what matters is the kind of people you work with and they have been great," says the producer. Badshah though feels that digital is the future. "I feel there is no boundary anymore between mainstream and digital. And digital doesn't really overpower other mediums. All can co-exist. Only good talent overpowers not so good talent." 

Among the new crop of artists, Badshah likes the works of musicians like Bryden & Parth, Mickey Sing, Aastha Gill (Badshah has already collaborated with the singer on the track 'Buzz') and Aksh Bagla. "I like Jonita Gandhi's work also. Of course, she now an established name in playback scene," adds Badshah.

Does he plan to produce more music based shows? "Let's see. I have produced another Punjabi film that's going to be out soon," says the singer before signing off.