Gift rapped' for namma Luru!

All through his career, 26-year-old Karthik Sundar Gubbi has blended his version of Kannada rap with genres across the board, collaborating with a myriad of artistes. One thing however, has remained constant – his love for his mother tongue Kannada and his dedication to save it from disappearing in an ever cosmopolitan city. His latest release called Naadamaya, set to the tune of Dr. Rajkumar’s iconic song Naadamaya and packed with Kannada proverbs, is no different and a must watch as Karnataka unfurls its red and yellow flag, bracing itself to celebrate its 60th Rajyotsava day.

“I began seeing a lot of unnecessary hate on social media directed towards people from other regions and countries, especially on the topic of the language being spoken. Bengaluru is hands down one of the most welcoming cities in India and I didn’t want that to go away because of what was being said,” says Gubbi about what got him to address the issue through what he does best - music.

The video that took a month to create has been crowdfunded with over 70 people from across the world pitching in Rs 1.26 lakhs, trusting the rapper’s work. And he doesn’t disappoint!

Quintessential Bengaluru elements like the nice auto drivers, servers carrying plates of crispy dosas at your favourite darshini and that uncle who prides on wearing his Mysuru peta (turban) also make an appearance. “Rap is considered a “cool” thing. Moreover, it is honest and straightforward. I am hoping to inspire the youth to speak their mother tongue, a beautiful language, through this medium,” he explains about the tribute to Dr. Rajkumar, adding that he was and will always be a legend to all Kannadigas, thanks to his love of the language and region.

Gubbi who has earlier dropped several videos, including collaborations with Lagori’s Tejas Shankar, Rinosh George, German musician Budget and has released a song through AR Rahman, Shekar Kapoor and Samir Bangara’s artist focused network, makes sure that the song isn’t preachy either. “In fact, the video ends with a question. Instead of forcing non-native speakers to learn and speak Kannada, we the native Kannadigas should speak it as much as possible because it’s our mother tongue. But do you think its right to enforce it on non-native speakers?” he says, intending on leaving room for people to think.