Rapper Santy Sharma has stepped into the Badshah controversy, explaining that rap “dissing” and lyrical rivalries are long-standing parts of hip-hop culture. He also urged people to understand the creative process of rap.
Image Source: Instagram
The internet never sleeps especially when rappers start talking about rap culture. This week, Indian rapper Santy Sharma jumped straight into middle of heated online debate by throwing his support behind fellow artist Badshah.
What started as a controversy around lyrics and a music video has now turned into bigger conversation about hip-hop culture in India, artistic freedom in addition to how easily people judge artists without knowing full story.
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Santy Sharma recently took to Instagram to explain why he believes the criticism surrounding Badshah’s lyrics and music video may be out of proportion. According to Sharma, many listeners misunderstand how hip-hop actually works.
He reminded fans that “dissing”, the act of referencing or calling out other rappers in lyrics, has always been core element of hip-hop culture. Artists often mention rivals directly or indirectly as part of lyrical competition. In the world of rap, this kind of back-and-forth is not unusual. In fact it is often seen as sign of creativity and confidence.
Sharma suggested that people in India sometimes react strongly to lines in rap songs because they are unfamiliar with this long-standing tradition within the genre.
Another point Sharma raised surprised many fans. He explained that the song and the music video are often produced separately.
According to him, rappers typically record their songs first. Later, the track may be handed over to a different creative team that develops the visual concept for the music video. Because of this process, even a big artist like Badshah might not always know exactly how the final video will look before it releases.
In other words, the rapper and the video’s storyline may not always come from the same creative mind.
Sharma also spoke about what he sees as a bigger challenge for hip-hop artists in India: lack of awareness about rap culture.
He pointed out that many listeners are unfamiliar with the history, traditions, creative style of the genre. This can lead to misunderstandings whenever lyric or reference sparks controversy online.
However, Sharma also made it clear that artists are not above criticism. If a line or lyric genuinely hurts sentiments, he believes it is completely fair to revise or change it.
What he objects to is the quick judgement that often happens before people understand the entire creative process behind a song.
In his Instagram post, Sharma argued that criticising artists without knowing the full story only shows how little people understand the art form in the country.
This isn’t the first time Santy Sharma has stirred conversation on social media.
Recently, he publicly disagreed with actress and online influencer Khushi Mukherjee over her bold and ‘provocative’ posts online. Sharma argued that such content could have negative influence on younger audiences who follow celebrities closely.
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