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How2Rap Interview - Member JanPreet Singh
"It amazes me to see how far hip hop has traveled across the globe. Until I first saw this video, I wouldn't have believed it if you told me ."
The one thing I love about being the author of The Official How To Rap Manual is I get the chance to meet so many people from across the globe who have the same drive and passion for hip hop as I do. As a lot of you know I keep up with all of our members as much as I possibly can. I enjoy talking and having conversations with everybody who I come across. I’ve learned some things as well as taught some during my journey.
I had the distinct pleasure of talking to one How2rap member in particular on what has recently been becoming a regular occasion through Facebook and emails. His name is JanPreet Singh (Facebook, Myspace) and he is a hip hop artist from India. Just those words “Hip Hop Artist From India” sort of amazes me. Hip Hop started in a small place (Bronx, NY) and to see how far it has gone and the different cultures it has touched still seems unbelievable to me.
For some of you who don’t know JanPreet recently helped me out and contributed some info to a article I wrote on Freestyle rap and it was so much better than mine that I ended up adding it to what I wrote. I admit I did stink that article up..(Shoulder Shrug) but Singh came through and saved the day.
I didn’t quite understand how important his insight was at that time but after he sent me a video of him rapping in what appeared to be a class room setting, it all made sense.. It was Singh and two of his peers. Sing was rapping and one was beating on the desk while the other was playing a guitar. So picture the scene, because I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me this. I’d have to see for my self.
Singh’s rapping in a yellowish shirt, his Turban on, his man playing the guitar sitting down with his Turban on, legs crossed.(Real Cool Like) and his other man beating on the desk. (The whole scene sort of reminded me of my old lunch room activities with my counter parts back in my hay day). But it was that, and something about Singh’s passion that drew me to the video. His hand gestures and performance really stood out and portrayed his passion for the art. Although I couldn’t quite understand at first because of the heavy accent, his rhyming words fell on point, and o yea…he is rapping in English.
You can see the video here. I think its amazing. Like I said, just to see how far Hip Hop has gone and where it has came from.
This interview was done after I had the chance to see the video JanPreet sent me of him and some of his folks rapping. JanPreet is a hip hop artist from Delhi, India and a member of How2rap.com
Q. In the video are you freestyling or?
A. freestyling on my pre written lyrics
Q. What Country and City do stay in?
A. New Delhi, capital of big, diverse and spicy India
Q. How long have you been rapping?
A. started as a dummy, it has been 4 and half years and I am still incomplete
Q. How is Hip Hop in your country?
A. according to the time line, Hip Hop visited India in 1990s via Globalisation of course, but the actual exposure was given by Bollywood or Indian Cinema, when it started fusing western songs with Indian music, not to miss the old hit "Singh is Kinng" :) ,collaborated by Snoop Dogg, Akshay Kumar and RDB(Rhythm Dhol Bass), and Bunty aur Bubli, Delhi 6 and many..Before movies, some underground British-Indian folk artists come with Bhangra plus Hip Hop mixes, like Sukshinder Singh Shinda, Jazzy B, Jay Sean, Juggy D to name some..but now the Indian Hip Hop scene is growing and much elated, now we have South Indian Rappers, Punjabi Rappers, Gujarati Rappers, Hindi Rappers to generalise, and they do good.. Thanks to a new age Punjabi rapper "Bohemia aka Roger David" who brought Desi Rap/Indian Rap here, now many raw artists are actually tasting this western music in there "local" flavor and leaving a refreshing impression, this will definetly build pure and real Indian rappers.
Q. How did you hear about How2rap.com?
A. in my initial times, I wont call it struggling, but yes I faught with me to learn Rap, I used to search internet for any advices or tips that would help, so my constant search led me to How2rap.com, and that was the time when I logged-in for their regular news-letter and articles, which taught me the basics of beats/point/flow and syllable rhyming, and still they are making it vast for newbies like me to learn it, with their free articles !
Q. Do you have a record or Album out?
A. No albums as yet, but I have done 3 songs which are already circulating among my friends, my daily schedule doesnt allow me to do much, but someday, if my efforts sustained, then may be a big Yes to records and albums !
Q. Can you tell us a little about that day when you shot the video? You said you only did one take of that...did you expect it to turn out as good as it did?
A. that day was random, we were alone in the class room, and my friends they come up with some nasty ideas of recording our madness, and as I said that I am stil incomplete with rapping, so I love to keep it in disguise, and literally not many in my locality know that I rap, those who know usually ask me to perform some for them, thus it was one of those times, and thanks to my friends on guitar (Jasmeet Singh),camera(Imanpreet Singh) and table(Shivoy Pandita) who joined me there..and yes we did only one take of it, so probably if we have done some practice takes before, we could have added some details and shine to the video
Q. Are there any big name hip hop artist that have came from (Your Country)?
A. yes, some are
1.Jay Sean (collaborated with Lil wayne)
2.Punjabi MC
3.Juggy D
4.Bohemia
5.Dr. Zeus
6.Baba Sehgal
7.RDB/Rhythm Dhol Bass (collaborated with Snoop Dogg)
we dont really have a "real clay" Indian rapper, many of the above are not Indian born..
and rest rappers who are not listed, are Underground !!
Q. How did you first become a fan of Hip Hop?
A. it started with "Disney Channel", there was a show called "That's So Raven", which has a struggling rapper character as Orlando Brown, he was my basic elevation, I saw him wearing loose clothes and singing songs without pauses, then the conventional 50 cent/Eminem/The Game later I switched to alternative Outlandish, Gym Class Heroes, Common, Shakur and Humble The Poet for my lyrics inspiration and I am still under construction.
(Interview by: Jamaal West)
Sanmeet Says: Good going Singh brother, hope to see you albums, tell us your band website....
John Says: this is the real deal i really want to know how to rap like eminem but dirty style
Jasmeet Says: haha...jp...so many views...you have almost become a mini celeb....good going buddy...we ended up making a nice vid :) :)
Hayes Says: a rapper with turban lol,some parallel varieties to see
Aman Says: Great going "Big O" Nice to see your web presence.
The Rapster Says: Oh ho ho...Seems like I am the last one to read the interview. It's really an awesome interview dawg. i've always been a fan of your lyrics. You're hot man...Hope to see more of you... :) have a great day :)
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Author details: Jamaal West is the author of The Official How To Rap Manual. He has over 15 years experience helping others improve rap skill and rhyming ability. Inventor of the How2rap Point-System & The Understanding Bars Tutorial his techniques on teaching others to rap have been regarded as one of the best of its kind since the year 2000.
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