‘Bangalore ka Potta’ is making history...

The album by Pasha Bhai and Demixx Beats is the first ever ‘Dakhni Rap’ album which garnered over 20k streams in the first week

Falah Faisal | NT

Bengaluru: ‘Bangalore ka Potta’ by Pasha Bhai and Demixx Beats has been a long-awaited album with fans waiting for it since June when it was anticipated. Last Friday at midnight it finally dropped on Spotify with 14 tracks and a total runtime of 41 minutes.

It is the first-ever hip-hop album entirely in Dakhni. It’s a fruit of labour for Pasha Bhai and Demixx that has taken nearly 5 years in the making and is a landmark moment in the Indian rap scene. Pasha says he doesn’t want to be insulted simply by having it compared to Indian hiphop.

“Some of them have been calling it Top 3 Indian hip hop albums. We’re not competing against IHH albums; we are trying to top the greatest hip-hop albums like Illmatic by Nas and To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. Hip-Hop will forever and I hope “Bangalore Ka Potta” is remembered for being the most impactful project for generations to come,” says the rapper who has grown up around Neelasandra.

Demixx Beats, also known as Syed Awaise Pasha, came on board with the project 2 years ago. “We went back and forth on WhatsApp where I would send him beats and he would record demos of the songs. This process went on for about 4 months.

After a point, this wasn’t working very well, so I came to Bangalore to complete the project. I stayed here for weeks, in Neelasandra, I even stayed at Pasha’s home. When I lived with him, I felt like I was living with an extroverted version of myself. I can now say that I’ve lived the Bangalore ka Potta life for over 2 years,” he explains his experience.

“He is literally the backbone of the album. From production to engineering, he was behind everything. Without him the world wouldn’t have this album,” says Pasha Bhai on Demixx’s contribution to the album. He recorded the whole album in their own humble little studio at Dakhnistan in Neelasandra which they set up from scratch.

Being a pathbreaker isn’t enough for Pasha and Demixx who already have numerous projects lined up. “Clan Bokka Phod’s EP “Ek” is in the works, and I’m really excited for our listeners to hear it. A couple of singles are also in the pipeline. The BKP season is far from over. Music videos are on the way too,” says Pasha.

Recently, both of them had flown to Arunachal Pradesh to perform at the Ziro Festival of Music, their first performance outside Karnataka and the first time Pasha Bhai sat on a plane. “Shows really motivate us to make music. When people really vibe with our songs that pushes us to continue working towards this. Performing at the Ziro Festival of Music was a complete game-changer.

People in Arunachal Pradesh and from across India dancing to Dakhni songs made me realize that music has no language. It’s just pure art that people like,” says Demixx. On what impact the album might have, Pasha says, “This album is the scene. Period. We’ve hit 10k in less than 3 days (68 hours). And we’re being heard across the globe which is a big deal considering we were told that “nobody would hear Dakhni rap outside of Bangalore and Hyderabad”. The album is available on Spotify for free