Gully Boy star Ranveer Singh knew that music was an integral part of him when he heard Tupac Shakur’s ‘California Love’ as a 10-year-old. “I was lured by the language,” Ranveer, said in a recent interview with New York Times. “And although the themes were very mature for me at the time, I feel like I still, even at that age, could recognize that there was something very authentic in the expression.”
Listening to Tupac was just the start, he kept following other American rappers like Snoop Dogg, Eminem and others. Thus, when he joined an advertising firm as an intern, he became known for his skill of rhyming anything. “There used to be a running joke in the agency that if anyone needed anything to rhyme, like a tagline for a brand or a product, they should go see the rhyme doctor. Me.” he said in the interview.
Ranveer starred in Gully Boy which brought a complete change in the underground hip-hop scene in India. With that film’s success, him with filmmaker-musician Navzar Erane launched the label ‘IncInk.’ The first three people signed were involved with the film: Kaam Bhaari, Spitfire and SlowCheeta.
The one thing I love the most about the label is the fact that it’s no strings attached. It’s no pressure. It’s just creating freely. It’s unbound.Ranveer Singh
Kunal Pandagle, known as Kaam Bhaari, is someone who uses his songs to express his struggles in life. Ranveer describes the young lad as ‘diminutive and unassuming’. “So when he gets on the mic and starts spitting the kind of venom that he does, it really takes you by storm.”
The second rapper, SlowCheeta, born Chaitnya Sharma, didn’t grow up with a lack of resources, which according to Ranveer, gives him a different perspective as an artist. “It doesn’t mean that they don’t suffer from the agony of existence or that they don’t have things that they went through in their life that they can express and we maybe can connect with and learn from.”
“I have this desire to give back, and this is my way of empowering a talent that I recognize, that I think is extremely special.”Ranveer Singh
Ranveer admits that he feels like a parent now, seeing them grow. “The place that I find myself in today is far beyond my wildest imagination,” he said in the interview.
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