Raga Talks About His Debut Album 'Rap Ka Musam', Divine & Bollywood

Delhi-based renowned hip-hop artist Raga has released his debut album Rap Ka Mausam this month. The album covers a lot of moods and was backed up by Aawaaz & his own team Artisttaan. His audience was desperate for this album & established artists like Ikka, Raftaar, Lil Golu and others went an extra mile to show their love for the album. Putting out videos, Instagram stories was one of showing their support for Rap Ka Mausam. Raga has released three music videos from the album as well. Releasing an album in the singles-dominated market is not an easy task to pull off. So, we reached out to Raga and had a in-depth conversation about his album. Here is how it went.

1. How crucial was your team for the creation of 'Rap Ka Mausam'?

Having a family like team with such professionals is quite a blessing. In fact, an artist can only create but it takes a team to make it a hit. Having talented music producers and different sound engineers on a project gives it a shelf-value. Having a person like Aamir Kunwar to critic my work has always helped me in touching new boundaries. He made me change verses and that's how in the end each track came out to be different. As a result, my album got a diversified sound. From lyrical hip-hop songs to new commercial tunes, Rap Ka Mausam has everything. So, I personally think that having a team and the supervision like I had is essential for a project.

2. What was your process of creating this album?

My team & I wanted to justify the title Rap Ka Mausam. In addition, we wanted to have songs from different styles of rap music blended together. Furthermore, we wanted to have commercial projects on this album to set a different mood. I had almost 20 songs for the album initially. We picked one song from every vibe and decided to stick with our decision. Bechain is inclined towards Jazz music while others are more on the trap side. This is why the placement of songs on the album doesn't create a story line. It creates different moods.

3. How are you planning to release the leftover tracks of this album?

Those songs could create an amazing project altogether. They have potential. However, I might release them as singles. Putting out another project with same vibe is just not a fair move for my listeners. They demand, I supply.

4. Who do you like from the Indian underground hip-hop scene?

Seedhe Maut, Prabh Deep, Karma, Harjas, KR$NA, Yungsta are a few Indian artists that I'd like to mention. Guru Lahori & Rap Demon are the ones I enjoy listening to from overseas. Furthermore, there are a lot of artists that have remarkable potential. I'm just happy that Indian hip-hop scene is becoming stronger. Divine has recently joined hands with Nas, Mass Appeal & Universal to launch Mass Appeal India. We wanted to know what Raga feels about the importance of this deal & it's impact on independent Indian hip-hop scene. So, we asked him the same. Raga is really optimistic about the growth of the entire scene in India. He suggests that Divine's co-sign with Nas & Mass Appeal will result in inspiring every kid that wants to rap. Indian artists will get an exposure overseas and it really makes him happy. Our last question to Raga was about Bollywood.

5. What are you future plans? Is Bollywood on your list?

I am an artist who loves challenges. So, Bollywood is definitely going to be a bigger challenge for me. However,  I have a lot of music that the banners are demanding right now. I'm really optimistic that Bollywood is not too far away from my reach now. In other words, I grew up on listening to Bollywood tunes like every other kid from India. If the right opportunity comes on the right time, I'd most definitely grab it. As a matter of fact, I'm primarily focusing on taking over the Television and clubs right now.

Stream 'Rap Ka Mausam' by Raga here: