Akhil OSO
| Photograph Credit score: Particular Association
Bengaluru-based rapper Akhil Chandrashekar, higher generally known as Akhil OSO, has amassed a following of over 70,000 on Instagram, primarily composed of younger millennials and Gen Zs. Identified for his groovy, upbeat tracks, the artist has cultivated a fame amongst a distinct segment viewers for creating infectious tunes. Nonetheless, there’s a side of Akhil that his followers is probably not aware of: his deep-rooted patriotism. This beforehand unseen facet of the rapper is about to be unveiled with the discharge of his new tune, ‘Simon Go Again,’ on August 13.
The music video for ‘Simon Go Again’ opens with a placing visible: Akhil standing on a seaside in Udupi, the rhythmic crash of waves offering a stark backdrop to his highly effective lyrics. The opening strains, “They got here down, Free commerce, True agenda, They want slaves, With their weapons, Our shields break, No baby on the streets, Or the ocean secure,” set a tone of uncooked emotion and historic reckoning.
The strains consult with the British East India Firm’s arrival in India by way of port cities for commerce however ultimately stayed to colonise the nation. The title ‘Simon Go Again’ and the seaside setting are symbolic. “I wished to create a full-circle second by sending Simon again to the ocean — it represents the British leaving India. The tune is a tribute to our hard-fought freedom,” says Akhil.
“I do know this tune is totally different from what I often do, however I wished to make it as a result of I see a whole lot of division in our nation. Folks don’t really feel united as one nation, and plenty of younger folks appear to have misplaced pleasure in being Indian. I feel the disconnect from our historical past is an enormous a part of the issue.”
Akhil OSO
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association
Akhil’s sense of patriotism was nurtured from a younger age, influenced closely by the tales of battle and resilience handed down by way of his household. “A relative from my mother’s facet of the household was among the many six or seven who escaped the Jallianwala Bagh bloodbath. That story has been handed down by way of generations,” he recollects.
His mom’s household, initially from Amritsar, confronted the brutal realities of British colonialism firsthand. “They needed to flee their house because of the British assaults. Their home was burned down, and so they needed to transfer from one metropolis to a different, ultimately settling in Bangalore many generations in the past.” His Tamilian father performed an equally important function in instilling a powerful sense of nationwide pleasure.
One other turning level in Akhil’s journey got here in 2015 when he got here throughout Shashi Tharoor’s viral speech on the Oxford Union. Throughout a debate on Britain’s accountability to its former colonies, Tharoor argued how British colonial rule had severely broken the Indian financial system. His phrases resonated deeply with many Indians, together with Akhil.
“After I watched that speech, I noticed India in a very new gentle — part of India I didn’t know existed. It confirmed me how we had been as soon as one of many best nations on this planet,” he says, “This tune isn’t only for my followers; it was for everybody — youngsters, younger folks, and even these of their 50s and 60s. I wished to evoke the sensation I had once I listened to the speech in others.”
Although the lyrics of the anti-colonial tune hark again to previous injustices, Akhil’s message of patriotism is about trying forward. “True patriotism, for my part, is about working in the direction of a nation the place each citizen has equal alternatives and the place we collectively try for progress.”
