100 RBH’s ‘Zindagi’ EP Has the Rapper in Entertainer Mode

When hip-hop artist 100 RBH aka Saurabh Abhyankar went on reality show MTV Hustle 3.0 REPRESENT last year, a shift in artistic mindset occurred. He says, “I figured out I could do a great job, just like everyone else but I also realized that people need entertainment.”

Best known for his hardcore rap that first gained prominence with multilingual hip-hop crew Swadesi, 100 RBH began to understand that not everyone gets his prominent style. Instead, he chose to focus on more musicality, delivering his message through more accessible music. It’s led to his new EP Zindagi, released via T-Series earlier this month.

Coming out of Hustle as well as putting music out through a major label like T-Series, the rapper says he’s trying to reach more audiences, not just hip-hop audiences. “That’s why I wrote all the songs with a larger audience in mind, so everyone can enjoy and have some entertainment while at the same time understanding some hard-hitting truth,” he adds.

The emotive “Mann Nahi Jeene Ka” sees the rapper speak from the pained perspective of the social hardships in life, while the title track moves at a dance-y pace with flittering acoustic guitar melodies as 100 RBH retains his signature cadence. On “Mann Nahi Jeene Ka,” the rapper says he tackled a dilemma like never before about public perception. “When I tried to do something good, people were badmouthing it, and when I tried to do something bad, people were badmouthing that too. So I am confused about how to tackle this correctly. This is what I feel,” he says.

Flowing with the force of an anthem, 100 RBH says, “My favorite line is: ‘Dharmon mein janavaron kee bhagavaan ko de balee/Same experiment mein janavar kee vigyaan ko de balee/Kya yeh sahee ya phir nahin yah prathaee hee kyon chalatee/In donon ke chakkar mein gunge jeev kee kya galti’ ‘Give the god of animals in religion; give the science of animals in experiments. Is it right or wrong? Why is this tradition going on? What is the fault of a mute soul in these two things?’ I think this is my most important line from the whole song.”

Later on in the EP, a Latin phrase starts the party on the seismic Marathi song “Pahije,” which is the most party-hard yet hardcore that 100 RBH keeps his rap on the EP. It closes with “Kramank 1,” which has a sample of saint-poet Kabir’s “Kabir Amritvani.” 100 RBH says, “It has been my favorite since childhood, it’s still my favorite. That’s why I used it. I feel that whatever happens, it happens for a reason. So, I want to thank zindagi (life) more than complain about it somewhere. I want to say that whatever life I have, it’s all ‘Kramank ek’ (number one).”

There’s still a social message present in Zindagi, even if it’s wrapped up in friendlier, relatable music. 100 RBH says it depends on his message and the platform when it comes to continuing to focus on conscious hip-hop like his debut EP Bahas from 2020. He adds, “In the end, I am an artist. I can’t have a revolution in my mind for 24 hours; there are other things too, I have different kinds of feelings […] It’s not like I want to become a revolutionary rapper or a loverboy rapper. These are all my moods, these are all my thoughts, and these are all my experiences. I don’t think that I have to do this [kind of] rap or that I need to express my political opinion. I just express what I feel. And yes, I will do it in the future too.”

Up next, the rapper is planning a “proper Marathi EP.” He adds, “Everyone does Marathi rap. But I think that in rap, the original Marathi culture and things have not happened yet. So, what the public has not seen, I wish to show all that. After that, I will make a Hindi album.”