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Hear Chennai Beatsmith Ankith Gupta’s Mammoth New Album ‘Time Machine’

A total of 27 tracks brings together 51 artists from around the world, including Indian rappers like Gravity, Agaahi Raahi, Zillionglare, A-Gan and a boatload of sampling from Indian movies

Sep 15, 2022

Chennai-based producer Ankith Gupta. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Chennai-based producer Ankith Gupta takes a giant leap with his ambitious new album project Time Machine, which boasts 27 tracks in seven languages from a total of 51 featured artists.

Officially marked as his 100th release, Gupta stays true to his prolific streak with Time Machine, considering he’s already had two albums, six EPs and around 50 singles out prior to this. Time Machine, which ranges from drill to hip-hop and trap, lo-fi and hyperpop, has been in the works for nearly a year. “Some songs were finished nine months before the release and a few were done three months before,” Gupta says.

At one hour and five minutes, there are formidable rap names like Gravity, Siyaahi, A-Gan, Dopeboyghost, Agaahi Raahi and Pasha Bhai, plus MC Headshot, Zillionglare, singer-songwriter STEVIE and familiar collaborators like VAR!N in the mix. The challenges – among many – for Gupta was to bring 51 artists on the same page and understand his vision. He says, “I am an artist who is usually fast with the process of setting things on track towards the release as soon as the artists send me the verse, but for this album since it was entirely conceptual, I slowed down in order to manage these 27 tracks and to bring the vision I had in mind into these songs.”

Even for his own production process, Gupta says he heard over 500 songs and sampled many across Time Machine. The thought started when he heard composer-singer Anirudh Ravichander’s song “Po Nee Po” from the Tamil film 3 on the radio and it became the first song he sampled for Time Machine. “Red Light Green Light” samples the ever-famous mainstay “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai,” while Malayalam song “Pooyo Nee” featuring rapper-singer Deon samples Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal’s “Pal.” Gupta says he faced criticism and accusations of “cheating” when he was plotting out his sample bank. “According to me, hip-hop has the capacity to transport old music into the present through sampling, allowing music to evolve while paying homage to the artists who came before. That’s why the name, Time Machine,” the producer adds about the album.

In addition to Indian hip-hop artists, Time Machine brings in artists from the U.K., the U.S., Bangladesh, Dubai and Australia. Since the album was a big project to fully realize, Gupta says he did intend to take a breather after the release, but he’s back in the studio already. A few singles and feature spots are coming up. “In the process of finishing the album [Time Machine], the thought [of taking a break] has faded away.”

Listen to ‘Time Machine’ below.

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