Brodha V Looks Back for 10-Year Anniversary of ‘Aathma Raama’

Bengaluru-based hip-hop artist Brodha V’s single “Aathma Raama” is among Indian hip-hop’s most popular songs and it’s just completed a decade in existence. At 22 million views on YouTube and over 9.7 million streams on Spotify, it’s a testament to Brodha V’s English rap style mixed with a devotional chant that drew in the general public to hip-hop.

Everyone from desi hip-hop diehards to the Indian right-wing praise the song and that’s perhaps a key equation in a big hit – that it means different things to subsections of Indians. It earned the respect of current top dogs and Brodha V’s peers such as DIVINE. Brodha V says, “Every time I talk about ‘Aathma Raama,’ he DMs me and goes, ‘Bro, this is an all-time classic.’”

Since 2012, Indian hip-hop has seen a surge like few other music cultures in the country, gaining mainstream acceptance, commercial success and a relentless following. That cultivated loyalty to hip-hop can perhaps be attributed to artists like Brodha V, who would go on to release songs with similar philosophizing hooks in different languages, like “Aigiri Nandini” via Sony Music in 2014, “Vaishnava Jana To” in 2019 and “All Divine” earlier this year.

Even then, the artist did have questions in his mind when he set out with the release of “Aathma Raama” in 2012. “I had this thought that if I’m going to just make pure English rap, then people are always gonna be like, ‘Okay, but what’s different between you and 50 Cent?’ back in the day,” he says. That’s when he felt the need to incorporate Indian elements from classical and folk traditions into his music, so that people can relate to it.

In an interview with Rolling Stone India, Brodha V looks back at the making of “Aathma Rama” and its place in Indian hip-hop. Excerpts:

What was it like when you were on the verge of releasing “Aathma Raama” with the music video on YouTube?

The funny thing was, when I first wrote the song, I just had a rap verse and everything written. And I didn’t have a hook for the song. I didn’t even know what the song was gonna be called or what it was supposed to be about.

Just randomly, by fluke, I called one of my friends and I was like, “You remember that shloka from back in the day when we listened to that stuff? You want to sing that over this?” I had all the verses and everything, only the hook portion was empty. When we recorded that, I was like, “Yo, it sounds like fire.” I didn’t know if it was gonna work or anything. This was first recorded in November or December of 2010, actually. I put it out as part of a very small mixtape sort of thing, which I used to give out to people for demos to get work in movies and the industry and stuff. But I think in 2012 was when I decided to get back into the studio and record properly, mixing and mastering and even making a music video.

Looking back at it now, does it feel like it’s a reminder or reinforcement about the importance of you being an independent artist and yielding successful results with self-released music?

Absolutely. When I first put this song out, it did its job then. And then every two or three years, there’s a sudden resurgence in its relevance and people just discover it out of the blue. Suddenly, the view count goes up and every now and then, people come and tell you about “Aathma Raama.” And I’m like, “Oh, that’s crazy.” Something that I put out 10 years ago independently without any idea or a plan, put out a music video and let’s see where this takes us… For it to do so well. This last one year is when it really picked up; it’s been trending on YouTube, on Instagram Reels and Spotify numbers. That’s just crazy. It’s become my most streamed song even on Spotify. And this is despite me having a collaboration with Raftaar with a major label. I was like, “So my own solo song, without any radio plays and TV plays, I’ve managed to do this.” I’m super happy about that.

Do you feel like stylistically and thematically, you’re still in a similar space as a rapper? A lot of people might look back and feel like their early stuff was cringey. What was it like in your case?

[Laughs] I don’t know. I feel like my whole style of writing has changed a lot since then, because I don’t see myself writing that way.  I wrote this song when I was 20 years old. Over the years, the syllables that are used and the multi-syllable rhyming… I do a whole setup on a punchline, I use a lot of metaphors and similes and all that. Back in the day, it was a more straightforward way of telling a story. And I feel like, you know, only with respect to the writing, a lot has changed. But otherwise, I feel I’ve always been drawn to telling the underdog story. That’s always been my vibe. One-day-you-will-make-it-big types and I think that resonates with the audience as well.

In the decade that’s passed, hip-hop has become everything in India now. “Aathma Raama” is probably among the first to pop up in search results. What kind of place do you think the song holds today?

I think this is one of the earliest music videos by an underground rapper from the Indian scene. A lot of people who are currently huge were not rapping rapping then. I remember every time DIVINE DMs me and says, “Bro, this is an all-time classic and stuff.” It was one of those stepping stones. I feel like a lot of people saw it and felt, “If this guy can make a song and put out a music video on YouTube, I guess all of us can too.” I think it motivated people to invest in music videos and use YouTube as a platform. It’s always gonna have its place in Indian hip-hop. Every time I go out, people come up to me and go, “Yo, I used to be in seventh standard and sixth standard when I first heard ‘Aathma Raama.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow!’ I’m that guy now.

The hook of “Aathma Raama” is in Sanskrit, one of the few times in that era when hip-hop artists crossed over genres or styles and didn’t resist it. It’s got this Indianness to it.

Yeah, absolutely. I was rapping in English and there were a couple of regional rappers and everything, even back then. Even if they hadn’t made it big back then, they always had an extensive audience, a potential audience that they could all reach out to eventually. Hindi is the most consumed language in India, content-wise. But, for me, I knew that this is always gonna be niche, but I just wanted to try and figure out how I could still be able to make it mass and mainstream.