Gubbi Talks ‘The Storm’ EP and Why Labels Are Sleeping on South Indian Hip-Hop

Earlier in February, Bengaluru-based hip-hop artist Karthik Gubbi got on stage after about two years. In 2019, he was launching a new record. Back then, it was his power-packed debut album Who Are You? Naanu Gubbi! and this time around, it’s his six-track EP The Storm.

A rapper for more than a decade  — first under the name Karnage and from 2014 onwards, taking on his last name as a moniker — Gubbi was supported by seasoned and newbie peers alike at his EP launch gig. “The Kannada hip-hop scene is more united than ever,” he says. On The Storm’s penultimate track “South Indian Meals,” Gubbi does hold forth about how the rest of India is, however, largely ignoring hip-hop springing in regional languages from South India.

He says, “How often do we hear about a South Indian rapper getting a major deal unless he or she is rapping in English or at least partially? With so many record labels coming down to India and so many Indian record labels in the scene we barely see artists getting picked.” Joined by Kerala beatsmith ThudWiser on “South Indian Meals,” Gubbi serves up delectable Kannada and English references showcasing the power in his words, perhaps to tell the world at large that there’s ornateness and playfulness alike found in Kannada rap.

It’s not just Kannada that Gubbi wants to ship. He points to “insanely versatile rappers” in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “It is also up to us artists to dream bigger and not settle for the love we get at our home turf,” the artist adds.

The Storm was in the making since 2020, with the first nationwide pandemic-ensuing lockdown making Gubbi play with the expression “the calm before the storm.” Thematically, The Storm was foreshadowed when the rapper dropped his three-track EP The Calm in late 2021. Joined by producer Sai Menon, Gubbi goes harder and faster than ever across six tracks. He’s also aided by collaborators such as fellow Kannada rapper MC Bijju and singer-rapper EmmJee (“Chandamaarutha”). Producers such as Gagan Baderiya (“Huhuhaha”), Pogo Beats (“Lathi In Charge”) and Rahul Avadhani (“Rapasura”) feature across The Storm EP. While Avadhani was the one to approach Gubbi with a beat created specifically for him, Gubbi says it was a bit of a curveball. “This beat was nothing like the beat I would choose. Writing the song [“Rapasura”] really helped me push my pen game.”

To match the high energy of the beats sent his way, Gubbi balanced his Kannada and English rap, trying to walk the fine line between being accessible and being poetic. He credits his aunt and mother as being his “biggest critics” who helped sharpen his lyrics. “Since they both have a good hold on the language, they catch the words that do not fit, instantly […] My mother tells me that I use a lot of words that are not used often. I guess that’s the poet in me,” he adds.

If “South Indian Meals” was a show of power, his 2020 track “Lathi In Charge” took on the more systemic issue of custodial abuse. Gubbi was particularly shaken by the custodial deaths of Fenix Jayaraj and Bennicks in Tamil Nadu in 2020. The rapper says, “It disturbed me. I saw this insane illustration by Prajwal Acharya […] It is crazy how people with power do things and get away with it so easily. It is also sometimes scary to speak up about things which affect us. We could easily get in trouble but as artists we owe it to music to take that risk and speak up.”

There’s a lot more Gubbi has planned for 2022. He’s set himself a target of releasing at least 30 songs this year. Including The Storm EP and his single “Kaarana,” that’s seven down and 23 to go. Up next is an EP called Ctrl Alt Del Vol.1 with producer John On The Beat aka Johnson J.P. There’s also a collaborative single coming up with Mumbai-based singer/actor Shruti Prakash that they worked on remotely, with a music video coming up. An all-English EP and a second full-length album is planned for later in the year. “Last year I released about 14 tracks. It taught me so much. So much to unlearn than to learn. The target is not to just put out 30 songs but to strive to get better with each release,” the rapper adds.

Listen to ‘The Storm’ EP below and on Spotify, Apple Music and JioSaavn.