Hear Indo-American Rapper Illah’s Unsparing New Song ‘Make It Look Easy’

On his latest single “Make It Look Easy,” India-bred, California-based hip-hop artist Illah aka India’s Only aka Mayurath Sinh Gupta swerves unflinchingly through stereotypes and more. In the two-and-a-half-minute song, Illah wards off pretentious company and fair-weather company, with lines like: “If you were in my shoes you’d probably lose I make it look easy.”

Although there’s gratuitous (and as some have pointed out, contentious) use of the N-word by a brown artist, Illah doesn’t back down and even fires off on how Indians are typecast in the U.S. He raps, “Everybody that look like me is probably a doctor.” Illah adds about the track, “The way the song came together was very organic. In my eyes, music is the purest form of self-expression hence I just try to tell my story and my truth. Personally, It’s hard for me to make music about things I haven’t experienced in life so I stick to just talking about what I’ve gone through, sometimes it just happens to sound catchy.”

The ominous music is produced by Illah’s go-to beatsmiths xanxan and Robby Dinero. The rapper adds, “Robby pulled up to the studio and had a few beats he played to me, the one particularly stuck out to me made it to the cut. I heard the beat and instantly tried to lay some bars down doing punch-ins. It started off as a demo and was completed the same night.”

Illah previously teamed up with Compton artist TOWNBOYNL (“One of the first friends that I made coming from India,” the rapper notes) for a track called “Unconditional,” which has since accrued over 18,000 views on YouTube. TOWNBOYNL is currently incarcerated and serving a year-long sentence, so Illah claims proudly that the song and music video received no “promotion or major push.” Up next, there’s an EP and an album along with more singles to keep his rep up as a prolific rapper. Illah adds, “There’s also a collaboration with L.A.-based artist Ralfy The Plug, who’s a frequent collaborator of Drakeo The Ruler.”

Listen to “Make It Look Easy” below.