Premiere: New Delhi Rapper K!LLSWITCH Brings in Cory Gunz for ‘Dolla Kuan’ Video

Indian hip-hop artist K!LLSWITCH (formerly known by his real name, Armaan Yadav) mingles the local and global in the music video for his new song “Dolla Kuan,” featuring American rapper Cory Gunz and produced by Indian beatsmith Whoisavi.

The music video, shot by filmmaker Matthew Parent and co-directed by Yadav, Parent and Feeling Whitney aka Prateek Verma, sees the Indian and American artists go bar for bar, firing off about their come-up and their present status in their respective leagues. The collaboration – which is part of K!LLSWITCH’s 2023 EP Qutub Minar State of Mind – came about when Gunz – a guest lecturer at hip-hop lyricism school Pendulum Ink – saw Yadav rap in an interactive session.

Pendulum Ink, an Atlanta-origin school started by New York hip-hop artist Mickey Factz, is counted as a formative step in recent years for Yadav. He and Gunz finally met up in New York after Pendulum Ink’s first annual graduation event in Atlanta. “Dolla Kuan,” the opening track on Qutub Minar State of Mind EP, is a reference to Dhaula Kuan, a New Delhi neighborhood that Yadav credits as the place he discovered hip-hop.

The Indian artist says in a statement, “In my early years, I attended Army Public School Dhaula Kuan, which is when I first discovered rap music in its full extent through artists like Lil Wayne, Cory Gunz, Eminem, 50 Cent and more on pen drives that middle-schoolers circulated. Since Young Money [a label founded by Lil Wayne] was a formative part of my taste in hip-hop, it seemed only right to pay homage to the place that had ignited the obscure dream of becoming a rapper in me, years from that fateful moment.”

The goal with the song, according to Yadav, is to show that music is “still beyond mere numbers and statistics.” He adds, “That instead of taking the road often taken, you can sidestep the industry entirely and figure out ways of reaching beyond domestic obstacles to make your mark on people that inspire the culture. Both Mickey and Cory never gave a shit about what my commercial value was — all they saw was my drive, my passion, my penmanship, and love for their culture.”

The video marks a more formal, eyeball-grabbing introduction of sorts to K!LLSWITCH, a moniker that Yadav has taken on after years of releasing music under his own name, including protest songs like “Fist Up” in 2021 and “Hot Shi*” with Manipur-origin artist Lojal. In 2020, Yadav released two songs with Bengaluru-based Kerala beatsmith Parimal Shais, including “Articles of Faith” and “Zulm.” As K!LLSWITCH, the rapper says he’s feeding a “nagging desire to be more than just myself.” He adds, “I wanted to be more than myself in my music and take unconventional approaches. It almost feels like I went to New York as Armaan Yadav, and came back as K!LLSWITCH — a reminder for me to turn off my inner overthinker, and you know, just kill it.”

Watch the video for “Dolla Kuan” below.