KR$NA’s New EP ‘For The Day Ones’ Is Here

Just when fans were roasting rapper KR$NA about a retirement, the hip-hop artist has released a diverse new EP For The Day Ones via Kalamkaar.

Desi hip-hop fans of the “No Cap” rapper were taking him to task about not putting out any material since “Joota Japani,” the song that kicked off his year in mid-January. Now, with the four-track For The Day Ones, there’s plenty for followers to get through.

KR$NA said in a statement about the EP, “For The Day Ones is a throwback to my various phases as an artist. The EP has a track like ‘Shut Up,’ which is the style I am known for now, but tracks like ‘Stay Away’ and ‘Role Model’ are callbacks to my earlier work.”

For the most part, the EP comes across as KR$NA’s reflection on his career so far and his place in the music industry. He does it in his inimitable fun way at times, getting somber and switching up flows at other times.

The opening song “Shut Up,” produced by Kolkata-based SubSpace is described in a press release as the rapper’s “bold response to the unsolicited advice and baseless criticism prevalent in today’s digital age.”

The smooth, club-ready “What’s Up” employs Afrobeats and a beat switch to close things off, enhanced by pop artist Lisa Mishra’s vocal hooks. “In a surprising shift, KR$NA explores themes of love and attraction with a smooth, flowing delivery that showcases a different facet of his musical range,” a press release adds.

With singer-producer Bharg, “Stay Away” addresses “the contrasting treatment of artists before and after their success.” Coupled with the buoyant and cheeky “Role Model,” there’s an unmistakable Eminem influence in the sonic choice and flow on both songs off For The Day Ones. On “Stay Away,” with a subtle siren-like sound hovering around in the beats, KR$NA and Bharg are less focused on an incisive flow but more about having fun with their lyrical choices.

The closing song “Role Model” – produced by Deep Kalsi – brings in Pakistani rapper Faris Shafi and Dehradun’s Karma on a glitzy declaration that rappers like them are no shining example of humanity. A press release states that it also talks about “unrealistic expectations placed on rappers to be role models, highlighting their true essence as rebels rather than societal icons.” In the song KR$NA even rebuffs claims of misogyny. Shafi and Karma, for their part, also clearly seem to draw from Eminem, making for unfiltered takes.