Shillong Hip-Hop Artist Reble on Her EP ‘Entropy’ and Introducing Alter Egos

An EP, festival performances including Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Pune and the number two Indian independent song on our Best of 2022 list, Shillong rapper and singer-songwriter Reble aka Daiaphi Lamare has capped off a solid year. But she’s just getting started.

On December 16th, she released the music video for “Bond Fission,” showcasing just how confidently she can move through her care-a-damn verses over a house-informed beat by producer Dan Pearson. Directed by Quarion Cine Sicarius and the Tiny Film Crew, we see Reble portraying a schoolgirl, a businesswoman, a stay-at-home tribal woman and finally, “a gangster woman” as the artist puts it. Working on a house beat with Pearson was a learning curve according to Reble, but it came with the territory of “doing something a little unusual.” “Even the structure and rhyme schemes, the words… I took like two months,” she says.

The song – as well as her four-track EP Entropy which released via Kamani Records in late November – showcases an evolution from the gritty, in-your-face rap that Reble first grew popular for, with songs like “Bad” and “Believe” in 2019. Influenced by the likes of Eminem, Notorious B.I.G. and Andre 3000, Reble leaned on old-school cadences but also began singing, because she always listened to rock and indie bands growing up. Among the first glimpses of that came on “Flove,” her 2022 collaboration with Pezo Kronu (from Shillong pop-punk band Street Stories).

On Entropy, Reble pens an emotional letter from the perspective of her future self on “Changes,” talking about how things will get better eventually, while “Peace of Mine” brings in Adwait Pattanaik for an emo acoustic-pop turn. She then introduces her alter ego on the quick cut “Jane,” which is clearly a chaotic world that’s unraveling.

There’s at least one other alter ego Reble has introduced listeners to so far – in a freeverse from 2020 where she took on unfiltered rap as Miss Hyde. “It’s a very negative character overall. I use this character to say whatever I want and not have to deal with any problems,” she says.

Starting out in rap while she was still in school – working with the Mix N Flow Studio in Shillong, including members of hip-hop group Khasi Bloodz – Reble says there’s a lot more of a balancing act to do now, managing college with music. “I have exams, internals and a lot of things in between. When I get the free time, I go and record and write. I do have to pause but it’s okay,” the artist says. Looking back on her catalog so far, Reble’s not entirely happy with her early work and is more geared towards releasing and performing her next set of music, including singles, a follow-up EP and a few collaborations in 2023. “I’ve taken my craft to like another level, where I’m putting a lot of work into my lyrics. I have a good concept in place for my music,” she adds.