Florida-Based Indian Rapper SirBible Plots Two EPs This Year

With a slew of singles and an EP called The Introduction out in 2022, Tampa, Florida-based Indian hip-hop artist SirBible says his influences range from Kendrick Lamar to Yo Yo Honey Singh and Bohemia and that’s certainly heard on recent singles like “Ring Ring” and “Maut.”

On his latest song “Mai Tera Superstar,” however, the artist born Sheetal Soni in Raghogarh, Madhya Pradesh turns to more pop hues, offering a romantic hip-hop song. It’s only in recent years that Soni was able to launch SirBible, after living and working in more than eight cities in six different states in the last 10 years before settling in Tampa. He says, “I was pursuing higher education in the US. However, my interest wasn’t just confined to that and I always wanted to find a career that can feed my soul.” Out in Florida, he now feels more at home, especially as an artist. “Hip-hop runs Florida and the lifestyle is fuel for that. I also did a collaboration with a Florida-based American rapper which will come out this summer,” he adds.

In the decade since he’s left India, SirBible has witnessed (although from afar) how desi hip-hop has grown and admits it’s a “little challenging” to gain an audience out in India considering he’s not performing or visible among the artists based here. He does, however, feel that there’s an audience in the U.S. for his Hindi rap. He says, “There are not so many Hindi rap artists in the US who are professionally doing this and finding the diaspora tuning into my music is a great feeling that encourages me to continue offering my art as a bridge between two worlds for all Hindi rap music fans.”

To that end, he’s also gaining new audiences by working with the likes of Punjabi artist Nseeb, with whom SirBible linked up when the former was shooting a video for the single “Profession” in New York. They ended up sharing music, recording and shooting a music video for “Me Vs Me” in quick succession. “Right now we are working on another song and probably meeting again for a video shoot in March,” SirBible adds.

It’s part of several more projects that SirBible is lining up for the rest of the year. There are a couple of feature spots and two EPs planned until the end of the year. He adds, “I am looking forward to performing in India by the end of this year and in the meantime focusing on U.S. gigs as well.”