Watch Siliguri Rapper JAW’s Resolute Video for ‘Time’

He might posit that his hometown Siliguri is “notorious for its unusually high crime rates,” but hip-hop artist JAW aka Akash Tripathi salutes his roots in his second album Hometown Hero.

Released in July, a follow-up to his 2020 debut album Aagmann (The Arrival) also had a music video for the song “Time” released at the end of October. In it, JAW raps with total bravado about his journey so far. “’Time’ talks about my struggle whilst establishing myself as an artist and the amount of hate I received for being the black sheep of the herd. Now, after over 10 years of struggle, the ‘time’ has changed and the same people who thought I was going nowhere introduce me to their peers as a close friend,” he says in a statement about the track.

The rest of the 10-track album, featuring futuristic and very much in-vogue beats by producers like Boominati95, Ezyvibe9, Vastavik, Figment and Premium, draws the impression of an ambitious record. Although there are several other hip-hop artists from the region – Xenon Phoenix, Lil Gorkhay, Drastic (who features on “Rok Nahi Paye”)–JAW believes himself to be the “torchbearer” and carries this swagger around on Hometown Hero, on songs like “Facts,” “Naseehat” and “Siliguri Aaj Bhi.”

About the intention behind a full album, he says, “[This is] 10 tracks with 10 different sounds [that] give you 10 reasons to listen to the album.” For the most part, JAW’s idea with his straightforward, often lethal flow in Hindi and English on Hometown Hero is to consolidate his place in hip-hop. He adds in his statement, “It could’ve never been possible without Siliguri. It made me who I am. Now it’s time for me to pay back and put Siliguri on the map once and for all. I have been blessed to be a part of the Indian hip-hop revolution and would rep India and Siliguri till the day I die.”

Watch the video for “Time” below. Stream ‘Hometown Hero’ here.