'Rap was a great platform to express myself'

For Kannada rapper Karthik Sundar Gubbi, his musical journey was inspired by rapper Eminem. This youngster, who loves balancing work and his passion, has sung for Kannada films and goes by the stage name ‘Gubbi’. In a tete-e-tete with Tini Sara Anien, he talks about the world of rapping.

How did your musical journey start?
I wasn’t into music till my twelfth grade, but then I got hooked to rap music. I slowly started learning Eminem’s tracks and practising them. I worked with a composer in 2009 and he told me that Kannada rap wouldn’t sound good. (Smiles) He was a Kannadiga and so am I, but somehow the comment offended me. This is what spurred me to take part in a music competition, where I decided to write the lyrics in Kannada.

How did ‘Mungaru’ and all the other tracks after that happen?
It was right after this that ‘Mungaru’ happened in 2009. ‘Mungaru’ means ‘monsoon’ and this was my first proper track. The next one was called ‘Money Gaagi’. I got a good response for these tracks, which encouraged me to keep going.

What made you stay in rap?
All the songs I write, apart from the ones in the movies are an expression of my mind. Rap was a great platform to express myself. When people started relating to my music and giving it a story of their own, it encouraged me even more.

I knew I wasn’t just doing this for me, but for the people around me too, who related to my music. This pushed me to continue and here I am.

Languages you can rap in.
I can rap in Kannada, English and German. I would love to try other languages too.

Your movie projects.
Recently, I rapped for a Kannada movie ‘Bataas’, where they wanted a mix of Kannada and German rap. I’ve done other Kannada movies like ‘Plus’, ‘Coma’ and ‘Titlu Beka’. My first movie track was for a Tamil movie called ‘Pathayirum Kodi’ and that was a big break.

Highlights of your rap career
Though I have performed in Germany, at malls across Bengaluru, venues like The Humming Tree and got immense response online, the highlight of my rapping career will always be one particular college fest, which saw 10,000 people in the audience. This was in 2014 and still remains my favourite performance.

Who are your favourite rappers?
At this point, it is J Cole, who has influenced me more than Eminem has. I also listen a lot to Kendrick Lamar. 

An engineer by profession, how do you balance it out?
I work with Mercedes Benz Research and Development India, as a design engineer, and the company has been really supportive. I wanted to quit my job and follow my passion full-time, but they offered me a post where I work for 3 days a week.

How important is the combination of rap and rhyme?
While it is not absolutely necessary, it is an interesting facet of rap. I wasn’t much into lyrics and once I started rap, it started helping my vocabulary too. I started thinking of words that rhymed and I wrote everyday. Rap became an addiction, I wouldn’t sleep till I had scribbled something.