Raftaar pays homage to his roots with new album 'Mr. Nair'

MUMBAI: Rapper Raftaar has come out with his sophomore album "Mr. Nair", and says the album gives him an opportunity to narrate his life to the world.

From working with his fellow Kalamkaar associates like KR$NA, Yunan, Deep Kalsi, Harjas, Rashmeet Kaur, KARMA; Bengaluru-based rapper Brodha V and Gully Gang signee Shah Rule to old-time collaborators Manj Musik and Bunty Bains, the 16-track album showcases several facets of Raftaar's persona whilst highlighting his passion for music.

"This album is an opportunity for me to narrate my life to the world. This is a curtain raiser of my story, my struggles, my success," Raftaar said.

"‘Mr. Nair' is an acronym I coined together that not only stands for my surname but also means ‘National Ambassador Of Indian Rap'. It's an epiphany of how my life has shaped up with all the struggles and how far I've travelled courtesy my modest middle-class upbringing," he added.

Looking back at his career, Raftaar said: "Since my initial years whether it was music, dance, painting, writing or whatever sort of creative outlet, I was exposed to; it has contributed to my story, because there was a hint of the hip hop culture in everything I did from the start. In all honesty, I created ‘Mr. Nair' to break a psychological barrier that most artists create for themselves unconsciously which hampers their success story."

"I wanted to distance myself from the whole ‘what's trending and current rat' race. Take my example, for instance, as a teen I disapproved of my surname because it was difficult being a Malayali living in North India. But as soon as I realised that the name tag doesn't matter, I could focus more on my art. This album pays homage to my roots and pays respect to the family name that is built on the foundation of warriors and there is no better time than now," he added.

He thanked all the musicians who contributed to the album.

"Every individual who came on board to create this beautiful piece of art is very important to me. Without them it wouldn't be the album I wanted to present. To every avid music enthusiast, this is my labour of love and I've tried my best to gift you something that's never been presented before as I have worked on this creatively for the past one year with a lot of technical experimentation," he said.

The 16-track album was released on Zee Music Company on April 13.