The 25-year-old Utsaha Joshi, better known as Uniq Poet, is a rising star of Nepali hip hop. As it is for his ilk everywhere, his music is inspired from the African-American struggle in Bronx, New York in late 20th century, rap in particular.

 

The extraordinary rise of YouTube has taken the art­ist to national and interna­tional fame. His latest song, “Straight Outta Kathmandu”, has garnered nearly a million views in just about two weeks and saw the first of his many collaborations with interna­tional artists.

 

Even the reaction videos to his music has generated hundreds of thousands of hits. YouTube is the new Gold Rush, and this artist doesn’t want to watch from the sidelines.

 

I meet Uniq Poet in front of Maitighar Cafe and we sit down for a conversation with a cup of masala tea.

 

 

We start with the obsta­cles of the hip hop indus­try in Nepal. Uniq starts by emphasizing the importance of record labels and lack thereof. “We know rap, we can spit verses, make cyphers, but we don’t know how to make music. I’m still learn­ing the last part,” he says. He says without music labels, artists cannot get proper guidance and management and that is part of the prob­lem. “Artists make a hit, and they don’t know what to do after that. Without guidance, they become one-hit won­ders,” he explains.

 

He also emphasizes the importance of right brand­ing of the culture, “It’s not Nephop. We can’t claim a cul­ture and try to make it our own; it’s still hip hop in its true form. I don’t understand why people keep saying Nephop,” he adds.

 

We then delve into the pro­cess of making a song. The rapper explains that he just starts with listening to a beat and then fills in lyrics off the top of his head.

 

He says Raw Barz opened the door for every Nepali hip hop artist. Unique first came to attention with his Rap Battle against another rapper Laure. He explains, “I had an anger, a grudge that I’m gonna do great in the scene. I felt like I didn’t do enough. That was my side of the story. A different story unfolded in my family. Some­how my mother also hap­pened to watch the video and started crying. It was rough as my father also didn’t approve. It became so difficult that I stopped visiting my in-laws. I was a sham.”

The rapper explains that he starts with listening to a beat and then fills in lyrics off the top of his head

When talking about his new song ‘1994’, he says he wrote the lyrics for it in 25 minutes and everything from making beats, shooting and editing the video was done in a day. He explained that 1994 is his birth year and the year when his favorite rap album, Ilmatic by Nas, hit the shelves. “So, it’s a representation of my rebirth into the hip hop industry,” he adds, with a hint of laughter.

 

Talking about the future, the rapper says he is confident about the prospect of hip hop in Nepal.

 

“Our work is starting to get attention and we’re col­laborating with people from overseas. It is true, hip hop has found a fan base in the hearts of millions of Nepalis,” he says. The industry, once limited to passion projects, now is slowly developing into a profession with a hefty pay and huge name and fame. “It’s a wonderful time.”

 

The rapper explains how Nepali hip hop has even reached the books of pub­lished research. For instance, a British scholar doing research on post-earthquake poetry approached him to learn more about his song ‘Kina?’ “We have even entered academia,” he says.

 

With excitement oozing from every inch of his body, Uniq adds, “You can expect a fusion between rock and hip hop in Nepal. A big local collaboration is coming out.” Collaborations with other international artists are in the works as well.

 

After a 45 minute conversa­tion and a flavorsome masala tea, I leave the tea shop with a newfound excitement for hip hop and enormous prospects for Uniq.