Mrinal Paul, popularly known as MOKSH, dropped his new album, ‘All or Nothing’, making a clarion call: to behold the metamorphosis of boy to man, bi-lingual to quad-lingual rapper, austere stylist to lush sound-scraper and Shillong struggler to Rajdhani player.
As the beats kick in, MOKSH is in pursuit of meaning, transformation, identity, aspiration, patience and love; a relentless quest over four languages and in myriad keys, organs, strings and samples.
‘All or Nothing’ is the portrait of an artist as an ‘insider-outsider’, the biography of a middle class boy hustling in the rap game, the tale of an independent musician flying the flag and the dream of something hemmed breaking free. So it is that the music takes its cue from these stormy sentiments.
The album builds up slowly as MOKSH contemplates loss in ‘32 bars’ but the beat drops quickly and the rapper starts grappling with meaning and pathos in ‘Pola Jui’, spitting his rhymes in Assamese when Bengali won’t do.
This song sets the tone for the album and establishes the keynotes of lingual independence, cultural ambiguity and musical invention. Cultural identity confounds MOKSH – he is proud that he is ‘Gully ke nahi Pahar ke hum’ and where he can ‘…savor like beef/Bina conscience or consent’ but there is pathos in his acknowledgement that Guwahati has been kinder to him than his hometown Shillong.
But this inner churning doesn’t stop the flow of a man who is ‘Azli hai’ and the subsequent songs see him in a fiery, defiant mood; an artist and a human being who will claim his space no matter what.
The BPMs shoot up but at work is also a more musical minded rapper who makes space for sweeping organs, Duitara phrases and Sarangi refrains. ‘Azli Hai’ serves up a delicious sample while ‘Independent’ and ‘Middle Class’ hook you with some fine hip hop production work as MOKSH holds court over representation, aspiration, class and musical independence.
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The interlude signals a change in style, tack and tempo as the 27 year old rapper drops paeans to love, lovers and unattainable women – ready to play ‘Flacko’ to their ‘Riri’. Listeners get to know a different side of MOKSH in these songs – part secret admirer and part tender lover ‘…rhyming flowing like a violin’.
As he inhabits this reflective space, MOKSH also squares up to past mistakes, lessons missed and a young man’s hubris. But school’s out and in the end, he resolves that he has his sight set on one thing ‘Baitha kone mein nigahein hai Kohinoor pe’ and though wisened, he’s not bowed; moving on because he is ‘…baaghi jaise Gaddafi/Aur tum Uncle Sam ke army’.
‘All or Nothing’ is an act of changing but not the actual transformation itself and as MOKSH moves from ‘Shillong se Rajdhani’ there’s a deliberate open ended-ness about the journey, an embracing of uncertainty and a desire for musical transcendence.
Above all, the album is a much-needed multi-lingual, multi-cultural document where the personal has become political but also where it has found expression in languages and styles.
Also read: Gully Boys of Northeast: 5 rap sensations from India’s music capital