Kekho’s latest music video speaks up against the discrimination faced by the people from northeast India.
A new rap artiste from Arunachal Pradesh is making fresh noises in the music world. Kekho Thiamkho is his real name but he is popularly called K4 Kekho. His page K4 Kekho has more than 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Kekho’s latest music video ‘I am an Indian’ speaks up against the discrimination faced by the people from northeast India.
“Dekho mujhko dekho thoda, Chinese jaisa dikhta hoon / Itna lamba nahin lekin thoda naata dikhta hoon / Andar se hoon Indian, Paiso ke liye jeeta hoon / Elections ke time pe, hazaron mein bikta hoon”
Loose translation:
(Look at me, I look Chinese / Not too tall, I am rather short / I’m an Indian from within / I live for the money / During the election, even I get sold off in thousands of rupees)
The video released on 8 May, 2018, and has already been viewed 95,000 times on YouTube.
Kekho recounts to ThePrint the numerous times when his outstation friends complained to him of racism they faced. These stories became his inspiration to write this song. The challenge was to spread awareness without hurting anybody’s sentiments.
“Though I have never experienced it first-hand since I’ve not been away from Arunachal, I knew that it was a common issue and needed attention,” said Kekho.
Who is Kekho?
The 24-year-old musician, who has two strands of braided hair, was born to a traffic policeman and a homemaker. He grew up in a small village Lower Chinhan in Tirap district, located in the southeastern region of Arunachal Pradesh.
Music came early to Kekho. When in class 12, the young rapper noticed that many of his classmates enjoyed and responded well to his compositions. That, says Kekho, was his cue. The self-taught artiste created his own style of rapping inspired by global icon Eminem and a New York-based rapper and actor Rakim Mayers (stage name ASAP Rocky).
The journey
When Kekho uploaded his first YouTube video titled ‘Education’ two years ago, he worked with minimal equipment. He recalls how his younger brother shot it on an ordinary mobile camera. Kekho fondly remembers his friends – Kailukh Lukham, Solomon Sangchuchu and Nyago Ete – who always helped him become a musician.
From then to the present, it has been a long journey.
His latest song was originally released in 2015. At that time, it was doing rounds on WhatsApp. In 2017, Kekho met director Bengia Morto. It was Morto’s idea to turn the song into a music video. From there on there was no looking back. The duo went on to discover the chairman of Arunachal Got Talent Hillang Nima, who produced the video under the banner of AGT production house.
Though initially pressurised by his parents to take up a government job, Kekho’s recent success and recognition has brought in much support from them.
The essence of a song
Kekho holds the firm belief that it is the lyrics that truly hold the essence of a song. The rapper firmly believes in his words and says that it cannot be compromised. He says, “if the lyrics are not good enough, the video isn’t impactful either”.
Reaffirming this, Kekho says that those from the other parts of the country have received his lyrics very well. Contrary to that, his local friends have been critical of his accent and Hindi pronunciation.
He adds that media’s reach has been particularly helpful in getting across to the people.
A struggling star
The musician says money from his music is hard to come by and is often difficult to arrange. Moreover, the artiste hasn’t been earning from the YouTube videos due to technical problems.
All this has not dampened his spirit. Kekho who calls himself a ‘struggling musician’, composes background scores for the local film industry and often delivers stage performances to earn his daily bread.
“I don’t want to give it up at any point in time. There are others who follow me now and I have a responsibility towards them, by not giving up on music,” he said.