Straight outta Srinagar | Music
Ahmer, a 24-year-old rapper, is making sense of Kashmir's hard truths in his poetry
On August 7, two days after the government revoked Jammu & Kashmir's special status, Srinagar-based rapper Ahmer Javed was returning home from Delhi, where he had been invited by New Delhi-based hip-hop artist Prabh Deep to perform 'Elaan' on stage, the incendiary centrepiece of Ahmer's debut album, Little Kid, Big Dreams. "I just spoke about what was going on and I spoke to the crowd. More than just performing, I had a conversation," he says, his voice now resigned.
On 'Elaan', Ahmer is searing but also boastful, one of the essential tools in a rap artist's armoury. He says in Kashmiri: "Sirinagariken kochen kin neerith aawus. Meh heu na kah, zan bha koshur hangul (Straight outta Srinagar, this is my destiny. I'm one of a kind, like that stag, Kashmiri)!"
In one fell swoop, the 24-year-old (who uses his first name for his rapper persona) establishes his identity and states his intention. Little Kid, Big Dreams was released by Azadi Records and the label wanted Ahmer to focus on his roots. "It had to be storytelling-it had to be about Kashmir, my culture, the conflict," he says.
Through the course of eight tracks, Ahmer is at his caustic peak, narrating his story so far. He sings about his late uncle Aijaz Ahmad Dar, a casualty of armed struggles and encounter killings in Kashmir in the 1990s in 'Uncle', about artistry in 'Akh' and the social pressures that impede treading your own path in 'Galat'. He admits that even in the current situation, there's little support and encouragement for artists in Kashmir. "I know that tomorrow if there's a hit on me, no one will stand up. But we still keep on doing it," he says. As the album flows to a close from the bleakness of Kashmir in 'Kasheer' to the title track, Ahmer tells us that despite the circumstances, he'll power through.
Ahmer says, "We have struggled, and still struggle, everyday to be artists. I don't feel it's ever going to end." For a kid who started out rapping voice notes on his mother's mobile phone at age 13, Ahmer has played his cards close to the chest, releasing remixes and reworked versions of music by the likes of Nicki Minaj and others to now finally putting out his own music.
Though he feels weak right now, Ahmer says he'll never stop speaking his mind. Ahmer seeks out the people "who really understand" what he's trying to do to "keep the positivity alive in all this negativity". The rapper is bothered by present celebrations in the country, but adds, "I feel like the narrative of the mainstream telling us everything is okay won't stay for long. These stories will break through."