BK : Indian Rapper, Singer and Songwriter
About
Borkung Hrangkhawl was born 7 October 1987, also known by his stage name BK, and is creating music that talks of racism and discrimination rather than simply entertain audience. Alcohol, women and parties are not his “taste” when it comes to rapping.
Hailing from Tripura, Hrangkhawl is the first rap artist from the state to make it to the limelight.The son of Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl, president of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura, finds the genre interesting as he believes “you can literally tell a story through a rap song”.
He frequently performs and freestyles at various events in and around New Delhi.. For an artist who is independently moving forward on a musical endeavor, BK is big on bringing other local talents to the limelight. Case in point, his most recent release, ‘Fighter’ features Naga Idol winner, Meyinungsang aka Meyi lending his voice to the chorus. In our exclusive interview with him, BK spills the beans about his musical journey, life lessons and an upcoming collaboration with international hip-hop artist, Hard Kaur. Read on.
Early Life
As a child, he attended St. Peter’s School and Belmont School in Shillong. Shortly after graduating from St. John’s Higher Secondary School, Shillong in 2006, he moved to New Delhi and enrolled at the University of Delhi. And he is an active social worker campaigning for the rights of indigenous tribal inhabitants in the northeastern Indian state of Tripura.
“I draw my inspiration from my father. He isn’t a musician, but a politician who fights for the rights of Tripura’s indigenous people. It’s the need of the hour because despite having a rich historical, social and cultural heritage, my state’s tribal community has dropped to a minority status. I witnessed my father’s love and passion for our people while growing up and it inspired me to follow his footsteps. But, as it turned out, politics wasn’t my cup of tea. Instead, I decided to do what I do best: carry on my father’s legacy and tell the world about our people through music.”
Career
He started his musical career with his formerly New Delhi based hip-hop group, DropSquad, which was signed by India’s leading music label Times Music, in 2010, after winning the nationwide talent hunt “Supastars” from the North Zone round.That same year, the Punjabi singer, Jasbir Jassi, invited him to be the opening act for the releasing event of Jassi’s 8th album, “Jassi – Back with a Bang”.
In December 2012, BK released his single’s “The Roots (Chini Haa)” music video on YouTube and it generated over 100,000 hits in less than 3 weeks. The song’s theme was the socio-political situation of the minority, indigenous people of Tripura. Chini Haa means “Our Land” in the Kokborok dialect, the dialect of the Tiprasas.
Borkung announced on 4 January 2013, via his Facebook page, that he would be releasing a solo debut album “The Journey”, with a release date set for the summer of 2013. The music video of “The Journey”, sang in English and Hindi, from the album (feat. Hag’ai Rongmei from The Mangalz) was uploaded on YouTube on 31 January 2013. The video had more than 865,000 YouTube views in just over a month.He was one of the opening act’s for ‘Hoobastank Maiden India Show’, in Shillong, 2013.
Music
- The Journey” which was released on 31 January 2013 on Youtube.
- “Taking Over the World” ft Last Renaissance.
- “Humanity” ft Last Renaissance
- “Free”
- “Never Giveup”
- “Chini Haa”
- “When I’m All Alone”
- “All or Nothing” ft DropSquad
