Interview
Sanju Jaison
RAPT IN RAP
It is easy to jump on the bandwagon and follow suit, but it takes confidence and courage to deviate from the norms and take up a career that is considered completely foreign.
Text: Simna Nahas Photos: Sanju Jaison
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anju Jaison also known as San Jaimt, is the young, talented Malayali rapper who started rapping at the age of fifteen. His passion to send out positive and meaningful messages to the world through his rap gained him immense popularity. His debut album ‘ We’re Sorry’ was a hit that gained him followers from all over the world. His skill to deliver words in rhythm, rhyme and patterns of meanings gave him opportunity to work with some of the professional musicians like Alphonse Joseph, Gopi Sundar, and Sivamani. He jammed a few tunes in some movies like The Hitlist, Face to Face and Mr. Fraud. The chat with San Jaimt proved him to be a jovial, warm-hearted young man who has a strong desire to make this world a better place. He is quick witted and has a broad smile on his face that makes him
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stand out from the crowd. He is struck by reality and doesn’t look for ways that are unrealistic to wash out the evil, but gives out his views and positive messages through his rap that is basic enough to be comprehended by anyone. With an introduction and quick exchange of information, a conversation extended over a cup of coffee. For some, rap is about expressing oneself, for others it is a way to show anger. What does rap mean to you? If you look at the origin of rap it has more of an aggressive nature but to me rap is a medium to send out a message. I see it as a good source to reach out to people by taking up the current issue which people can relate to easily. I don’t use rapping for aggressiveness but if you want to say something against an odd situation, it is definitely a good medium.
My work ‘We’re Sorry’ is a dedication to Nirbhaya. I wanted to bring out the emotions that a women and child goes through when faced by such atrocities. I portrayed it in such a way that my message to the people was that we can’t do anything about it other than staying safe and cautious when walking on the streets. Bad people are there everywhere, and it is the basic nature of human beings. If someone disrespects a woman, we can’t do anything about it other than advice him. India is a victim to such atrocities. I realise that this happens a lot more in democratic countries because of the laws pertaining to that country. I strongly believe that if there were strict laws in our country people wouldn’t dare to rape. How did rap occur to you? During my school days, my friends and I found rapping very cool, and I thought why not try, I wanted to know how rapping