Music
Meet Siyaahi, one of the finalists of Red Bull Spotlight 2020
Representing Ahmedabad
Red Bull Spotlight is a unique hunt to discover India’s best emerging rappers.
The winner of the competition gets to record their debut album in a professional studio, support to plan its release, a music video and more.
Red Bull Spotlight 2020 had 15 city qualifiers around India, followed by a virtual pre-qualifier that was judged by Swadesi. In the pre-qualifier, eight rappers were selected for the next round.
The eight rappers spent several days in Mumbai, attending a series of workshops, mentor sessions, one-on-one advice booths, performances, freestyle and battle rap face-offs, and more. The eight young rappers then participated in a finale where they each performed one song in an attempt to be crowned the winner of Red Bull Spotlight.
The week of sessions, workshops and challenges, as well as the finale, was also documented in a six-part series, with each episode addressing a different aspect of music-making. The series had Seedhe Maut as Masters of Ceremony. It can be watched on MX Player.
Siyaahi was one of the eight young rappers to make it to the finale of Red Bull Spotlight 2020. He came into the competition by attending the qualifier in Ahmedabad and was then shortlisted to progress via the pre-qualifier that was judged by Mumbai-based multi-lingual rap group Swadesi.
Siyaahi during the Red Bull Spotlight sessions
© Ali Bharmal
Siyaahi during the Red Bull Spotlight sessions
© Ali Bharmal
Siyaahi during the Red Bull Spotlight sessions
© Ali Bharmal
Siyaahi during the Red Bull Spotlight sessions
© Ali Bharmal
Who is Siyaahi?
Known only as Aniket Bhat before he took up his rap persona, Siyaahi belongs to a Kashmiri-origin family living in Ahmedabad. He has grown up with a multi-cultural experience and always felt a strong connection to his Kashmiri heritage.
His father would often play ghazals on his stereo and translate the Urdu phrases that caught his attention. And his parents would sometimes speak in Kashmiri at home. Although Siyaahi never learnt Urdu perfectly and cannot speak the language, he can understand when someone speaks to him and knows a few words and phrases, which he often incorporates into his English and Hindi lyrics.
He learnt how to play the drums over three years as a child and credits that original foray into music for having given him a good understanding of the art and how to pick up on melodies.
When he was 15 years old, he wrote his first rap verse and performed it, all by chance and passion. He had been showering while his brother was practising on his guitar in a adjacent bedroom. Siyaahi picked up on a melody his brother was playing and immediately asked him to keep practising it. Within 10 minutes, Siyaahi had gotten out of the shower, written down a verse and rapped it while his brother looped the melody on the guitar.
He continued jamming with his brother, who played guitar with college friends as a hobby. Siyaahi developed his rap skills while his brother perfected his guitar playing.
In 2017, he recorded his first rap song for a contest. He reached out to a friend working at a radio station who agreed to let him do the recording after hours at the station. Sneaking in and waiting for six hours before everyone else had left the building, Siyaahi managed to record the enter song and submitted it for the competition.
Now a 21-year-old rapper with much more experience and a few collaborations behind him, Siyaahi enjoys new school styles of rap and loves to explore lo-fi.
He lives by a simple credo: “Everything is a phase and it will end, whether good or bad.”
