Hetauda rap – local youth present their music

What’s the rap stage like in Hetauda? Well, we didn’t know there was one until Ashmin Parajuli – aka Inkie – told us about it. Just 15 years old, Ashmin has already recorded a few singles at his local favourite studio, HTD productions. “This year I have to focus on my SLC, so maybe I won’t be recording a lot of songs, but next year I will release my first album!” says Ashmin. Studio time is 2-3,000 rs. per song, which is even low, and it’s the rate if you want good sound quality. Uploading his tracks on youtube, Ashmin performs at the local music venues too!

Ashmin is not the only rapper in Hetauda either. There are at least two dozen, most of them young teenagers sharing the same sense of passion and determination as he does. Some of them even hope to make a career out of rap music! But is that really possible? “Sure”, says Ashmin, “there are rappers in Kathmandu and Pokhara who are already making money, they have jeeps and cars out there. Only in Hetauda we are behind, partly because of the local community: they think rappers are all into drugs, so they don’t support us.” Ashmin’s family, though, has even helped to pay for studio time!

But rap was never big in Nepal, so where does the inspiration come from? “Yamma Buddha”, exclaims Ashmin, adding that RIP Tupac Shakur is another big idol on the Nepal rap stage. Internationally, the stars are not least rap legends like Eminem and MC Hammer, who were also a major inspiration for Nepali pioneer rappers, Girish Khatiwada and Nirnaya Shrestha, in the 1990s. Lyrics in rap can be about almost anything, Ashmin explains, but to him there’s a purpose with his tracks. “Some rap about love while I write about social issues, like inequality. Rap is about expressing my views!”

It’s not clear whether rap is currently growing in popularity countrywide, but in Hetauda it sure is. The list of young upcoming rappers is still growing. If ever in town, go to music venues like Hupra Chaur or Seema Chowk and you’ll hear it every week. Until then, anyone with an interest in rap music or who just want to lend an ear to the young voices from a local town in Nepal can check out the rythms and lyrics of Ashmin and quite a few of the other rappers of Hetauda on Youtube. Just click the links below. This is music in development as these young boys and girls, most still in highschool, explore an otherwise foreign genre, adapting style and lyrics to fit their taste of “cool”!

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Latest on the Hetauda rap stage:

Youtube channels of Hetauda rappers:

Flow Pilot
Official Rap2oons
DSN’
Solta z
Two drops

Plus check out Nepali Underground HipHop on facebook for emerging rap around the country!

Thanks to Ashmin for sharing this story. Here’s to rap in Hetauda!

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