Srinagar: A rap song ‘๐๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ข๐ฅi, ๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ข๐ฅ๐ชโ on extravaganza marriages in Kashmir sung by Armaan Wani in 2017, went viral on social media.
Wani 25, of north Kashmir’s Sopore town is โpopularly known by his stage name โRapper Ashu.โ
The song highlighted the unnecessary lavish customs and expenses, which people in Kashmir crazily perform in marriages.
The song became an instant hit with its catchy lyrics and was viewed by more than half a million times on YouTube.
Ashu got the idea about the song around the time when his elder sister was getting married in his home town Sopore.
โOur family would sit together and discuss about the marriage customs and the huge money that would be spend on each custom,โ Ashu told Curtain Raiser.
โIt was then only, I decided to raise voice about this issue,โ he adds.
The impact of the song was instant and wide. A couple of days after the song was realised, a lady stopped Ashu near Kashmir University and thanked him for the song.
โShe told me that after watching my song, she and her husband have decided to marry their children simply, without squandering money on unnecessary customs,โ Ashu recalls with a pride.
This gesture made Ashu to write more songs on social issues only. Almost a year later, Ashu released his second rap song on frequent and unscheduled power cuts during winters in Kashmir. The song โKashmir ki hogayi batti gulโ was uploaded on YouTube on February 3, 2018, 12 days after the Chillai Kallan.
A post graduate in Political Science from Kashmir University, Ashu wants to highlight public grievances and social issues through his rap.
Apsiring to be an IAS officer, Ashu is currently preparing for civil services. He has performed at many state and national level events and hooked the audience with his captivating beats.
Ashu frequently writes songs on different social and political issues. His forthcoming song will be on the hardships that journalists in the valley face almost daily, he says.
Ashu has around 10.5K subscribers on his YouTube channel. True to his cause of raising his voice against social evils, Ashu doesn’t want to sell his art for money.
“I will continue to rap for social cause. When my pen will stop writing truth, I will quietly quit the scene,” Ashu says.
