Life as a Warrior Saint
Where did you learn to rap?
I never really learnt to rap, it just came to me. It comes naturally to me as a blessing from God. As a young kid I always used to write as a form of expression and one day I just put my voice into it and it came out well. I felt that it was the best way for me to express myself. After coming to that realisation, I just kept working on my music. I kept experimenting with different sounds, styles and techniques and just let it go from there.
What do you like most about rapping?
At times when I'm rapping, I feel as though I'm free from the world around me. It's like I enter a world where there is just my words and my music. And that's what I love most about it. I just love having that as an outlet. We all need to vent our emotions sometimes and making music allows me to do that effectively.
What challenges have you faced as a Sikh in your musical career?
I think the biggest challenge I've faced was when I first started and was trying to get out there. Being a Sikh, I was not known for rapping or anything like that. There were no expectations for me to achieve. People thought it was a joke to see a young Sikh kid rapping. So a lot of people didn't take me seriously at first. Back then I saw it as a challenge. A lot of people doubted me and it was hard trying to come up.
But now when I look back at it, I sort of see it as a blessing in disguise. Because people doubted me and had no expectations for me, I pushed myself and my abilities so that I could flip their views. So I could prove to them and, more importantly, to myself, that I have what it takes to succeed in an area where people don't expect you to succeed.
Why did you choose to tell this story about Sikhs in this way?
I wrote this song in hope that it would inspire the youth. On another level, I wanted to show people the reason as to why I'm proud to call myself a Sikh. I had learnt a lot about the sacrifices many Sikhs have made over the course of history and I wanted to expose that to the people. These countless number of sacrifices taught me to be proud of who I am, regardless of how people perceive me, and I wanted people to feel the same way. For the wider population, I wanted them to understand who we were. So I wrote the song from the beginning of Sikh history, all the way to contemporary examples to show how our Guru Jis and elders have given us so much so that we could practice our faith freely.
Any advice for aspiring young Sikhs like yourself?
Just like everybody else who aims for success, stay consistent and persistent. Just keep pushing yourself, keep pushing the limits and the boundaries until the very end. There's always room for improvement, so everybody who wishes to succeed has to constantly strive to excel. Also, remember that you're a Sikh…be proud of who you are. Stay true to your faith and your roots and stay true to yourself. Practice your faith, meditate on the name of God and always feel the presence of Guru Ji within your self. Don't ever forget who you are – "I am a Sikh and shall ever be a Sikh." |
