This callback is a special one, especially for all the Delhi Hip Hop connoisseurs out there.The album we’re gonna take in our crosshairs today is the one started it all for the Delhi scene, Class – Sikh by Prabh Deep and the conductor extraordinaire, Sez on the beat.
The first track “Intro” is a skit, which consists of a drum heavy jazz instrumental playing in the background, very reminiscent of the interlude “For Free?” from To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. The lines seem to be imitating the news reports about the two polar opposite sides of India’s education system. One, where undergrad students bag huge salaries right out of college, and the second, where students take their lives each day, under pressure from the inhuman level of perfection the system demands. The second voice you hear in this song is Encore ABJ’s, one half of the best in the business, Seedhe Maut, which is a cool little easter egg. The track fades out with these news reports, leaving the listener with a lot of food for thought and setting up the stage for the next track perfectly.
“Suno” is a trap anthem is written in the perspective of the life of a kid who hated the concept of school and the whole education system, which is based on getting marks instead of actually learning something, also how he started selling drugs, after which he honed his craft and became the biggest force in Delhi Hip Hop (which is also talked about in the song “Chitta” ,which is centred around the idea of drugs. Specifically cocaine and the life of a drug dealer before hip hop). The music video is a rollercoaster ride through the life of a young Prabh Deep acting as the narrator, skipping school to deal drugs, getting his stash taken by an older kid after which his dealer tries to hunt him down to take revenge. The music video ends with his dealer chasing him up a staircase just to find him at the top, surrounded by Prabh, Seedhe Maut and others, protecting him.
“I don’t care” starts off with an analog sounding drum break and what sounds like a distorted vocal sample. This track enlightens the listener about how school shattered the narrator’s dreams and how he felt like he was good for nothing when he failed the 12th standard. But this setback made him realise his true passion, penning down verses and bars and making it big. He also takes shots at his haters talking about how they used to laugh at him behind his back but go around sharing his songs today and acting like fans. The 8th track G Maane addresses similar themes, with Prabh spitting in the face of his haters, announcing that they call themselves Gs but aren’t gangsters, but instead Gaandus. This theme is sprinkled throughout the project with the 10th track Murder which features a Bollywood sampled beat (very unlike Sez’s style) which Prabhdeep rides, telling his listeners how he murders the beat when he gets on the mic.
The track abu features only one instrument, Prabh’s voice, where he talks about a childhood friend of his, Abu. Through his slam poetry-like verse he tells us how Abu did time at Tihar Jail twice, and while he was in there, he got addicted to drugs and eventually passed away because of an overdose. Through this Prabh Deep tries to make the listener understand the stark reality of his growing up years and stuff he had to see and go through.
The 5th track Click Clack ebbs into this theme seamlessly, starting off with some heavy 808s until the beat drops, where Prabh drops lines about the merciless and rampant killings, drug use and other heinous crimes in his neighbourhood growing up, and how people turned a blind eye and didn’t care.
The next two tracks feature some clever wordplay in the titles. They’re both called Kal. However, one has ‘future’ written next to it in parentheses. This is a play on words as the word ‘Kal’ means both tomorrow and yesterday. In ‘Kal (future)’, Prabh Deep raps about his aspirations and goals after making a dent in Indian Hip Hop (this was back in 2017 when he had just started getting some recognition). The beat has a bright,hopeful and triumphant tone with high pitched and airy drums, over which Prabh raps about making his parents proud, and lays out a game plan of sorts, telling the listener what he wants to achieve in hip hop.
The next track Kal is iron clad proof why Prabh Deep is and will always be on the Mount Rushmore of Delhi Hip Hop. Masterful storytelling, rhymes, charisma and an ear candy of a beat, this track has it all. The track’s music video goes hand in hand with the lyrics and starts with Prabh’s mother telling him not to go out late at night, but he disobeys her and goes anyway. While he’s out, he’s jumped by three punks who try to rob him. He fights them off and runs away to his house. The group stations themselves outside his house, goading him and calling him out to fight. Prabh’s dad loses his cool and throws a brick at one of them, breaking his nose. The situation escalates to a dangerous level. The track and music video ends with Prabhdeep calling his gang of friends to fight the punks off, but also on a deep introspective note about how he needs to be careful while growing up in these dangerous streets, because he has his mom, dad and sister to care about.
Prabh closes out the album with Oye Oye and the self-titled track, reminiscing about writing bars and verses in his neighbourhood, how he lifted himself up through his craft, with his own efforts and the support of no one but his family.
It’s been more than half a decade since this album came out, but I truly believe that it can go toe to toe with any of the new or old records that Delhi has given us. A true ode to the masterpiece that Prabh Deep and Sez crafted way back in 2017.
