At the furthest extreme of that chart was Indian composer, producer and singer AR Rahman. The Oscar-winning superstar was such a big name, Sri Rascol thought, what were the odds he would have the time for him?
They say if you visualise something, it can come true – and that definitely happened here. Sri Rascol has since collaborated with Rahman on several ooccasions, on tracks such as “Showkali”, “Mayoon” and “Pakshi Raja”.
He has also performed at Rahman’s concerts in Malaysia twice – most recently at “AR Rahman Live in Kuala Lumpur” on July 27. Sri Rascol was the only Malaysian artiste included in Rahman’s star-studded lineup.
“Sharing the stage with such a legend filled me with joy and gratitude. It was like a dream come true once again,” Sri Rascol told FMT Lifestyle.
“The outpouring of love and support from our Malaysian audience during this concert was truly humbling and energising. It fuelled my passion and determination to soar even higher and higher.”
Known for his versatile flow and high-speed rapping techniques, the 38-year-old is also a songwriter and record producer whose hits include “Raaja Paatu”, “Irumuham”, “Pudhiya Era”, and “Hip Hop or Karipap”
He is also part of the duo ADK Srirascol with Sri Lankan producer Dinesh Kanagaratnam, with whom he created the popular hit “Vellai Poove”.
Sri Rascol started off as a breakdancer at age 14, though he would sometimes rap along to the songs he danced to. After hearing his prowess on hits by the likes of Dr Dre, Tupac and Snoop Dogg, a friend suggested he try rapping in Tamil.
This proved a challenge, as Tamil words tend to be longer and have more syllables than English ones. Sri Rascol also recalls not being good at Tamil at the time: he would watch movies and ask his mother the meanings of difficult words.
“I came up with my own dictionary of Tamil words and would do my own revision. When I wrote songs, I would write about family, about a mother’s love, about God, what I was going through. I would pick the words from the dictionary to use,” Sri Rascol outlined.
He then began performing at gigs and underground events. Then, in 2015, a friend who had worked with Rahman sent one of Sri Rascol’s demos to the superstar.
According to the rapper, Rahman replied within minutes, asking to speak with him that day.
“Man, I had no words!” Sri Rascol recalled with a laugh. “I had goosebumps, getting to speak with the maestro. He wanted to speak on Skype, I didn’t even have the app at the time! I had to specially download it to speak to him.”
In 2016, Sri Rascol was invited to perform with Rahman during a concert here. This moment, according to him, was truly the turning point of his career.
“AR Rahman is an amazing person. Even though he’s a big legend, he doesn’t brag. He’s very patient, and gives out very positive vibes,” Sri Rascol said.
“I’ve learnt a lot from him, not just about music, but about how to be a good person.”
The power of positivity
Sri Rascol is also currently working on his debut album, so expect songs to drop by December. He hinted that this would be a “big album of his life”, featuring collaborations with international artistes.
A huge believer in the power of positivity, he hopes to use his music to spread joy and uplift others. In his own words, he doesn’t perform “for the applause, but for a cause”.
“Nowadays in the world, there are a lot of bad things happening. But with your message, you can change a person’s mind, heart, or thoughts.
“The new generation is coming up, and they will look to you as an inspiration, a mentor. If what you say is negative, they will be influenced to be negative, too. So show some positive messages, in a good hip-hop way,” he concluded.
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