Ashish Thakur as well known as BB (Bihari Boy) who has been justifying his name by representing Bihar while being raised in New Delhi Jamnapaar. Flourishing his art around pioneers of Indian Hiphop scene like Ikka and Lil Golu, he waited years before he put out his first video on the internet with a young rapper goes by the name Raga. Since then never looked back. His texture of voice and sense of music makes him a prominent artist in the Indian Hip-hop scene. Knowing his roots he is winning hearts of even Delhiites.
Here is Ashish Thakur in a conversation with GOGO Magazine.
1) When did your journey as a musician begin?
When I was in class 9th say almost about 10 years ago I loved writing small poetries without knowing it was a Rap. Then for the first time, I saw Black Wall Street Desi a group of my brother’s ( LilGolu, Ikka Singh and Raftaar) in my area which I proudly call as JAMNAPAAR, they use to fire rap and then I realize that my journey of music has begun. They are like an inspiration why I started raping and coming into this industry. In 2016, I finally released my first track named Jogira Refix with Raga.
2) Which was your first song?
My first released song was Jogira Refix feat Raga on 4th Aug 2016. We made that track in just 3 hrs Recording, Video, Editing all included and released it on RAGA’S YouTube channel.
I think this happened the first time, probably that a song was completed in 3 hours and was ready to release. And in this track, I used my mother tongue ‘MAITHILI’ because I wanted to spread my Bihari culture with hip-hop as I am from Bihar. And the link to that track is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUwTh-q2aOY&feature=youtu.be
And first solo track was “SHURYWAAT”.
3) Which has been your most memorable achievement?
There is not much as I have just started my career but I think there was one show which is my most memorable moment. I have done a show for ‘Contemporary Art Week’ in 2018 at Nehru Park Chanakyapuri in front of 16000 people. That day I felt my worth when I was on stage and people were screaming my name ‘BB’. Now I want to be more greedy and want to aim for more than 50,000 people.
4) Who has been your inspiration?
My Mom and Dad, they have always inspired me and told me to never fall apart in any kind of situation. They faced lots of hardship in life but never gave up and that made me more strength in life to work harder and harder towards my ambition and goals.
5) How was the experience working with Ikka and Lil Golu?
Amazing, fun, madness and a lot of learning. They are like my elder brothers. I saw Ikka Bhai in my tuition classes when he was my senior. Golu Dai is my mentor. I have looked up to him always. They never let me feel like an outsider and always treated me like their younger brother. They taught me how to write good things, how to switch flow and how to record everything. It’s been more than 12- 13 years we are together but never released a track with them because I was polishing my talent so far. But in 2021 you will be surely going to witness the best collaboration of mine with the best people of my life.
6) Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Performing and sharing the stage with the pioneers of hip-hop.
7) Which is your most preferred genre?
I love all genres of music as you know anything can inspire you to write but my favourite genre is obviously Hip-hop. ( Hip-Hop is life you see !! )
8) Tell us about your latest track.
My latest released track was ‘GALAT LOG’ with my two brothers Aghor and Sun J. That’s just a message to everyone “Yaha JAMNAPAAR mei sab heavy hai toh halke mei nahi lene ka”.
9) Tell us about the Rap culture of Bihar.
I was born and raised in East Delhi but my roots are from Bihar. And Dai was the one who gave me this name ‘BB’ which stands for BihariBoy. I am trying to spread my mother tongue “Maithili” worldwide through hip-hop. And some of my brothers like S King, Shloka, Kohinoor (female rapper) are also trying to grow the rap culture in Bihar.
10) How was life in quarantine?
Safe and creative. I had a lot of time to explore and write more creative rap. I also released more than 5 tracks in this quarantine. And I realised that we don’t need an expensive setup to record a song. It is just you need your creativity and talent and you can easily record it on your phone as well. I think because of quarantine I got time to work on my Debut EP and album. Here is the link of those tracks which I have recorded from my phone. I’m high (BB X AUTHEN)
J Jhand (A diss track to J Hind)
These vocals are recorded from my mobile phone.
FOLLOW HIS JOURNEY
INSTAGRAM: @meranaambb
TWITTER: @meranaambb
YOUTUBE: MERANAAMBB
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