Trans rappers Kinari and Shehzore spit tunes and reveal the truth

For decades, art and media have grappled with representations of communities on the margins of our society. But the pendulum has mostly swung between completely saintly and completely sinful characterizations; both of which are extremely troubling. In the past five years, the queer subject has started to become a little more complex, with queer people in positions of authority taking responsibility for their own representation. Two hip-hop/rap albums by trans rappers – Kinari Ka kattar shemale and Shehzore’s The girl with the sideburns— His writings, released earlier this year, contain brilliantly articulated artistic arguments that demonstrate that representation need not be symbolic.

“The queer art and media around me was radiating joy and pride. But for me, that’s not the whole truth. The ground reality of being a trans woman in this country is not all sunshine and rainbows,” says Kinari, a Chennai-born and Delhi-based trans woman rapper, producer and DJ, speaking over the phone at 11 pm. Her way of speaking is matter-of-fact, musical and doesn’t mince words – just like the way she rhymes and lines. On her debut album, kattar shemaleShe sought to capture “this surreal mood” of carving out a place for herself in this “brutal, hate-filled world.” The result is an album that is compositionally lush, lyrically fiery, and filled with rich references that speak to India’s homegrown gay pop culture and camp history.

Samples of dialogues and music from the 1988 film starring Rekha Movie Khoon Bhari MaangFor instance, the 12-track album features several songs. “It was a very inspiring film for me because it showed me cosmetic surgery for the first time. Also, I identified with Rekha’s character, who is a woman wronged by society; I think it’s a very trans film,” she says. “The music cues and sound effects in the film were great qatar [dangerous] And that was the mood of the album as well”.

freestyling on a scooter

Memories and the ordinariness of life blend magically in each of these albums. Hyderabad-born rapper-producer Shehzore’s debut album, girl with sideburnswas created in six months after she was “forced to move back in” with her birth family. “I started making beats on my laptop and watching Bollywood movies to get samples from them.” She would then play these self-produced tracks and “freestyle the lyrics” to herself while driving her mother’s scooty around town before recording them. “That’s how I developed each of the 11 tracks on my album,” she says.

Apart from the resonant sounds of the city in the album, she has also had a lot of fun with the language. Shehzore performs in Hyderabadi Dakhini “Because I have seen Hyderabadi rappers use this language just to get the crowd going or to joke around with their audience, but they don’t rap in this language,” she thinks. “It’s because they have realised that one can’t be serious in this language. DakhiniSo, for Shehzore, choosing Dakhini Because of “its inherent humor, playfulness, vulgarity, and the fun it has”, it has opened up new ways of exploring what she calls the “serious poetry” of her own lesbian identity and gender journey.

Shehzore

Both these albums also completely sidestep another minor shortcoming of representational politics: Kinari and Shehzore refuse to play the role of victim or good person. Instead, they offer complex critiques of their communities and society at large. On a musical landscape that brings together the sounds of their current lives in Delhi’s Khirki Extension, Bollywood beats, and their Tamil influences – the use of stranger the beat of the drum and Anthem-inspired musicality – Kinari doesn’t let anyone miss the truth bomb. She is rebellious and proud. She talks about her repeatedly broken relationships with men: “Your man is safe only because he’s ugly”; The double standards expected of marginalized people: “Maai said baby there is no need to bend,I’m pretty tall in 5 inch heels” (Let me tell you baby, there’s no need to bend down/I look down on you in my 5-inch heels).

While Kinari’s tone has a sexy flair and danger, Shehzore’s style is more robust in storytelling. She interweaves her personal stories with myths and her religious upbringing. For example, with ‘Vaat’, she revisits the story of Prophet Ayyub “who is like Ayyub Bible“. Besides being his “jocular take” on the Islamic legend, it also “shows his disagreement with the idea Patience or patience, or that all suffering is a test from God”. She briefly summarizes along the lines, “When the fruit of patience came, my tongue got burnt” (By the time the sweet fruit of patience arrived, my tongue was already burning).

Curiosity as a guide

Both actors don’t want to be confined to a single space – they are letting their curiosities define their upcoming projects. Shehzore will still work in Hyderabadi DakhiniBut she is “going to Goa to start a rock band with friends”. She will also be visiting different cities as “an unplanned, impromptu mini tour” to perform tracks from her album.

For your next project, Cage songsKinari is shedding her confidence for a sweet meditation. The two tracks already released – ‘Bhakt’ and ‘Khwab’ – bear the imprint of her style, but also a change. The songs are more vulnerable, inviting her listeners to look beyond her personality.

The author is a Bengaluru-based poet and writer.