It was 2004 when eight-year-old Issac Naveen was first transplanted from the streets of Worli, Mumbai to Otteri, Chennai to stay a vastly totally different life. Over there, he would exit fishing and lounge with at the least 10 different kids who would deal with and terrorise the streets of Mumbai. “It is in Bombay that I learnt hip hop, rap and dancing. This massive gang would all gather to watch videos of dance-offs from across the world on YouTube. My aspiration was to join a dance crew and be cool. The dream stayed on even when I arrived in this city,” he says.
As a youngling with none severe information of Tamil and solely a crude Bombay Hindi, Issac says that he discovered Chennai alien. Yet, it was through the early days the place he bought two alternatives to fulfill his idol — Vengayam Perumal. “My grandfather was a thug, a benevolent one. Everyone knew him on the streets of Otteri. He’d stop at a shop and eat whatever he pleased. He’d give away all the money in his pocket to anyone who asked. He’d wear thick gold chains and several rings. He’d also drink a lot which is why he died when I was young. When there was a need to christen a stage name, I wanted it to be rooted in something meaningful but also keep it fun. That is how I arrived at Vengayo,” he says.
Issac’s homage to his grandfather’s identify is now echoing in lots of corners of the web and internationally. His newest single ‘Chikkama’ directed by his buddy and fashionable Tamil rapper Paal Dabba launched in June is now charting at one million views. The video, primarily based on a gangster and his trigger-happy gang of pals taking on a purple carpet, is absurd, gory and wildly entertaining.
All concerning the gore in ‘Chikkama’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The visible language, model and the affect of old-fashioned hip hop (he used the beat from 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’) and gaana is suave, telling us a story full of blood, dying, warning and revenge. While it is exhausting to catch it multi functional viewing, the hook line with the phrase ‘Chikkama’ tends to loop in a single’s head.
What does ‘Chikkama’ imply? “’Chikkama’ can be used to denote many things. Chikkama iruke could mean both ‘I’m sorted’ or ‘I’m in trouble’. My mother, who works in a marriage catering service unit, was recently telling her co-worker ‘edhukku ivlo chikkama iruku’. It was the first time I heard her use the line and I was thrilled,” he says.
‘Chikkama’s visible language developed when Paal Dabba randomly heard the track at a music producer’s home. “He was in Paris when he said that he’d like to direct the video. He said he really liked the song and was showing me around the city on one of our video calls. I was happy he was getting to visit these places. We had only seen such sights on Grand Theft Auto [videogame]before this,” he says. The two struck a friendship again in 2015 once they began dancing for Bfab, a dance crew in Chennai. They have been tight ever since, with Issac choreographing many of Paal Dabba’s dance movies. The two even collaborated for Vengayo’s first single ‘Ai’ in 2022.
Rapper Vengayo
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Since Chikkama’s launch, Vengayo has been receiving assist and appreciation from a number of members of the movie trade together with Aishwarya Lekshmi and Sid Sriram. He is intent on shortly shifting to the following challenge with Think label that launched his earlier single. “Money is important for me because my father is a Dunzo driver, mother works in the catering industry and brother works at the harbour. However, I really do not want to chase wealth. Let it take its time and find its way to me,” he says.
For inspiration, he typically watches movies and reels on Instagram. But this yr, Vengayo desires to examine BR Ambedkar and Pablo Escobar. “In Otteri, Ambedkar is everywhere — in our houses, on the streets. I have heard so much about him. I want to read him,” he says.
“I am not much of a reader though. If this interview comes out, it will be the first time I read a paper,” he says, breaking into amusing.
