Neeraj Madhav On Choosing Between Music Or Cinema: Music Is So Much More Liberating To Me | Exclusive

From films to OTT shows to the Indie music scene, Neeraj Madhav dominates all those spheres with the utmost ease. With every second that passes by he proves to his fans that he is indeed a powerhouse of talent waiting to explode with every given chance. Neeraj’s fans and followers love to see him donning new roles both in films and in life. It is simply commendable how well he balances both acting and singing with the same amount of passion and conviction.

In an exclusive interview with News18, Neeraj spoke about prioritising his musical career, how music happened to him, his dream in terms of music and much more.

Excerpts From The Interview-

 To start with, you have so much on your plate at all times, how do you manage your music and also pay equal attention to your acting career?

It is not very easy. So, first I used to prioritise my acting scene, but on the other hand, music was so liberating to me, which initially started off as a passion project and eventually became an important part of my career. Now I have a team to help me handle my music side to make it a little easier. It’s also very refreshing that you never get tired or bored of doing one single job. When I’m done shooting for a movie, I know, I take a break and then get back into making music which is very refreshing and liberating. I find happiness in doing both together.

Let’s go a little down memory lane, how did music happen to you?

Music became a part of my life very recently in 2020. This was when the whole world came to a standstill. Being the creative person that I am, this time could not stop me from creating. I treated this phase as a time and space where I did not have to worry about the rat race because everybody was standing still. I took this time to look inside and tried uncovering hidden aspects of myself and figuring out things that I would never have done otherwise in the busy world.

Hip-hop came to me very naturally. I always enjoyed music, I connected with it through dancing and I also enjoy writing. So I put it all together made a mixtape and uploaded it on social media and to my utter surprise, I received an overwhelmingly good response.

Followed by this, I wrote an EP, recorded it and dropped it on YouTube. The streak of getting good responses continued and it drove me to make more music and eventually reach out to more people. I became a rapper or a musician, however, you want to name it, and I never looked back. All of this is very recent but all of this has become such a serious and mystical part of my life.

Music or cinema- have you ever been asked to choose one or have been asked which you like more? What’s your answer like if such a question came your way?

I’ll tell you what, it is never easy to prioritise. So I put my acting on the pedestal, where the major chunk of my revenue flows in. Music, on the other hand, is so much more liberating to me, which I have taken up as a passion project. It has also become such a significant part of my career now, which is why I have a dedicated team of people to handle the music bit of it. It is also very refreshing and comforting to know that I will never get stuck in monotony doing just one job, I have my options and I keep the juggle on. I take a break and get back, which for me is equivalent to happiness.

If you had to describe your music to a person who was hearing about it for the first time, how would you do so?

I kickstarted my musical journey from hip hop itself. With some old-school beats and an EP called Jungle Speaks, I ventured out into pop-sounding songs and some low-fi as well. So far as including musical songs. I kept experimenting with different subgenres of hip-hop and pop. I hardly define myself as pro hip hop but I am somewhere on the borderline of it.

If I were to suggest some of my songs to a newer audience, I would say listen to the unpopular ones because they are personally my favourite. Since I do not cater to a specific audience, I’m chilled with the fact that they vibe with any track. I have been experimenting. I will keep experimenting.

The independent music scene in India has of late been termed as “extremely welcoming”, how has your experience been?

It was indeed an exciting time. When I dropped my first few songs, I did not have a record label. It did not even have anything to do with cinema. My stage name was an alter ego, I was entirely reinventing myself as an independent artist and that was quite a thrilling process.

In my journey, I also discovered that the audience is even more interested in indie music as compared to film music. I am also very delighted to know that it is only going to get bigger. I am even more excited to see how the live entertainment scene is growing for which the indie music scene has to grow and hence, I am looking forward to that and doing many more live shows.

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There is no way that this won’t come up, you worked with AR Rahman as well. What was it like? Can you share your experience with us?

Definitely, it was a dream come true and I never saw it coming my way. I was working on a movie as an actor and Rahman sir happened to listen to one of my verses at the audio launch. He called me to do this song that was initially supposed to be a BGM for a fight sequence but later on he dropped it as a single which was even more exciting. For me, this was big. As a child, my whole artistic musical sensibility was vibing to AR Rahman and Prabhu Deva. The very first rap song that I heard was Peta Rap and not Eminem or Tupac. In every way, it was very special for me to collaborate with him and it was indeed a dream come true.

What is your dream in terms of music? Do you also have a dream for the music scene in India?

Everyone eventually wants to be international, and I’m working towards that slowly. I’m making music in Malayalam, the step one to it is to crack the pan-Indian audience. I want to and I think I’ve sort of done that to an extent with a couple of songs like Namma Stories, Arpo etc. but I wish to make it more appealing to the pan-Indian crowd and eventually look for some international collaborations.

Can you talk a little about your association with South Side Story?

South Side Story has a legacy of bringing South artists and giving them a platform to perform on the other side of the country. It has done a couple of seasons and is a big hit among the people of the north.

It feels great to be performing at South Side Story for the first time. I haven’t performed in this part of the country before, and Delhi is quite exciting. The lineup is electrifying with many more hip hop artists performing on one stage. I’m looking forward to a great show and being part of this festival again.