Hip-hop album by Sikkim rapper

Gangtok, Sept. 3: Rapper Bosing is set to release his debut hip-hop album, which he claims is the first of its genre in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills, named after himself here tomorrow.

With the music scene in Sikkim and Darjeeling hills heavily influenced by rock, traditional and pop, the album, also called Bosing, has opened up another genre for the region that has quite a following for hip-hop.

The audio album is being produced by hangout zone, Café Like and Loud.
Twenty-four-year-old Tashi Wangchuk Rapgyal, known as Bosing among friends, started to rap when he was a schoolboy. “It is the first full length hip-hop album from Sikkim and probably from Darjeeling also,” said Bosing, who considers rap icon Tupac Shakur his inspiration.

The music album has eight scores that have been recorded at the Psalms Studio in Tadong near here. Bosing has written the lyrics and sung all the tracks with supporting vocals from Neha Pradhan from A-Live band, and local singer Christina.
According to the rapper, most of the songs in the album are about love and relationships. “A song called Love You Mom is dedicated to all mothers while Spinning Around is about my village Lingmoo in South Sikkim where I grew up,” he said.
“I started to rap during my days in St Paul’s, Darjeeling. I did a lot of shows in school. I also performed at Tantra in Calcutta during the Northeast Fest in 2007. Then I started performing at the clubs here at Gangtok,” said Bosing.
According to the proprietor of Café Live and Loud Bikash Chamling, Bosing is their first production. “This is a unique project and it is our privilege to provide a platform to upcoming local talents,” said general manager of the club in Gangtok, Miking Archer Lepcha. Café Live and Loud has been a popular hangout zone for music lovers for the past two years with live bands performing every evening. “We have been bringing in bands like Parikrama and Pentagram. This album is one more such product to entertain our customers,” said Lepcha. He said 400 CDs of Bosing have been prepared initially.

Regarding the expectations from the album, Bosing the singer said its success depended on the people. “A lot of youngsters are into hip-hop these days and I hope the album will be a success,” he said.