Stand up for what’s right, says rapper 100RBH, as he dedicates his new single to Dr B. R. Ambedkar

With his new song Zanjeer, rapper 100RBH, aka Saurabh Abhyankar hopes to help listeners to break free from socio-psychological conditioning. Sharing his inspiration behind the song, the rapper and dancer from Maharashtra says, “Dr. Ambedkar dedicated his life to humanitarian issues, and the song is a culmination of all the strong ideals that Dr Ambedkar stood by and attributed to the [progressive] revolution. The topics that I’ve rapped about in Zanjeer are all related to human rights.”

Abhyankar adds that Dr. Ambedkar’s “will power, determination and confidence” is what inspired him to be the artiste and human being he is today, “and that’s why I follow his ideals.”

The 23-year-old mostly raps in Marathi so his own people can connect to his music. As a regional artiste, he feels “it is important to use art to raise their voices, reflecting on social constructs and socio-political discord”.

He elaborates, “The atrocities in our societies are rampant — we here about rape, extortion, casteism,murder almost on a daily, and I feel it has desensitised everyone towards many evils. We need to stop, take a step back and analyse how this is adding to the problem and not helping us fight it at its core. People need to stand up for what is there and protect it, nobody will do that for them, and that’s why as an artist, I use my platform to draw everyone’s attention in on the important topic and appeal to them to stand up for what’s right.”

So does he believe that there is enough representation of minorities and marginalised communities in music and films?

Explaining his perspective, he says, “The minority communities struggle to keep up with their daily needs (of housing, food and more), I think they are so caught up with the survival race that they don’t think investing in arts as a viable option, their mission is to stay alive and help their families stay healthy and afloat. That’s why I feel art is naturally not the first option they take up. Hence it’s important for me to use the platform rightly, for my fellow brothers and sisters.”