We spoke to Shlovij about spreading religious awareness by rapping in Sanskrit and about his experience at Hustle 2 and his plans. Here is the full interview:
Hey Shlovij! Glad to have you here on offthedome. Before we dive in, how would you describe yourself to someone unaware of you?
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you for this greeting. As far as telling about myself to those who don’t know me, an artist is first identified by his art, so my art will be the medium to present myself in front of them and I will say that my name is “Shlovij”. And I am associated with the field of music and I am known in the rap field for my rap in Sanskrit and pure Hindi language.
Your art is one of the most unique ones in the whole scene, spreading religious awareness and rapping in Sanskrit has never been done before. How and why did you start this?
I also started simply but due to my interest in the Hindi language and to keep the impact of words deep, I used pure Hindi words which made me look a little different. Then one day my friend Avinash told me that your Sanskrit is also good, so try Sanskrit also. After that, I started reading Sanskrit words and gradually started making rap using Hindi and Sanskrit words also. After that, I realized that what would be a better way than this to present my mother tongue and Sanskrit language in front of everyone in my way? So I just keep moving forward with this thought
What were your inspirations? What made you feel that you can blend Hip-Hop, something that is very ‘cool’ and famous amongst youth, with powerful Religious teachings that are thousands of years old? Did you do this to spread awareness?
The reason behind all this is that nowadays people are not interested in their own culture and ancient writings. As everyone knows in modern times, music is connected to everyone, so along with expressing my feelings, I also included references related to my culture in my writing. And as far as inspiration is concerned, when things start disappearing in front of you then it is a different thing to take inspiration from there and try to keep the things that are being left behind connected to everyone.
I don’t know how many people are aware or pay attention to what I have written, but I know that if something reaches the ears of a hundred people, then at least ten connect with it. So, I have to show myself differently and also impart knowledge to people.
Even before Hustle, your artistry featured something unheard of globally. How was the initial reaction of your close ones and people in the industry?
For everyone associated with me, it was a moment which gave new hope and happiness to every person. But there is a right time for everything, so maybe my right time was not on the Hustle stage at that time, but still, my close ones have faith in me and have given me new energy and courage. Apart from this, everyone knows about the industry’s reaction to any artist when the artist is struggling.
How did things change for you after the show? How was your experience with the newfound fame and glory?
When you appear on a TV show, that too on national TV, a lot of people immediately connect with you and get connected to you after seeing your work. Along with that public, there is also a responsibility on you as to how you keep the public connected with you. After the show, the same responsibility came upon me and I am just fulfilling it. After the show, some good things have happened and efforts are on to do some good things.
Tell us about your upcoming album, “Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta”. What was the idea/intent behind this album? When can the audience expect it to be released?
Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta is such a scripture which has the solution to all your problems. I had to read Geeta but I was short of time, so I thought that whenever I read Geeta, I would write the meaning of each verse, write it in a simple form and convey it to the people through my musical style. This became my dream album since the time I came up with this idea and then after Hustle, when I was very broken, I took the help of Geeta Shastra to handle myself and at the same time converted it into rap form, And finally the help of everyone’s love and blessings my dream album has been completed and I have uploaded all the eighteen chapters of Geeta Shastra on my YouTube channel.
Hip-hop is a form of expression and always has been. I feel that you would find the younger generation drifting away from their cultures and would not know much about the beauty of their religion. This could be a reason behind your unique musicality. Do you intend to educate them using the same modern tools they love- Rap?
We cannot teach anyone anything unless he has his interest. I have selected the rest of the writing myself, so I just want that even if ten people are going to listen to me, they should learn something. So you can say that what you say is also true to some extent, but one thing is also that there is no limit for me. My music is waiting to connect people emotionally along with knowledge and also to entertain people.
Is there any message to your followers or our audience in general that you’d want to say? Also, tell us about your upcoming releases, is there anything else apart from the album?
I would like to say just one thing to everyone life is very short and there is a lot of work to be done. So just keep focusing on your work without getting distracted. The rest of the album has been completed and you all will get to hear many more in the future, so just stay connected to this brother/friend of yours and keep your love.
Jai Shri Krishna 🙏
You can follow and listen to Shlovij on Spotify here!
