Rising from the dynamic landscape of Kashmiri hip-hop, the rap duo SOS (Straight Outta Srinagar), featuring Tufail and AATANKI, has become a prominent voice. Hailing from Kashmir, they use their lyrical prowess to convey their emotions, struggles and hopes for their homeland. Their music gives a platform to a marginalised community, bringing attention to the complexities and challenges of their disputed region. In this interview, we uncover their journey, inspirations, and impact of SOS on the music scene.
Tell us how you guys met for the first time and how the SOS duo was formed.
Aatankki participated in a challenge by Rebel 7, a free verse. This got a lot of traction. Tufail commented on that reel, “Wow Aatankki,” which made Aatankki come into preliminary contact with Tufail. After that, Tufail approached Aatankki for a video because, at that time, Aatankki was a videographer. This stood as the starting point for the both of them to meet each other, and the rest is history.
Who inspired you to step into hip-hop?
Aatankki was inspired by homegrown artists like Ahmer, who has become quite close to the group in recent years. Tufail had always been an avid hip-hop listener and, for the most part, listened to classic rap emcees like Biggie, Tupac, Eminem, and 50 Cent. If we look at what inspired him in the South Asian scene, it was mainly Bohemia from a young age.
How did you guys meet Bobby (30KEY!) and Ahmer?
They joined a live session on Instagram where Azadi’s Mo Joshi and Sez on the Beat were playing beats for the audience. They played 30KEY!’s beat and shouted him out, saying, “This guy’s from Kashmir.” One thing led to another, and they messaged him to create a connection, and now they have a long-standing relationship. With Ahmer, Aatankki was approached for a video of a song that Ahmer had made, “Gang shit!” This formed a rapport between them, and after the interaction between Aatankki and Tufail, all three of them met. Slowly, they started to meet each other more consistently, sitting in Lal Chowk, and this turned into a friendship and a feeling of brotherhood that still lasts.
What was the main reason you guys decided to create Koshur Nizam Collective along with other rappers?
Koshur Nizam stands as a legacy thing for them (Ahmer, Tufail, and Aatankki), who believe in quality music. They want to spread hip-hop across the landmass of the valley and make it so that everyone from Kashmir who wants to make quality music can do so under the wing of Koshur Nizam. And it would still stand long after we’re gone.
Your recent song with Ahmer, Huzaif Nazar, and 30KEY is a masterpiece. Tell us about its creative process.
Bobby had sent the beat to Aatankki to see if he could cook something up. Aatankki completely fell in love with the beat, and since everyone else (Ahmer, Tufail, and Huzaif Nazar) had already put their verses on the song, Aatankki got the urge to get on it as well. Since ‘Gumshuda’ got a ton of support from the audience and had a similar vibe, ‘Behoshi’ was born.
You guys had a beef in the past with another rap duo. Did it have any negative or positive impact on you?
This beef has always been a dominating factor in the careers of both Aatankki and Tufail. It was a tricky situation because Seedhe Maut and SOS, at that time, worked under the same label, ‘Azadi Records’. And to be very honest, this beef has always had a cloudy sky over SOS; it was always negative.
This all turned into a bigger thing because SOS always had proof of whatever happened, while Seedhe Maut couldn’t produce the receipts for anything. The main reason why this beef negatively impacted the group was because of the nature of Mo Joshi, the CEO of ‘Azadi Records’.
He always had a business mind, so whatever made him the most money, he would favour. Even when SOS planned projects for a certain date and funds were to be allocated, at the same time Seedhe Maut had plans for another song, the projects for Aatankki and Tufail were paused and no priority was given. Subsequently, SOS had been planning a project, which they later released called ‘Keef’ The concept behind it was that all the songs would start with a ‘K’ (Kotarbaazi, Kaalbaefi, Koshur Flex, etc.).
We contacted Mo Joshi about this idea to ask if anyone else was using this concept in their projects, to which Mo replied with ‘No’. After a while, they kept seeing that Seedhe Maut started using the Hindi alphabet ‘N’ in their songs, which later turned into the ‘N’ EP. This came as a shock, and when they started to ask around people in the label, primarily Mo Joshi, he tried to make a false narrative of ‘They did it on their own, and I had no idea.’
SOS were silenced by Azadi records, and even if we look at the recent interview Mo did, he talks about choosing Seedhe Maut over Prabh Deep. Which is quite sad. Another thing was the fact that even rappers and artists who knew what Seedhe Maut stood with them because they were the ‘bigger artists’ on the label, and basically, SOS was silenced and there was no support whatsoever.
You have announced a debut album is coming this year. Tell us about it. What is your approach to this album, and what impact will this have on the hip-hop industry?
This new album is the culmination of what SOS has suffered for the past two years. It is anger, frustration, and making sure that they are heard. They were silenced and made to be submissive to the industry, and initially, it wasn’t their thought to make it into an album, but since every feeling they felt coalesced, it became a full-fledged project. The diss
scene is quite confusing because they won’t disclose if the album features disses or not, but what they guarantee is a new sound with a lot of energy, which they didn’t even think could be made.
Tell us something about your upcoming track or project.
They feel like, at this point, their arsenal has a lot of projects. And this puts them in such a position where they feel like they can drop projects anytime they want; just the timing matters. They’re trying their hardest to put out at least one or two projects a month. And with the plans for an album release, they’re more than excited for what’s about to come.
What is your dream collaboration?
At the moment, we are focusing on the music they put out so much that the question of a dream collab sounds quite arbitrary. They’re just excited about new projects and putting them out for your pleasure.
Ultimately, what message will you guys want to send to the budding rappers stepping into hip-hop from the Valley?
The message is simple; make it so that you’re not silenced. Make sure that you never lose hope and confidence in yourself. Put out music, be consistent, and everything else comes later. ‘Gaand phaad do!’
