Seedhe Maut talks about hip-hop music: It has been making some of the best music in the country

In an exclusive chat the band Seedhe Maut talks about the hip-hop music in the country, entering mainstream music and performing at Sauce in Mumbai.

Hip hop duo Calm (Siddhant Sharma) and Encore ABJ (Abhijay Negi) together known as Seedhe Maut “come alive” on stage. The two recently performed at Sauce, Mumbai and call the stage experience “a bit nerve-wracking but in a good way”.

Seedhe Maut

“We enjoy the tension, the nervousness and we’ve learnt how to use it to fuel us on stage. It’s about giving our best for the people out there who constantly show up for us,” shares Calm.

For anyone who has not been introduced to their music, it is their stage name that catches everyone’s attention first. Negi recalls, “It actually started in Nainital, where Calm’s brother Sahil and his friends created this term between them. During summer holidays Sahil came to meet Calm and the lingo stuck. When we were figuring out what to name us, he had the obvious answer.”

Currently, hip-hop is closer to its peak in the nation, with several hip-hop artists being all over reality shows, stage shows, music videos. Calm says, “It’s the well deserved spotlight that the Desi Hip-Hop community is finally receiving. Our community has been making some of the best music in the country and this is just a scratch on the surface.” Negi adds that the “spotlight is a result of hard work” : “Hip-Hop wasn’t taken seriously, and it’s not a trend either - it’s an important part of Indian music.”

The duo are known for hit tracks such as Shaktimaan, 11k, Batti and others. However, they have stayed away from mainstream music. “We don’t care if what we make is mainstream or not - we’ve never tried to fit in. We’ve experimented with new ideas, with different influences and we don’t want to put our music in a box,” Negi shares, as Calm chimes in, “We make music for ourselves and we put out things that we are satisfied with regardless of what is trending or even considered mainstream.”