Odia boy Samir Rishu Mohanty, who goes by the moniker 'Big Deal' has just dropped his latest album “Odia Mo Bhasa” (translates to : Odia my language). The rapper who once did playback singing for the film ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ talks about his journey and his latest album.

Why did you choose “Big Deal” as your professional name?

So, back when I started listening to rap music/ hip-hop music I used to hear this phase big deal gets thrown around a lot in rap songs, then I thought “oh this is a very cool word” and nobody has ever thought of this as a name. It would make a very cool name and it would also leave an impression like people would remember this name. So, I thought it’s a cool name and that’s when I adopted it. Now I have changed it to Rapper Big Deal.

Tell us how did you get into music? 

So, this happened when I was in a boarding school in Darjeeling, there they used to show us movies every Saturday and one Saturday they showed us this movie 8 miles based on Eminem. So, after watching this movie I was heavily inspired, so, the movie is all about rap and that’s when I thought I want to rap. It started off as a hobby and then eventually transitioned into a full-blown career because I was really passionate about the whole rapping thing.

What is the inspiration behind your recent song?

Nowadays I have been seeing this trend amongst the youth in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, etc where Odia youth who know Odia prefer to speak in Hindi or English, it’s a trend. You know like I’ll be speaking with them in Odia but they will be responding in Hindi or English. That cycle continues, there are instances where I’ll be like “You are Odia, right? Why don’t you speak in Odia”. So after this, I wanted to make a song where I beautify my mother tongue, and I want people to see and feel proud of our mother tongue Odia. Basically I’m trying to say is see I’m half Odia and half Japanese still speaking in Odia. So, you could also talk in Odia and it’s not like I’m trying to force them into anything, it’s just my opinion and my way of making people more proud of our mother tongue and I fell during these tough times, during this lockdown I want to put out something very positive with a message and make people happy. Also because Utkal Divas is the day after tomorrow so it’s just the perfect time.

What is the story behind the music video?

So, the song has been ready for a long time now and actually what happened is that my dad passed away this November, after which I had a strong desire to make a music video. So, that’s when I flew my whole team all the way from Bengaluru to Odisha. So, we shot for a week across Odisha like Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Konark, etc. Then we accomplished the video that we shot with the Odissi dancers and Hip-hop dancers. it was very exciting and was a very fun one week. Then I brought the video back where it was edited and colour graded in Bengaluru and now we have the output.

What are the other projects you are working on right now and also considering these are unprecedented times, how is it affecting you?

Well, right after this I’ll try to complete my debut album. So, I’m working on my debut album of which almost 80% is done and I want to finish the rest 20% and put it out in a very big way, which is why I have shifted to Mumbai and I’m talking to various major companies, record labels, and management companies so that they can support me for putting out my album in a very big way, so, that is going on.

Due to the lockdown, there is definitely a sharp cut in my income, it’s almost nil now. Even the shows I was booked to perform at they got to cancel, so, I lost a lot of money there. It’s really hard, and also my business back home which my dad used to take care of, that is also affected and there is now no income. These are tough times but I’m sure we’ll emerge as stronger and we’ll find a way I’m very very sure. 

In the future who would you like to work with and why?

I would definitely love to work with Raftaar because he is very very inspiring and is one of my role models, I’m already in constant touch with him but I haven’t approached him yet to work with me. I’m just waiting for the right song if I have that right song I’d love to approach him and present it to him. But yes I want to get him for my debut album. 

What is your message to all the people trying to pursue a career in rap music?

My only message is practice a lot. I mean now at this time we are all home and have a lot of time so practice a lot and polish your skills and become really good at it, don’t waste time, don’t just sit and watch movies and series like a lot of people do. We creative people need to use our creative ability to the maximum, so, in order to grow, you know, we don’t have salaries so we have to own our skills and become as good as we can be. So, practice a lot, so that when this gets over you’ll have an upper hand from the people who didn’t practice. Use the time to the maximum.