Tuning Folk: Pinky Maidasani tells us why she likes combining rap with desi flavour

Pinky Maidasani has injected sass into a folk tune in her new single, Bullet Wale Saiyaan. Right after that, the crooner rapped in Hindi and Punjabi to Mikey McCleary’s tune Turn It Up in the web series Four More Shots. She dropped the former independently (with composer-lyricist Sandy Taneja), as the rights to two of her previously-released tracks were with record labels. Set in Rajasthan, the song has Pinky’s raspy vocals, electro beats and desi lyrics as well as the tune. “After spending so much money and effort, it made sense to keep the rights,” she reasons.   

COMBINING TWO STYLES

Growing up, Pinky lived in places such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, which are the epicentres of folk music. “I’ve always been fascinated by rustic tunes — Punjabi, Awadhi, etc. I’ve always liked rapping, too, so, I decided to combine both,” she states. Doing so has held her in good stead since she doesn’t have quintessentially sweet voice expected of female playback artistes. “I moved here 20 years ago. I’d approach composers for work but wouldn’t get a response. The minute I said I can rap, work began flowing in. I started with Amit Trivedi’s Kikli Kaler Di in Luv Shuv Te Chicken Khurana (2012) and got more film songs as well as jingles, all for folk rap,” she points out. 

RAPPING IN REGIONAL LINGO

About choosing regional lingo, Pinky says, “There are so many languages in our country with completely different styles, which gives an artiste that much more scope to perform.” Her next single will be a Haryanvi-Hindi folk song, which will release soon. “It has a lot of swag and since most numbers are made for men, this one says don’t take girls for granted,” says the classically-trained singer. Artistes usually revisit an existing folk tune, Pinky has chosen to make originals. “All traditional songs were composed by someone. Why can’t we? Also, there are so many remixes in Bollywood. If an original becomes a hit, it’s great,” she says.