Meet Kabir Sen, hip-hop’s intellectual face

NEW YORK: Nothing could have prepared Nobel laureate Amartya Sen for a son who is famous in his own right in a world thrice removed from the rarefied groves of academe. But hip-hop star Kabir Sen says his father played a whimsical role in his musical destiny.

“I started playing the piano when I was four and considered quitting by the time I was 12 because I was tired of practising the scales,” said the 29-year-old with an infectious laugh. “He talked me out of it and told me that if I stuck with it, I would not regret it - he was right, of course!”

Kabir said his father does not know much about hip-hop, “but I think he appreciates the lyrical and message-oriented content of my music. He knows that people have recognised my music at various levels and I guess this has helped him to adjust to the fact that I am not in academia.”

Kabir, however, is still in the school system. He leads a frenetic double life as a music and physical education teacher at his alma mater, Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Boston.

As an eight-year-old growing up in London, Kabir suddenly lost his Italian-Jewish mother Eva Colorni, who was also a brilliant economist, to cancer. Sen wanted to take his young children - Indrani and Kabir - to another country where they would not miss their mother constantly. So he started teaching economics at Harvard. Kabir soon picked up the university town’s musical vibe.

“Kabir has always been certain about what he wants,” said elder sister Indrani, a journalist in New York. “When he was a kid he played all sorts of instruments - piano, guitar and briefly the violin, which was not a very great phase for us.”

All three of Kabir’s albums - Cultural Confusion (2001), Fuel for the Fire (2003), and Peaceful Solutions (2006) - have a distinctive sound and identity. He sells thousands of albums without any of the trappings of the ‘guns-n-gangsta’ lifestyle associated with high-profile rap artistes.

For those who see hip-hop culture as guns, girls, and drugs, Kabir, who is one of the genre’s finest wordsmiths, comes as a revelation. He focuses on message-heavy lyrics, away from explicit sex and violence. Don’t expect wild onstage antics and misogynistic lyrics either.

Socially conscious Raptivism Records, which has just released Kabir’s latest album in partnership with Uncle Trouble Music, chose him for a reason. 

Vincent Merry, president of Raptivism Records, said: "Kabir is in a unique position to influence people in many walks of life. We hope that his fusion of hip-hop, funk, and conscious themes reaches that maximum number of people possible, starting in his home, Boston, where so many people come to study."

Not surprisingly, Kabir's first album was a journey of self-discovery and drew on his rapid, early exposure to several cultures — Indian, Italian, British and American. The second had a more universal theme with tracks on love, hate and jealousy.

"Both my themes come together in Peaceful Solutions," he explained. "It is also about re-channelling negative energy and the power of respect, kindness and positive thinking. There are different musical styles on the album: funk, soul, blues and Indian music are all prevalent and hip-hop is the sound that sort of ties it all together."

Kabir grew up listening to Indian music, "particularly the music of Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and Zakir Hussein. My grandmother bought me a tabla when I was in high school, which opened up a whole new world of rhythmic interests. I also studied South Indian vocal music."

Kabir, who featured in Raeshem Nijhon's hip-hop film Brown Like Dat with artistes like Chee Malabar from Himalayan Project, D'Lo, Jugular and Karmacy has come to represent a breakout generation of South Asian hip-hop artistes with a growing fan base. "Kabir's new 15-song album has not been released in India, but fans can get his music online at www.amazon.com and www.bestbuy.com," said his manager Howard Turkenkopf.