Rahul Prasad ('17)
Rahul Prasad ’17– on finding joy and meaning in recording his own music while attending the University of Washington in preparation for entering the Foster School of Business.
Rahul Prasad arrives on time for our interview, slightly out of breath from his trek across the University of Washington campus. It is a cold mid-winter evening in Seattle, and the warm and well lighted coffee shop on University Way is packed with students studying alone or in pairs for upcoming final exams. We manage to find two seats at the end of a table and immediately start talking about music.
When did you first become aware of Hip Hop and Rap music?
Even back in elementary school, I was aware of Hip Hop. I remember hearing Eminem – he was extremely popular. I was struck by the provocative things he was saying on a record. If you tried to use the words he was saying in a normal conversation, you couldn’t get away with it, but somehow in the context of music, that expression was acceptable because it was art. That was the first time I realized you could do stuff in music that you couldn’t do in real life.
As I have matured myself, I have found other artists, like J. Cole and Logic and Kendrick Lamar who I would not necessarily say rap with the same intensity as Eminem, but they have a similar penchant for pushing the boundaries of what can be said in music -- they just choose to use it to shine light on racial inequality, mental health issues, etc. Listening to their music, I felt empowered by that to talk about meaningful stuff, stuff that was important to me.
The arts, whether visual, musical, or performance, have always permitted subjects that were difficult or even forbidden in ordinary discourse to be discussed or touched on in a safe way, to invite contemplation and a conversation. Many artists also adopt a persona or alter ego for the same reason, and this is not a new thing.
Yes, definitely! A super hero is another example. Eminem did it with his persona Slim Shady. I really like Logic, and his real name is Sir Robert Bryson Paul III, and he has also gone under Young Sinatra and Bobby Tarantino. Logic is his MC name, but he is the person behind the ideas expressed. I use the handle RP, which is my initials, but I think of it as meaning “Rap Purposefully,” and “Rhythmic Poetry,” which is what my music is all about.
David Bowie had Ziggy Stardust, and The Thin White Duke, among others. Many Japanese artists have names they are known by, identities they assume. When did you first start writing songs and making records?
I started writing raps and lyrics to beats (musical background tracks) in Middle School. The first time I ever actually wrote and produced a complete song was as part of my Senior Project. I had this idea that I had been into music for so long that I should see if I could actually create something myself from the ground up. I wrote four songs, which I called “Inauguration EP”.
I was inspired by what Braxton Baker ’16 did the year before with his Senior Project, and a classmate of mine, Adi also did a something similar.
Have you listened to some of the early proto-rap material, such as Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution will not be Televised”?https://youtu.be/QnJFhuOWgXg
Oh yes, definitely! Rap was already well established when I became aware of it, and I have enjoyed tracing its history and roots. You can see how rap’s social meaning influenced the music of artists like Dr. Dre and his generation, and they in turn influenced the artists I grew up on like Eminem, J.Cole, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Logic. And their music has influenced me and other rappers of my generation.
We graduated 40 years apart. Looking back, I can see how American music of successive generations, jazz, blues, and rock and roll, all successively became not just American popular music, but spread around the world. If you travel globally now, if you listen to contemporary music from anywhere, you can hear the influence of rap / hip hop. It is bigger than any of the previous waves of American music. Do you think there is still more new ground to be broken given how popular this music has become?
Oh, 100%! If you listen right now, to music from the 90s you can hear how those artists evolve with changing times and musical influences, and that continues right to the present. The tracks being produced now are much better than what you could get back in the 90s. Those were made from literal samples of old jazz and r&b songs. Now the tracks are built up from original ideas, using a pallatte of sounds that are incredible, generated using computers. Sometimes, things move in a direction that at first doesn’t seem productive or even interesting, and then a brand new brilliant idea emerges. You never know.
Do you like working with singers on hooks and choruses?
Sure, it just depends on the song. Especially for more pop/radio-oriented tracks, that can be really effective, and engage a wider listenership. But not all songs need or even benefit from adding a melody. Sometimes, just the rapped words are what the song requires to get its message across. In the past, female soprano vocals were favored, but you can also have effective use of melody by repeating a simple hook, and that can be a male voice. One track I have been working on uses my class of ’17 classmate Victoria on the hooks. I think it adds a different dimension to the track. At the very least, using singers helps to break up the potential monotony of only hearing one voice all the time (no matter how much you like it).
Collaborations are also really powerful.
Oh, yeah.
Talk about your new record.
It is 8 tracks, double my first one. This is my third production. I had my senior year production, and then my first year here at the UW I dropped a number of tracks that I had been working on for some time. This project is the first purpose-written album of songs that are thematically linked, created from the ground up. Early on, my goal was to make music as simply and inexpensively as possible. This time, I have upgraded to Logic software (from Garage Band), and added more production capability. The result is a more polished and finished sounding record. I did a deep dive on the production side this time, which was fun and educational.
Is there a theme for this record like there was for your Inauguration EP?
Yes, the album is called Better Days. It’s the first one I have released everywhere, on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. And if you look at the album artwork, it has the sun over a beach, which can either be interpreted as a sunset or a sunrise, so you can decide if better days are ahead of you or behind you. For me, looking back on my time in high school, the great experiences I had there, the great friendships I made, I loved all that. But now, I am in a new phase of life, and how do I want to look at that? I’m saying good-bye to the past and hello to the new. Certain songs are talking about being confident in a new environment, and others about being unsure in a new environment, if that makes sense.
That’s actually a very Zen concept, because it cuts both ways. You see both ideas at the same time. Thematically, does the whole record touch on that, or are there other ideas too?
Right. If you listen, you will see that there are a lot of different ideas expressed within that theme. Part of it is the transition from high school to college, but part of it is also my recognizing that music is something I take much more seriously now. I’m starting to feel more confident in myself as an artist, more confident in my ability to express myself.
Are you connecting with other artists in the Pacific Northwest?
Definitely. The music community here is very supportive, even while it is competitive. I am by no means one of the premier artists in the community, but I am feeling supported and encouraged as I learn my craft and steadily improve.
And you have collaborated with another Overlake alum, Braxton Baker ’16, correct?
Yes, Braxton has a very different voice and style, and he inspired me to make a record, so it was great to work with him on this one! It was great meeting with you too!
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Epilog:
Rahul writes: “Here’s a link to the album I just released. The last track features Braxton!”
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Aexc9AWRqPRh3zIitz52M?si=BDPKQ2YHTZ2ewUwP9L6vow
“If you are interested, I also released a new music video for my single "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind Remix" linked here:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMABjgZlmP0