Rap has been one of the most renowned music genres in both Hollywood and Bollywood. Lilly Singh aka Superwoman combined them both and gave us one of the realest fusions targeting many social issues like sexism, body-shaming, peer pressure and toxic patriarchy.
She mixed songs like ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’, ‘All Iz Well’ and ‘Aankh Maray’ into a groovy rap.
Singh is a famous YouTube star, television host and an actress, she is of Indian origin and holds a Canadian nationality. She is known for her witty and out of the box videos on YouTube, she is a huge promoter of ‘Girl Love’ and equality. Her acquaintances have been with many popular stars like Priyanka Chopra, Dwayne Johnson, Madhuri Dixit etc. Her visions have clearly been reflected in this recent video, a bomb of realities she just dropped.
I remade some of my favourite Bollywood songs into rap songs! Oh gosh… one more remix?! https://t.co/kxYoTSRuv5
#LillyRemixesBollywood pic.twitter.com/3iOlMVHKzV— Lilly Singh (@IISuperwomanII) March 28, 2019
The YouTube star rapped lyrics like; ‘call me smart, before you call me hottie’, ‘what position I like, the head of the table’, ‘light or dark skin it’s a win it, don’t bug me’ and our personal favourite ‘don’t need fair and lovely, because I love me’. All point to societal issues and what women has to go through. These were only the lines from ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ just imagine what the other two have in store!
The second song was ‘All Iz Well’ in which Superwoman highlighted the highly stigmatised mental health. She sang about how ‘when I’m offline I ain’t hashtag goals’, ‘anxiety sleeps next to me in my bed’ and ‘everything means nothing without mental health!’ This has to be something that our society widely neglects and should focus on. Mental health needs to be understood and taken seriously.
Lastly, Lilly remixed ‘Aankh Maray’ in which she raps, ‘boy you’re something new, wanna get a ring from you’ and ‘but then a queen winks at me’ talking about social issues again regarding sexuality (how she’s stuck between both) and taboos (marriage, age, colour, weight etc.)
Lilly herself has been a victim of societal pressure and had gone through depression in the past before she found YouTube. Making others laugh and happy made her happy, and from there the world got to know her as Superwoman (IISUPERWOMANII).
All these issues are present everywhere and need to be worked on. Live and let live is the subtle motto of the rap song.