Great Rappers of the Vedas Part One - The Old School Crew
OK, we’re going way, way back in time to when Vedic rap was first recorded. Of course there was no sound recording as we know it back then, 5000 years ago. It is a little known fact, but writing was actually invented as a way of recording rap. The earliest recordings in the genre were the masterpieces of the original Grandmaster of Vedic rap, Srila Vyasadeva.
He was the most prolific writer who has ever graced the microphone. Just one of his many works, the Mahabharata, is a magnum opus that outweighs the Iliad and Odyssey combined. That’s a pretty well-known fact for those in the know. What is less talked about is the fact that isn’t just like writing a novel or doing some kind of improvised spoken word show based on the fact that you have a famous name. It is all totally rhymed and on the one.
The Bhagavad-gita, the wildly successful “hit single” lifted from the album, and arguably Vyasadeva’s most well-known work, has two beats in it, the four on the floor anustubh meter, and the more intricate groove of the tristubh, or ksatriya meter.
The work is simple and direct with a few lilting changes to mirror the changing mood of the lyrical content. The first change hits at an emotionally charged moment when Arjuna’s bluff is called by Krishna and he begins to break down and reveal his real feelings.
Later on the 11th track there is something that almost sounds like a skip in the record. While some critics have called it an unwanted artifact due to low-fi recording and mastering techniques, hardcore aficionados have it that it is the result of Arjuna’s being overwhelmed by the display of Krishna’s opulence in the 10th chapter.
Another slightly less well known work of Vyasadeva, but one that is definitely the underground cult classic, is the Srimad Bhagavatam. On this album Vyasadeva shares the mic with his crew, including his son Sukadeva Goswami, and the very talented Suta Goswami.
All three are personalities of the highest spiritual realization, and they are also master rappers, able to bust a rhyme at a moment’s notice on any topic. The skill of the MCs is so high, the trading of lines becomes so complex that it is practically impossible to remember who is who, and the listener is often lost in the narrative, oblivious to where they are. Srila Vyasadeva’s crew provide the “seamless listening experience” that is the Holy Grail of all rappers.
At this time in history, rapping had not become as antagonistic as it is now manifested, and MCs did not battle it out and trade personal insults. This became prevalent much later in the Vedic age. At this point in time rapping was a standard tool of all philosophers, and then, as now, it enabled the people to easily assimilate and remember the words of the thought-leaders of society.
Next Installment: Freestyling MC battles in the later Vedic Age.
