Rapper-composer Ikka: Today, music making process is being treated as a fast food factory

In the age of viral moments, and trending reels, the focus has turned to quantity over quality in the music industry, feels rapper-composer Ikka, who says music is being treated as fast food now.

“When it comes to the music industry, the one change I want is for people to focus on making artistic videos, give importance to sounds and invest some time and thought in creating music, and not just release anything and everything,” says Ikka, whose real name is Ankit Singh Patyal.

He continues, “We need to focus on the quality, so that it continues to live for many years. Like, I still listen to some songs which were released 20 years ago. Par abhi, fast food type music bann raha hai… Fata fat khaya, aur dosre pe jump kiya”.

What makes you say that?

“That’s because today, the focus is not on making music which can surpass the test of time, and not even on quality. Bas fast food hai, humne uthaya, banaya, aur kha liya, aur ab maggi chaiyeh,” says the rapper, who made his foray in Bollywood with In Da Club (Tamanchey, 2014).

But the rapper doesn’t blame anyone for the dwindling quality of music. “No one is at fault here since so much music is being released, every week nearly 100 songs are coming out. Aur abhi gaana log sirf 30 seconds ke liye sunte hain, pura gana sunte bhi nahi hai,” says the rapper, who narrated his life story through his recent track, Nishu.

Explaining his point, the rapper asserts, “It is the age of reel trends of 30-20 seconds, aur ussi se hit bhi ho rahe hain gaane aajkal. I sometimes wonder if this is something which will be used to evaluate the success of a song, which is made after so much effort and brainstorming. Trust me, creating a song from scratch, and giving shape to the vision is no easy task. But uss effort ki value hi nahi rahi ab”.

Now, the rapper, whose musical journey began when he first heard Eminem, believes only the audience can spin the circle of change.

“Change can come if they listen to the song and then decide which song is good and which song is not, instead of falling for all the marketing traps. Because aajkal gaane hit hote nahi hai, kaare jaate hain by going big on marketing plans,” he says, adding, “it is the responsibility of listeners to decide the future sounds of the music industry”.

And he is trying hard to help the audience make a decision, starting off by telling his own story. “The story of my track Nishu is the story of my life. I think it is very important for the audience to know where you come from, so that they can relate and understand your journey,” he wraps up, adding that he is following the same path in his future projects as well.