➤ MADRAS CARTEL, from p.24
rap elements of their debut ep “Age
of the Goonda” are a bit tired, the
incorporation of Indian pop culture
references (both in their lyrics and
music) offers something fresh.
“Age of the Goonda” is hip-hop
for the mosh pit. Cartel Madras
draw on trap and SoundCloud rap
(the fi rst single from the ep is “Lil
Pump Type Beat”), but their music
has the raucous energy of hardcore
punk. It aims to create a greater
sense of danger while empowering
women. Their version of liberation
dodges politeness and respectability.
The video for “Goonda Gold”
shows them as criminals packing
guns, and the only people shown
are female and South Asian.
In Sub Pop’s press release for “Age
of Goonda,” Eboshi says, “There’s
a certain thing that hip hop does,
that gangster rap does: a narrative
of being larger than life, kind of violent
but in power… We are paying
tribute to that, but also focusing
that on women who are queer and
brown, telling stories that haven’t
been told.”
“Age of the Goonda” sounds like
the beginnings of that story.
From the very beginning, “Age
of the Goonda” aims for the throat.
The opener “Jumpscare” and “Lil
Pump Type Beat” draw on Sound-
Cloud rap, with a raucous energy.
The ep alternates between bangers
and slower, more sinister beats.
Even when they rely on more downtempo,
trap-inspired sound, like
“Dawood Ibrahim (woof woof),” the
group shows off a rapid-fi re fl ow
demonstrating their technical ability.
Hip-hop is now the most popular
genre of music in the US, and
it’s become an international lingua
franca. Inevitably, it would be performed
by people at a distance from
its African-American origins. Cartel
Madras fi nd something empowering
about claiming to be gangsters
— and though I don’t know much
about their private lives, Contra
and Eboshi have obviously created
characters to express a liberating
bravado and swagger. It works up
to a point — the line “the only white
in this house is my blow” fl ips drug
dealing references into something
anti-racist — but there’s a tone deaf
quality to the loving close-ups of
women putting bullets into a revolver
in their “Goonda Gold” video
and the repeated samples of gunfi
re on this ep. Still, they’re not doing
anything hundreds of straight
male rappers with no intention other
than fame and clout have done.
Cartel Madras’ expression of
their South Asian infl uences are
more interesting. Within India itself,
hip-hop has grown so popular
that Nas’ Mass Appeal Records
label recently launched a division
to release music from the country.
M.I.A. and the Swet Shop Boys (Indian
American rapper Heems and
Pakistani-British rapper Riz MC,
aka actor Riz Ahmed) have made
compelling music about living in
the diaspora. “Goonda” is Indian
slang roughly equivalent to “thug.”
“Jumpscare” refers to the Naxalites,
India’s ‘70s Maoist rebels. “Dawood
Ibrahim (woof woof)” takes its title
from a real Indian gangster. Their
lyrics throw in references to dosa
and lassi amidst the shout-outs to
cocaine and guns. The production
samples Indian pop. “Glossy Outro”
is based around a sitar. On the other
hand, “The Legend of Jalapeño
Boiz” runs down a list of American
pop culture references: Ferris Bueller,
“Frost/ Nixon,” “Breaking Bad,”
Reddit, Kate Spade, and Juice
WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams.”
Rappers, especially if they’re African
American, have an expectation
of authenticity and autobiography
placed on them. Hip-hop lyrics
have frequently been used against
black men in court, as if writing
about violence is proof that one
committed it. But there’s a troubling
voyeurism to the audience for
hip-hop and its appetite for real-life
criminality: Tay-K’s “The Race” and
YNW Melly’s “Murder on My Mind”
became major hits based on their
connections to the artists’ alleged
crimes.
Cartel Madras use naïve ideas
about authenticity like rolling paper,
throwing them away for their
pleasure. The group’s best music is
exciting, but they’re trying too hard
to be hard, using the role of a gangster
like a Halloween costume. As
much as Cartel Madras uses hiphop
tropes to expand on the roles
women of South Asian descent
are allowed in North America, one
winds up wondering about the real
lives behind the goondas.
CARTEL MADRAS | “Age of the
Goonda” | Sub Pop | Drops Nov. 1
| subpop.com
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