Why rapper MC Altaf is all for rhythm and rhyme 

Ahead of his performance in Bengaluru, rapper MC Altaf speaks about his journey thus far and what he hopes for the road ahead 

MC Altaf is no stranger to performing for an audience from Bengaluru, but his upcoming show on October 7 — part of his debut India tour — has him feeling even more excited. The Mumbai-based rapper, famously known for teaching Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh the ‘Bambaiya’ accent in the film Gully Boy, says this time, the set is going to have a different energy altogether. “I’m going to be performing with a band and I’m excited to see people’s reactions to that. Bengaluru respects music and people here don’t just attend shows of film or commercial music. They enjoy good, unique music too,” says Altaf, explaining why namma ooru was the perfect choice to include in his six-city tour.

Named after one of this most recent tracks, the Big Moves India tour also marks how far the musician has come in his own journey. From hearing his first rap song in Mumbai’s Dharavi — Asia’s biggest slum — to now headlining a show, this rap artist may be going places but his feet are still planted firmly on the ground. The track ‘Big Moves’ looks back at the 23-year-old’s journey, but Altaf firmly believes he is far from done. “I’m still not such a big artist that everyone knows me. I’ll get there too, slowly. I’ve still got some big moves to make.”

It was back in 2016 or 2017 that Altaf first heard of rap, right there in the streets of Dharavi. A simple YouTube search led him to the music of Nas and 50 Cent, whose lyrics he then printed out to learn and rap at various bboying contests. One thing led to another and by 2019, Altaf even featured as himself in Gully Boy, the movie that undoubtedly gave rap and hip-hop the much-needed respect it deserved in India. In January this year, Altaf was seen in the Netflix documentary Midnight Asia: Eat. Dance. Dream, where he spoke about the rap and hip-hop scene in Mumbai.

Looking back, there is not much Altaf wants to change. He would rather carry something forward: not overthinking his music. “I made tracks based on what I liked and the emotions I felt at the time. I hope to be in the same zone in the future too.”

As things changed, so did his music style. Only not a fan of singing about love, Altaf decided to widen his repertoire. His new track, ‘Samjhe Na’ with Zaeden and Shah Rule, is the best example of this. It explores how the busy lives of artistes affects their relationships. “Earlier we thought we should only do hardcore rap. After entering the industry, meeting other artists and attending shows, I realised I have to expand my music too.”

Connecting with a female audience is also part of rationale behind this. “The number of girls in the audience is also increasing. If we only perform back-to-back hardcore tracks, they might get bored.”

While his mindset towards his music style has changed, his source of inspiration stays the same. Altaf’s affection for Dharavi shows up in many ways: how he refers to it as his hood, the fact that despite getting a chance to move to another area in Mumbai, he never did, and in the ways in which the area has influenced his popular songs ‘Soch’ and ‘Code Mumbai 17’.