Meet Kamal Gautam: The Future Of Rapping

When Eminem stood on the stage for his rap battle in the famous ‘8 Mile’, I am sure each and every one of us had our own apprehensions and hopes about his maiden performance as a rap artist. Well, that was a movie, but how cool would it actually be to actually be a rapper and go through such emotions and vent them out with your words? Well to tell us about all that and something about his personal self, Kamal Gautam better known to his fans as Dank, talks exclusively to The Celeb Lyf. 

Early Life

Born on the 10th of September, 1993 in Delhi, Dank tells us that he had a pretty normal childhood with no big surprises. He also tells us that he was a very good cricketer and also had the honour of representing his school, forming an important component of its cricket team.

The Beginnings

Born to a factory owner, Gautam knew that if not anything else, he would succeed his father in their illustrious family business, but having had a zeal to do something different and out of the league, made him take to singing. What started off as a casual vocation, grew a stronger interest with passing time and Gautam came up with his first original composition when he was in class 10. The song he wrote was about his accounts teacher and had fabulous reception in the form of his class and schoolmates. 

And then the spark happened. Gautam bumped into an album which was released by Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem and started listening to other artists like 50 cent, Ja Rule etc.“It was a whole different universe for me,” Dank says. He also tells us how he felt unprecedented freedom of words and expressions in this newfound world of raps. This made him remix old hip hop tracks, initially just for fun, but with time, it made him realise that he was made for it, he says.

DANK

Having started with an initial stage name of Grenadier, Gautam tells us that DANK came after his meeting with “Mikey Portar” aka Swayz whom he met during the 2010 Asiad. Having been Gautam’s gully cricket buddy, sways exclaimed, “that spit was dank” after listening to one of Gautam’s raps and the word just got stuck, he says with a smile. 

The Journey 

It all started in 2010, Gautam tells us, it was the time when nobody knew too much about producing raps in India and like many of the other rap artists, DANK also started by doing some self-promoting shows mainly in malls and other social places. Life took a turn when he got himself enrolled in college for his graduation. Life gave him a chance to either choose studies or music. “I had like 2% attendance in my college, so y’all know what I chose?”, he says with a chuckle. Gautam tells us how he formed a band of boys which went by the name of “Vocal Warriors” and started attending shows alongside his college. Sadly “Vocal Warriors” disbanded after his graduation. “It was crazy and I got to learn so much from my boys”, Dank tells us. 

Coming from a business family, pursuing an MBA was a prerequisite that Gautam had to fulfil before joining his father in the business. Taking his Post-Graduation seriously, Gautam took a 2-year long break from producing music and singing, he also got into a serious relationship at this time and was rendered heartbroken which led him to depression, while battling depression, Gautam got fired from his job in Mumbai and was also shunted out by his landlord because he was unable to pay rent. “I crashed on a bus stand in front of infinity mall, Malad, before finally getting my paycheck”, DANK tells us with a strong will in his eyes. 

Having bumped into a Karaoke night in Versova, a few months later, Gautam knew his journey was not over, the moment he held the mic in his hands after a gap of almost 3 years. DANK left Mumbai after two years with a sole focus of Rapping in his mind.

Turning Point

Gautam tells us how he thought everything was over post his breakup and how his friends, Mohit, Sagar, Apurva, Arjun, Shruti, Karry, Shrey, Atul and Sachin gave him the confidence to get his frustration out in form of words and put them out in the public sphere. He also tells us how grateful he is for his parents to have supported him when he told them that he was jobless and wanted to focus on music. He also says that he would especially like to thank his ex-girlfriend for providing him with the content for his music.

What Now?

Gautam tells us that he feels super elated about the fact that Hip Hop is growing in India and he just wants to take it to the next level. “The work I do satisfies me and my listeners no matter how small they are in number”, he says with content in his eyes.

Inspirations and Dreams 

“Demotivating people are my biggest motivation”, Dank says, with an aim to make them appreciate his work, Dank says that he takes motivation from everything around him. Talking about his father, he tells us how he came from a lower middle-class family and turned his luck around with sheer hard-work. He also derives motivation from Eminem, who is a living legend according to Gautam, having faced child abuse, bullying and a lot of other things, the sheer will with which Eminem worked, acts as a great motivation for Gautam.

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Talking about dreams, Gautam says that his primary dream is to change the reality of Indian Hip Hop genre. He wishes India to be known as the land of rap stars and artists.

Upcoming Tracks

With his previous track, Tera Bhai breaking a lot of records and receiving a great reception, DANK tells us that his new song, “No guts no glory” is just around the corner and will be released soon. The song primarily talks about his struggles. Talking about struggles, Gautam feels that struggles form an indispensable part of one’s life and one has to face it, embrace it and win it. 

Special Message

“Tumahara bhai duniya hila dega” is the message that DANK wants all his fans to know. He also talks about how grateful he is to have such loving and supporting fans. 

Giving special advice to his fans amidst the lockdown, he says, “Stay Safe, the Indian Government is working really hard to contain the virus and let’s help our government by cooperating with them.”

Well, we at theceleblyf.com just hope, his fans listen and follow his advice as loving as they listen and follow his music.

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