Turbulent times didn’t shake her; instead she chose to shake ‘em up with her power rap and hep hip-hop. The "Glassy" gal shares with Aakriti Bhardwaj how to have fun ‘Hard Kaur’ style…
What was Taran Kaur Dhillon’s childhood like?
Taran Kaur Dhillon was very, very, very quiet. We used to live in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and my grandparents were quite strict. I was really good at school; did no mistakes. I was like ‘the golden child’ as they called me; quite different now (laughs). That is because life changes, times change... I am Hard Kaur because people made me ‘Hard Kaur’. In a way, bhagwan jo karta hai, acha hi karta hai. I lost my dad when I was five-years-old in the 1984 riots. My mom was a single parent and she had to remarry a man 25-30 years older to her for the security of her children. Then we left for England…
How did you decide to be a singer, a rapper on that?
I went to UK when I was 10 and by the time I was thirteen, I had an accent, and I picked up how this country works and how the people are. I couldn’t fit into any of the groups in school. The Indian kids would bully me all the time because I didn’t know English properly, but my teachers used to love me. Only the black girls’ table liked me and admired my dance. They would all listen to hip-hop, reggae, jungle and I just fell in love with hip-hop music! On our way back from school those girls would sing the normal song and I would rap. They gave me the confidence…
When I started college, I told my mum I wanted to be a rapper. She agreed. I started in 1991 – hip-hop had started in 1979 – so I had to do a lot of homework. I had to learn where it came from, how many albums and artists were there, what happened in their lives, basically everything. For ages, I just hibernated in my room, writing and listening. There is no school which teaches this; you have to teach yourself. I released my first single at 16. The Indian community went crazy. At least 60 per cent people were like ‘wow!’ But the remaining 40 per cent were like 'kya kalon ka music kar rahi hai!' But my mum believed in me and I kept going.
How do the audiences in UK react to an Indian female rapper?
It’s amazing. When a non-Asian person hears your rap they go “wow, I can’t believe you are Indian and you are that good” and Indian people would go “Oh, ok”. Now they understand this music, but 20 years back they didn’t like it. I used to do real music, which nobody wanted to buy because it’s not party music. It talks about conscience and real issues. Once my mum went like ‘Indian logon ke liye bhi to kuch banana’. And then I wrote “Glassy..”
What about the professional move from UK to India?
Professionally it was not that bad because "Glassy" was such a big hit, though I didn’t expect it. I went on to do shows and Shankar Mahadevan called me; I played my new album “Supawoman” for them. They claimed to love "Glassy". When I came back, Mr Sriram called me for “Johnny Gaddar”. I did “Move Your Body” with Shankar Mahadevan… The rest of course is history.
You have also collaborated with Eminem's group D12 for your next album. You hope to make it into the big league internationally?
It was largely for my own satisfaction; I wanted to do some Hard Kaur thing anyway, more like real hip-hop. If no company released it, I’d release it myself. There are a lot of schemes in UK for artistes. You can put your songs on white label, or put them on iTunes; the radio will play it and the more downloads you have, the more you’ll go on charts and the record company will take you. I only wanted the song released because people are dying to hear real hip-hop and dance to it.
Any plan to enter into Bollywood?
Yes. My debut film is called “Patiala House” and is directed by Nikhil Advani. He approached me to play a character, which reminded me of my younger days. It’s a family film that talks about second generation Indians in UK. I’m having a blast doing it! I’ve also done two tracks for the film with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
What was Taran Kaur Dhillon’s childhood like?
Taran Kaur Dhillon was very, very, very quiet. We used to live in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and my grandparents were quite strict. I was really good at school; did no mistakes. I was like ‘the golden child’ as they called me; quite different now (laughs). That is because life changes, times change... I am Hard Kaur because people made me ‘Hard Kaur’. In a way, bhagwan jo karta hai, acha hi karta hai. I lost my dad when I was five-years-old in the 1984 riots. My mom was a single parent and she had to remarry a man 25-30 years older to her for the security of her children. Then we left for England…
How did you decide to be a singer, a rapper on that?
I went to UK when I was 10 and by the time I was thirteen, I had an accent, and I picked up how this country works and how the people are. I couldn’t fit into any of the groups in school. The Indian kids would bully me all the time because I didn’t know English properly, but my teachers used to love me. Only the black girls’ table liked me and admired my dance. They would all listen to hip-hop, reggae, jungle and I just fell in love with hip-hop music! On our way back from school those girls would sing the normal song and I would rap. They gave me the confidence…
When I started college, I told my mum I wanted to be a rapper. She agreed. I started in 1991 – hip-hop had started in 1979 – so I had to do a lot of homework. I had to learn where it came from, how many albums and artists were there, what happened in their lives, basically everything. For ages, I just hibernated in my room, writing and listening. There is no school which teaches this; you have to teach yourself. I released my first single at 16. The Indian community went crazy. At least 60 per cent people were like ‘wow!’ But the remaining 40 per cent were like 'kya kalon ka music kar rahi hai!' But my mum believed in me and I kept going.
How do the audiences in UK react to an Indian female rapper?
It’s amazing. When a non-Asian person hears your rap they go “wow, I can’t believe you are Indian and you are that good” and Indian people would go “Oh, ok”. Now they understand this music, but 20 years back they didn’t like it. I used to do real music, which nobody wanted to buy because it’s not party music. It talks about conscience and real issues. Once my mum went like ‘Indian logon ke liye bhi to kuch banana’. And then I wrote “Glassy..”
What about the professional move from UK to India?
Professionally it was not that bad because "Glassy" was such a big hit, though I didn’t expect it. I went on to do shows and Shankar Mahadevan called me; I played my new album “Supawoman” for them. They claimed to love "Glassy". When I came back, Mr Sriram called me for “Johnny Gaddar”. I did “Move Your Body” with Shankar Mahadevan… The rest of course is history.
You have also collaborated with Eminem's group D12 for your next album. You hope to make it into the big league internationally?
It was largely for my own satisfaction; I wanted to do some Hard Kaur thing anyway, more like real hip-hop. If no company released it, I’d release it myself. There are a lot of schemes in UK for artistes. You can put your songs on white label, or put them on iTunes; the radio will play it and the more downloads you have, the more you’ll go on charts and the record company will take you. I only wanted the song released because people are dying to hear real hip-hop and dance to it.
Any plan to enter into Bollywood?
Yes. My debut film is called “Patiala House” and is directed by Nikhil Advani. He approached me to play a character, which reminded me of my younger days. It’s a family film that talks about second generation Indians in UK. I’m having a blast doing it! I’ve also done two tracks for the film with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
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