Hiphop Tamizh is an Indian music duo based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The duo consists of Adhithya “Adhi” Venkatapathi and R. organism
Their commercial breakthrough came in 2011 with the song “Club Le Mabu Le”. In 2012, Hip Hop Tamizha released their debut album Hip Hop Tamizhan, the first Tamil hip-hop album in India. It was a big success with both the general public and critics. Although the duo was originally independent musicians, since 2013 they have contributed primarily to compositions for films.
Personal lives
Adhithya “Adhi” Ramachandran Venkatapathy was born on 20 February 1990, and R. Jeeva was born on 29 June 1991. Adhi’s father works at Bharathiar University while his mother comes from an agricultural background. Adhi’s first exposure to rap came when his neighbor showed him Michael Jackson’s “Jam”.His interest in hip-hop music started developing in the tenth grade. He uploaded rap songs to the internet and got positive responses from people expressing interest in his music, who also encouraged him to start rapping in Tamil. His decision to rap in Tamil rather than English was made, in his words, to avoid looking like a “wannabe”. Adhi named his account on the video-sharing site YouTube “Hiphop Tamizha”, with a profile picture of the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, to avoid being caught by his parents. Adhi’s father had initially opposed his choice to pursue music professionally. He wanted Adhi to pursue higher studies but gave him a year to do what he wanted, with the only constraint being that Adhi should not expect any help from him. After realizing that Adhi was “trying to do some good work”, he encouraged his son’s musical interests. Adhi then moved to Chennai to “try [his] luck”.
Although Hiphop is a duo, Jeeva has seldom made public appearances, thus associating the name Hiphop Tamizha with Adhi more often. Adhi told IndiaGlitz that this is due to his shyness, and compared his partner to the unseen lion in the emblem of India, which includes four lions, with only three visible. Jeeva adopted the moniker Jeeva Beatz sometime after the two met in 2005.
Adhi studied at Chavara Vidya Bhavan and Electrical Engineering at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology. He holds a state-level rank in Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test and is a graduate of Master of Business Administration from the Department of Management Studies, University of Madras. As of October 2014, he was doing a Ph.D. course at Bharathiar University, which he completed in June 2015. Jeeva is an alumnus of Loyola College, Chennai.
On 30 November 2017, Adhi married Latchaya Devareddy, in a private ceremony at Tirupati.
Career
Origins and early work
Adhi and Jeeva met via Orkut in 2005. They were passionate about music and decided that they should create an independent music group in India, in Tamil. According to The Hindu and Hiphop Tamizha’s Facebook page, Adhi had not officially founded Hiphop Tamizha until 15 February 2010.
Around the mid-2000s, Adhi released Viswaroobam Arambam, the first Tamil hip-hop mixtape in India. It also played a major role in promoting hip-hop as a part of Tamil culture. Adhi and Jeeva remained underground until they were asked by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to compose an election anthem, Hiphop Tamizha’s single Ezhuvoam Vaa was chosen as the official anthem for Tamil Nadu’s 2011 state elections, and Adhi performed it at Pachaiyappa’s College when Anna Hazare came there. Though the song was commercially unsuccessful, Adhi and Jeeva considered it at one point their “best work so far”.
