New Delhi bass producer and trapmaster Su Real is back with ‘Twerkistan,’ his second full-length album, packed with desi bass bangers and catchy dance beats. Growing organically as a follow-up to his debut album ‘Trapistan’, this album charts a journey into a different mythical land, featuring collaborations with a range of artists including Tanya Nambiar, P-Man and Ritviz. While Su Real‘s DJ set has always been about bringing the latest Western dance music into a homegrown context, his music production has consistently gone on to reflect this as well. “With this album, we shift focus from trap music and onto the booties shaking on the dancefloor,” the producer tells us about his latest release, which he has been working on for the past year. The head-turning artwork by Kunal Lodhia of Grime Riot Disco
/Magnetic Fields) evokes the legendary temples of Khajuraho, and speaks boldly of a land ruled by women. “I enlisted him as early as July 2015, actually, with just two reference points — Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda‘ cover and Savita Bhabi. He drew multiple versions by hand over many months, in intricate detail, until he got it just right. He then scanned it in and coloured it digitally to give it his trademark effect. We definitely wanted something daring, yet at the same time something that young desi women could identify with and appreciate. For example, I was insistent that my Twerkistani rani have chocolate brown skin, rather than some fair and lovely monstrosity. This cover is a tribute to all the strong, independent desi women I have known, and their beautiful round and brown booties.” “The Twerkistan video made in collaboration with Tanya
Nambiar and Lights on Films was my most involved video to date,” Su Real elaborates on the process. “For me, it was an epic feat of DIY film-making, largely thanks to Lights On Films. While the single’s music evokes the desert, the lyrics depict the Sultan of Twerkistan, who is on a quest to reclaim his rightful throne that had been usurped by an imposter. “It was important to get some dancers involved, and to try to portray twerking in a TV-friendly manner for Indian audiences.
Dancer/choreographers Nishi Joshi and Shambhavee Sharma rose to the challenge – I was ecstatic to find them as they seem to be at the forefront of an underground dance scene in Delhi that even I was unaware of.” A crew of 10 from Delhi and Mumbai set out on a two-day quest of D.I.Y. filming in the sun and sand of Jodhpur to chart the terrains of Twerkistan. As for hiccups with the censor board, “Ironically, once the video was ready, it wasn’t the twerking or empowered females that irked the censor board but the camels. Fortunately, we still have the Internet, and the Internet is cool with camels.” With a range of collaborations on the album with the likes of Ritviz, Mr Doss and P-Man, Su Real tells us, “The collaborators on the album are all
