Released on the 11th of November, ‘Taadkefaad’ is a vigorous project consisting of three tracks that last for 8 minutes. The Mumbai-based rapper The Siege and the Pune-based emcee Shreyas are frequent and long-time collaborators of the production wizards Vedang and Devonian. Yet, the rappers never collaborated before despite their similarities in the lyrical and conceptual rap pieces that their discography boasts of. With an additional feature from Rebel 7, the EP is the perfect mix of Shreyas and The Siege’s musicality.
The first track, ‘RLT’ which stands for Real Life Trip, sees the rappers go back and forth on 4-4 bars while picking up each other’s verses and completing them. After every 4 bars, they also add variations to the rhyme schemes and change flows while keeping the essence alive. This shows their chemistry as collaborating artists. The track talks about the hustles one faces while chasing their dreams, the rappers add aspects as they talk about their own mindset in certain instances. The production on the track is quite dynamic in itself, it sets the right tone for the rappers to execute their verses. The next track ‘Gadbad’ is a rather energetic and frenzied one. Shreyas begins with his Marathi verse and talks about the problems a young man faces in his life while trying to manage a lot of things. The Siege picks up the narrative and talks about how the definition of success and money has changed ever since he was a child, as he has now been exposed to different things. He then repeats the line, ‘Meri Gadbad dekh’, while talking about other troubles in his life. Next up is Rebel 7, however, his verse does not match with the meaning that the track talks about. Even though his verse is pleasurable and the ‘Rebel Special’ flow is prevalent throughout his part, not keeping up with the expression of the track leaves an irksome remark. The fast-paced nature of the production, especially the Gadbad-Gadbad whispers in the hook and the drums further helps in complementing the essence of the piece. The last track ‘Mujhko Jeene Do’ is a rather emotive one. With melodious production and a soothing backdrop, The Siege starts his verse with drained vocals. His raw vocal expressions signify the meaning of his verse. He talks about his personal worries and contrasts them with how an artist feels despite being successful. Vedang connects the verses with a mellow hook as Shreyas takes over with his Marathi bars. Shreyas sounds exhausted as well, he adds his perspectives into the track and suggests the distress a man faces while going through certain phases in life.
‘Taadkefaad’ is quite poetic, to say the least. The EP talks about emotions and feelings such as self-belief, credence, being celebrated and successful, facing the consequences of success, feeling lost in the hustle and bustle of life, etc. The multilingual aspect of the EP is another thing worth commending, while The Siege sticks to his Hindi verses, Shreyas raps in Marathi and English seamlessly without affecting the tone of the piece. The production by Vedang and Devonian is faultless as their contribution to painting the soundscape for the rappers to express is quite praiseworthy.
