The key facts

  • The 'Climate Emergency Mixtape' — six tracks, claimed as India's first multilingual rap album about the climate
  • The tracks are based on the artists' personal experiences: water scarcity in Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu
  • One of the project's co-authors is Asar Social Impact Advisors

An album about the climate in India's languages

Indian rappers have released the 'Climate Emergency Mixtape,' which organizers call the country's first multilingual rap album about the climate crisis. It includes six tracks, among them the song 'Neer Kodu' ('Give Water' in Kannada) by rapper Kali and 'Veppa Marathadiyila' ('Under the Neem Tree' in Tamil) by the artist Abisha.

Personal experience at the heart of the tracks

29-year-old Kali (real name Akshay) grew up in Bengaluru and has been making music for more than ten years, citing Eminem and Akon among his influences. As a child, he walked about ten minutes to a public tap to fill plastic jugs with water. 'We always thought... that it must not be wasted,' he told AFP at the album's presentation this month. Water scarcity is a chronic problem in Bengaluru, India's technology hub: many residents depend on groundwater wells that dry up in summer, or on expensive delivered water.

Abisha: climate is 'not widely discussed' in her community

26-year-old Abisha, a member of Tamil Nadu's first female rap group Sollisai Sistahs, dedicated her song to the impact of climate change on marginalized communities. She recalls how, at around the age of eight, water was 'delivered to her doorstep,' and two years later the neighborhood was left without water. According to her, climate change is 'still not widely discussed' in her community, and she hopes the song will convey the threat more powerfully than words alone.

Why music needs a climate agenda

Brikesh Singh of Asar Social Impact Advisors, one of the project's co-authors, noted that music helps convey the scale of the problem: 'If we want to reach people experiencing the climate crisis, we need to change how society tells these stories. Music, as we felt, is an extremely powerful medium.'

Context: India and climate risks

India — the world's most populous country and the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases — is vulnerable to extreme weather: some regions suffer from droughts, others from deadly floods and landslides caused by heavy rains. According to AFP, climate change threatens to worsen water scarcity as temperatures rise and weather patterns shift. Kali called on more artists to move away from 'boring' topics like cars and motorcycles: 'They should talk about what really matters — about climate change.'