Goonda Gold – two words that are making every Desi person watching say Damn! Every now and then you come across artists, who catch your eye and in our case the ear. Cartel Madras is the latest duo to do so and they did that with their single, ‘Goonda Gold‘. Its amazing to see South Indian women breaking into the Hip-Hop exodus and being innovative at it. The sisters were born in Madras (Chennai) but raised in Calgary, Alberta and are capturing the attention of communities across the world.
Check out the video for, ‘Goonda Gold’ right here:
“Bitch, I’m Bad, I’m Brown, I’m Gold”
The duo consists of Priya Ramesh and Bhagya Ramesh who have the stage names Contra and Eboshi, respectively. Their journey began on Soundcloud in 2018, their first body of work was Project Goonda Part 1: Trapistan and they produced the entire EP themselves. There single, ‘Pork & Leek‘ from the EP got their name in the local circuit and got them appreciation. Tupac revolutionized the word, ‘Thug’ which translates to ‘Goonda’ in Hindi, the duo claim their genre to be ‘Goonda Rap’. The duo has gained respect in the local scene as they are trying to carve out a niche for brown women, women of color and the LGBTQ community.
The track ‘Goonda Gold’ is a new school heater. Both the artists have dynamite verses having a very subtle Cardi-B vibe on a monumental trap beat. The triplets on the high hats provide a catchy bounce which is accompanied by lyrics highlighting a very rebellious message. The undertone is, ‘like it or not, we are here to stay’. The beat has indian instrumentation in bits and pieces and signifies their Indian roots. The video is pure hype and captures the duos South Asian heritage along with their insurgent attributes, it is directed by Bhaveek Makan & Jashan Makan.
The duo is also all set to play a show with Fetty Wap on November 22nd in their hometown, Calgary.
Cartel Madras is set to release their debut album, ‘Age of the Goonda’ on 1st November under their new record deal with Sub Pop and we cant wait for it. Be sure to check it out.