Deepa Unnikrishnan aka Dee MC, is on the forefront of the female rappers in India. She has finally released her awaited debut album, ‘Dee = MC2 ‘ which has been produced by the Sunit Music, who is a behemoth in the Desi Music community in the UK.
Dee has tackled an assortment of issues in this body of work. She has always garnered respect in the scene for being vocal about her stand on political issues and she has used her album to continue doing the same. ‘Dee = MC2 ‘ has been two years in the making and the seeds for this album were sowed when Dee MC crossed paths with Sunit Music while touring in UK.
You can listen to the album over here :
The album starts with Dee spitting bars about paving the path for female rappers and setting the benchmark high in the scene. The next track is, ‘No more running’ and has her and Trap Poju talking about the importance of setting your own pace during the pursuit of a dream and not just sprinting through for the sake of completing it. In ‘Rang’, she discusses how the preconceived idea of being racially ‘fair’ amounting to being considered the better race affected her childhood, she narrates how she came to terms with who she really is and tells everyone to be proud of themselves regardless of what color you might be.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzF3scmJq-M
The beat for ‘Vadhaiyaan’ has a beautiful sample which has been looped as the chorus and amplifies the message in the verses, Dee voices her annoyance by sarcastically thanking (which translates to ‘Vadhaiyaan’) a society which often considers itself entitled to give unneeded advice to her generation about how to live their life. She also discusses the state of women and gender inequality prevalent in our country in the same track which could make it the USP of the album, I am sure this tune is going to be a crowd favorite. ‘Mumba’ is a beautiful dedication to her hometown and has a bouncy verse from her long time collaborator and GULLYGANG native, ‘D-Evil’, Dee devotes her verse to the women of her city and their hustle which keeps them going.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ddXUMp73b
Deepa teams up with youngsters MC Altaf and Sense from her city on, ‘Piece Of Mind‘ and goes bar for bar talking about their independent struggles and what all they have to go through to chase their musical aspirations. ‘Bars from the heart‘ is a very appropriate outro and it has her pouring her emotions out with regards to her family and her journey in music so far.
The production on the album is fire and has all the trademark Sunit elements, unorthodox percussion which swings between trap and boom bap accentuated with some soulful desi samples which bring out the best in Dee’s Hinglish delivery. Overall, the album is a very wholesome piece of work which has something for everyone to bump to.
When asked about the album, Dee had the following to say, “”I really believe that good things take time. I’ve been working on this album for upwards of two years. Sunit Music and I have given our all to this project. Each track stems from our Indian roots and our mutual love for Hip Hop. Universal sign is the only deal we’re looking for!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4MmGRrpdr5
The album was launched at Raasta, Khar in Mumbai the presence of all her collaborators Trap Poju, D’evil, MC Altaf and Sense and was absolute mayhem. The event saw a lot of her fans and OG’s from the scene such as Naezy and Raja Kumari coming out and showing support to Dee MC on dropping her album.