Indian rapper Kali created the track Neer Kodu, which translates to 'Give Water' in Kannada, and it is one of six compositions in the Climate Emergency Mixtape collection. The organizers position this album as India's first multilingual rap album dedicated to the climate crisis.
The 29-year-old artist, whose real name is Akshay, grew up in Bengaluru and has been involved in music for over ten years, citing Eminem and Akon as inspirations. As a child, Kali used to walk for about ten minutes to fill pots with water from a public tap. During the album's presentation this month, he told AFP: 'We always thought... we shouldn't waste it.'
Water scarcity is a chronic problem in Bengaluru, India's tech hub, where many residents depend on groundwater wells that often dry up in the summer. Others are forced to rely on expensive water trucks delivered from other areas. Climate change threatens to exacerbate water stress due to rising temperatures and shifts in weather patterns.
India, the world's most populous country and the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is vulnerable to extreme weather events. While some regions faced drought, others suffered from deadly floods and landslides caused by heavy rains.
Brikesh Singh from Asar Social Impact Advisors, one of the album's partners, noted that music helped express this issue. Singh stated: 'If we want to reach people experiencing the climate crisis, we need to change how society tells these stories.' He added: 'We felt that music is an extremely powerful medium.'
Rapper Abisha also used her life experience to create the song Veppa Marathadiyila, which translates to 'Under Neem Tree' in Tamil. This composition is dedicated to the impact of climate change on marginalized communities. 26-year-old Abisha, a member of the first all-female rap group from Tamil Nadu, Sollisai Sistahs, recalls when water 'reached her doorstep' when she was about eight years old. However, two years later, that area dried up.
Abisha noted that climate change in her community 'was not widely discussed.' Therefore, she hopes her song will reach people more convincingly than just words, helping to spread more understanding of this threat. Kali called on more artists to move away from topics like cars and motorcycles, which he called 'boring,' insisting they should talk about what truly matters—climate change.
