Lyari Underground, a rap music group from Karachi’s Lyari district - that has remained synonymous with gang wars and violence for far too long - continue to make music about issues that matter. Not afraid to tackle difficult subjects that affect entire communities, this is a group that raps about injustices and political matters that many would shy away from.
Their song, ‘Player of Lyari’, produced by Dynoman and released as part of Patari’s original music project, ‘Patari Tabeer’ is a strong example. Another is ‘Kasani’, released as part of Patari Aslis Volume II.
So, it makes all the sense in the world that the rap group is associated with ‘Mein Bhi, a movement against human rights violations that is spearheaded by Frieha Altaf.
They were part of the Mein Bhi segment that was launched at the Lux Style Awards earlier this year and also feature in the recently released ‘Mein Bhi’ music video that is produced by Altaf and features several artists including Shehzad Roy (whose lyrics from ‘Kya Darta Hai’ have been incorporated into the song).
Reflecting on associating with the cause and featuring in the ‘Mein Bhi’ video, rapper ‘Anxiously’ from Lyari Underground told Instep: “This is something which is for some serious cause. Social injustices and similar issues have been taking place in Pakistan for a long time. What we are doing in the form of this ‘Mein Bhi’ song is something that is going to have a huge impact on people’s mentality. I believe it is going to make people stand up and be a voice for incidents like Zainab’s and other social issues. And most importantly, it is going to make people realize that this is some serious issue and now we should discuss it everywhere openly.”
