Punjabi rapper-producer Prabh Deep releases the visual for “QAFIR” (Nonbeliever), the latest single off his 2021 LP, Tabia.
According to the liner notes from the video, the track aims to “sketch a realm that reflects the psychology of an artist whose work has been deeply affected by its audience, even in the process of creation.” The three-minute film also “explores the role played by the fans in a modern-day theatrical performance—where the artist’s interaction with the spectators through different lenses of perception, aided by production elements like lighting, makes for various streams of effect on the final performance and reception of it.”
The Nirvair Singh Rai-helmed video shows different personas of Deep caught moving from a live performance to a cinema, where he watches himself rap on-screen in front of circular light projections.
Released through Azadi Records, the self-produced “QAFIR” follows the title track “Tabia,” setting the stage for a jaded artist who is focused on his unrelenting pursuit of money and fame. Deep raps, “Paisa kamaya main, Pyaar Jataya main” (I’ve earned money, I’ve been self-absorbed) and “Time chaley galat te ohnu mehngi ghadi kar sakdi ni sahi” (If your inner clock is running in the wrong direction, even an expensive watch cannot make it right).
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Tabia is the second album from the New Delhi-based rapper. While his first album Class-Sikh focused on the socio-political and economic problems in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar region, Tabia offers insight into an artist’s desire and the dichotomy between ego and inner peace. Tabia was heralded by Pitchfork for being “Wildly ambitious in sound and scope” and “[raising] the bar for India’s hip hop vanguard.”
Watch the “QAFIR” music video below:
Original reporting by Anisha Khemlani
