The pandemic rapper: Aditya Guglani, aka Qoini, is ready with his new album ‘Chandrayaan’

Express News Service

Loss of three family members. Projects grinding to a halt. Elderly parents to worry about. No access to studios… For hip-hop artist Aditya Guglani, the last year has been a particularly tough one. But music is a balm that can soothe most pain. Out of the anguish and uncertainty came his soon-to-be-released album, Chandrayaan.

Understandably, it sings about the pandemic and how chaos has pushed the singer out of his comfort zone and into the unknown. “The songs in the album echo what a lot of us are going through—loss, helplessness and the uncertainty of life,” says the artist, also known as Qoini—adapted from the Hindi phrase ‘koi nahi’, which means ‘nobody’. Guglani uses the term for himself as he has always felt like an underdog or a misfit.

The album’s most popular song is ‘Ghissey Jootey’, which was released earlier this year and became a hit. Another song, ‘Kagaz Ke Jahaz’, is a reflection on how great things were before the virus. It is a reminder about the fragility of life and stresses that no matter how much planning we do, we can never be fully in control of our lives. “The song reiterates that our hopes are like paper planes, they fly but not for long before they drop,” Guglani rues. Another single he plans to release is dedicated to life in Delhi and the daily struggles of its citizens.

The pandemic has many sides. Says Guglani, “Although my anxiety was at an all-time high while working on the album, I also had time for self-improvement.” It led him to hone his writing skills, basing the content on events around him. “The impact of the lockdown and the overall situation seeped into the lyrics,” he recalls, adding, “My motive is to comfort people in a similar situation, and hope the lyrics would give them strength and assure them that this too shall pass.”

With elderly parents at home, Guglani knew it was unsafe to visit a recording studio. Desperate to make music, he decided to work from home and spent his savings on setting up a studio at home. “It has some makeshift additions. For example, I put in a vocal booth converted from a laundry bucket,” laughs Guglani, who recorded ‘Ghissey Jootey’ in it. 

The artist came across rap music after listening to a song by Eminem. He and a school friend would mimic songs by Eminem, 50 Cent, Linkin Park and the like. “We would often break into rap right in the middle of class as a prank. In a weird way, music gave confidence to the introvert in me,” he says. As his confidence grew, so did his mastery over the genre. Soon he was performing at the local level and inter-school events.

Guglani released his first single, ‘Hum Jaise Hain’, in 2017. Its success encouraged him to create ‘Ban Na Chahu Qoini’ in 2018. He knows the importance of nurturing talent and has established BUSQBOX, a company that promotes artists like him across the country. “Life is strange. I started off playing the prankster with rap. Look where it has got me today,” he smiles. His rap sheet promises to be many miles long.